The final words of Jesus on the cross, “It is finished,” leave nothing in question that still needs to be accomplished. Jesus paid, in body and soul, for all our sins. It is done, finished, and complete. What a marvelous gospel the Christian faith announces: The just for the unjust, he “who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

And he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them (John 19:18).

Jesus carried his own cross to the gate; he was bleeding and fully dehydrated. His physical capacities were exhausted as he carried the cross for about half a mile. Jesus arrived at the Roman place of execution called Golgotha, meaning “place of the skull.” Jesus was brought here as we read dark ominous words, “there they crucified him.”

What was crucifixion?

The soldiers secured Jesus backwards against the cross and drove two heavy square iron nails through his wrists into the wood. Then they took Jesus’ left foot, pushed it backwards against the right foot, both facing downward, to drive another one of these large nails through both, leaving some flexibility in the body for movement. Jesus hung there in such excruciating pain, raising himself up for air until his heart was compressed and he suffered asphyxiation. This is the cruel death of crucifixion.

The soldiers then stripped Jesus of his clothing into four parts. In Roman executions, the victims were left hanging on the cross naked and full of shame. The crucifixion of Jesus ended with him so thirsty that he was unable to swallow as he cried out, “I thirst.”

One of the most painful things one could ever face in this life is to die of thirst. According to an early twentieth-century study by W. J. McGee on death by thirst,

Saliva becomes thick and foul-tasting; the tongue clings irritatingly to the teeth and the roof of the mouth…. A lump seems to form in the throat…. Severe pain is felt in the head and neck. The face feels full due to the shrinking of the skin…. Speech becomes impossible…. The tongue swells to such proportions that it squeezes past the jaws…. The throat is so swollen that breathing becomes difficult…. Finally…there is “living death.”[1]

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