Crucifixions were all the rage in the first century world. The Romans loved to assert themselves with this relatively cheap and excruciatingly painful form of execution. They nailed thousands of unruly enemies to trees, walls and wooden crosses. The victims would linger for a while, gasping for breath, nude and humiliated, then suffocate under the weight of their own bodies. Desensitized to this barbaric practice, people would just walk past these dying men on their way to work or to the market. What must have gone through the mind of Jesus as he stared down from the cross? What would he have felt when the passers-by just treated him like another anonymous criminal? How deeply he must have believed in his human goodness and his mission! How deeply he must have trusted his heavenly father that all things, in fact, do work unto good in the end! Lord Jesus, when life isn’t going my way and my mind is crushed by a thousand naysayers, save me from the thought of despair. Hold my heart open enough, long enough that it may receive the first rays of dawn. We shall Easter together and all shall be well.
Ave Crux, Spes Unica.
Christ’s Crucifixion is always HARD..to think of…
to try to be with Christ’s Mother and their friends…
and then to choose a life to follow
and stick with it
God be with us all!
Amen! We trust in you, Jesus.