After the beating of Jesus, the soldiers had twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on Jesus´ head. In mockery they threw a purple garment about Him, and repeatedly said, “Hail, King of the Jews! They struck His face and spit upon Him, laughing loudly at the mock display of a king condemned to die.

Pilate, wearied of the torture Jesus was receiving from the soldiers and the mocking crowds of people, went out one last time and shouted down to those gathered below.
“See, here is Jesus! I bring Him out to you that you might assuredly know that I find no fault in this Man. I find no evidence of crime or accusation in Him.” Jesus stood there with the thorny crown upon His head and the purple cloak about Him. The chief priests and guards along with the people yelled at Pilate and said, “Crucify this Man who stands before you!” And Pilate replied, “Take Him out yourselves and crucify Him! I will have no part in the murder of this innocent Man!”

The people angrily cried CRUCIFY HIM! Crucify this man who supposes to call Himself God! The chief priests joined their voices with the crowd and echoed their demand, “Crucify Him! Give unto us the murderer Barabbas, who is worthier to live than is this Man Jesus! Shut the blasphemous lips of Jesus and crucify this false prophet!” The chiefs priests prevailed and the crowds with riotous glee chanted over and over again, “Release Barabbas! Let him go free! Give us Jesus that He might be crucified! Crucify Him, Crucify Him!” The Jews then yelled up at Pilate and said, “Our law demands that this Man must die, because He has claimed and insinuated that He is the Son of God! This Man from His own lips has blasphemed when He said, “My kingship and royal power is not of this world, it has no origin or source from this world. I came from My Father in Heaven and I am a King! For this purpose I was born into this world to bear witness of the Truth. I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no man comes unto the Father but by Me.”
 
The Jews began shrieking again. “If you release this Man Jesus, you are no friend of Caesar!” Pilate hearing this, brought Jesus to the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover and He said once more to the Jews, “See, here is your King.” But the incited crowd shouted loudly, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! We have no King but Caesar!”

So, unwilling to allow a riot to fester among the crowds of people gathered, Pilate assented and gave them Barabbas whom they had desired to be set free. The people cheered and clapped their hands and the chief priests smiled snidely having accomplished their goal of the death of Jesus.

Pilate looked into the eyes of Jesus, sorry that he had been unable to stop this travesty. In those loving eyes, Pilate saw understanding and forgiveness. He had found no fault in this Man called Jesus. Pilate allowed Jesus to see His mother briefly before he delivered Him over to be crucified.-Tara Hart © 2002

And they took Jesus and led Him away; so He went out, bearing His own cross. And there accompanied Jesus a great multitude of the people, including women who bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning toward them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for you children. For behold, the days are coming during which they will say, Blessed, be happy, fortunate and envied are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have never nursed babies! Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us! And to the hills, cover, conceal and hide us! For if do these things when the timber is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:27-31) -- Amplified Bible

And as they were marching forth, Jesus fell beneath the weight of the cross. Then they came upon a man of named Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. And this man they forced to carry the cross of Jesus. Two others who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus (Isa. 53:12), one on His right hand and one on His left.

They led Jesus to Golgotha (Latin -Calvary) meaning The Place of the Skull, and laid the cross on the ground. Jesus stood looking at the cross that He would die on, his back raw and bleeding from the beating and blood oozing from the embedded crown of thorns on His head. A soldier pushes him to the ground and tells him to lie on the Cross. He then grabs Jesus´ left arm and pulls it until it is taut against the rough- hewn wood, while another soldier places a rusty spike between the hand and wrist. The soldier raises the hammer and the reverberating sound of crushing bones echoes in the still air. Then he takes the right arm and repeats the procedure.

Golgotha

 A soldier standing at the bottom of the Cross is given a spike and hammer. He crosses Jesus´ feet and then hammers the spike through His feet. The excruciating pain leaves Jesus breathless, then He screams out in pain.

Now that this innocent Man is nailed to the cross and there is only one thing left to do. Beside the Cross is a deep hole in the ground. Several soldiers raise the Cross then let it drop into the hole. The sudden jolt dislocates joints and rips muscles and ligaments from the bones. Jesus is now suspended between Heaven and Earth. The agony of the Cross has begun.-Tara Hart © 2002

 It was the third hour, or about nine o´clock in the morning when they crucified Him. And Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

But by the Cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother´s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So Jesus, seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing near, said to His mother, “Dear woman, See, there is your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “See, here is your mother!” And from that hour, the disciple took her into his own keeping and his own home.

And over Jesus´ head they put the cause of His death, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews´. At the same time, two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and one on the left. And those who passed by spoke reproachfully and abusively and jeered at Him, wagging their heads (Psa. 22:7-8; 109:25). And they said, “You Who would tear down the sanctuary of the temple and rebuild it in three days, rescue Yourself from death. If You are the Son of God, come down from the Cross. In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, made sport of Him, saying, “He rescued others from death; Himself He cannot rescue from death. He is the King of Israel? Let Him come down from the Cross now, and we will believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Him. He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now if He cares for Him and will have Him, for He said, ‘I am the Son of God´.

And one of the criminals who were suspended kept beside Him, kept up a railing at Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ, the Messiah? Rescue Yourself and us from death!” But the other thief reproved him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you yourself are under the same sentence of condemnation and suffering the same penalty? And we indeed suffer it justly, receiving the due reward of our actions; but this Man has done nothing out of the way, nothing strange or eccentric or perverse or unreasonable.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingly glory!”
 
Then Jesus answered him, saying, “Truly I tell you, that today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (three o´clock). And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani - that is being interpreted, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me, leaving me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need? Psa.22:1

And at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook with an earthquake and the rocks were split. (Ex. 26:31-35).

When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus observed the earthquake and all that was happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe. And the Centurion having seen what had taken place, recognized God and thanked and praised Him and said. “Indeed, without question, this Man was upright, just and innocent. Truly, this was God´s Son!”