Tag: Cross

Episode NT32 – The Soldier’s story

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based upon the crucifixion accounts in the Bible

Episode NT32 – The Soldier’s story

‘I saw it all. You see, I was in the Roman army at the time and I lived in Jerusalem. We’d ‘eard about Jesus and many of us ‘ad seen ‘im. ‘E didn’t look anything special, but they kept telling us about the miracles’e’d done, and the things ‘e’d said about God. We thought everyone loved Jesus – but we were wrong!’

‘In the middle of the night we got ordered to go and arrest Jesus, and one of ‘is followers, a man named Judas, took us to ‘im in some kind of garden in the middle of nowhere so we could arrest ‘im! Why ‘e needed arresting I’ll never know! It’s not as if ‘e ever did anything wrong. Still, orders is orders, so me and me men went with Judas and some of the Jewish guards to this garden – and there was Jesus. (P) Judas was scum! ‘E led us right to Jesus, ‘is own friend – someone ‘e’d followed and lived with for three years, and then shows us in the darkness exactly who ‘e was by giving ’im a welcoming kiss – the kiss of a friend … becoming the kiss of betrayal!’

‘Well, at that point we arrested Jesus and took ‘im to the Jewish leaders who hate ‘im. We went back to our barracks for some sleep. But apparently, when ‘e gets to the Jewish leaders, they accuse ‘im of all kinds of rubbish – an’ no one can agree with what anyone else says! It’s a shambles. But then the ‘igh priest asks Jesus if ‘e’s the Son of God? ‘N Jesus says – Yeah, ‘e is! This makes the leaders go potty and they demand ‘is death. Mind you, I reckon they’d already decided they wanted ‘im dead before they even asked that question. – And anyway, what worried me a little was, what if Jesus was telling the truth? What if ‘e really was the Son of God?’

‘Anyway, then, we ‘ear that Jesus was kinda beaten up by the Jewish leaders and taken to our boss, Pilate and Pilate starts to question Jesus about all the false things that the Jewish leaders have said about ‘im. Pilate’s not stupid, ‘e knows that they’re just jealous of Jesus and want ‘im out the way so they can keep their own privileged positions. Then ‘e asks Jesus – ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’

‘Jesus answers that one and says that his Kingdom is not of this world! (P) And Pilate gets a little worried about that answer. And as Jesus hasn’t shown any signs of being either dangerous or guilty of anything, Pilate starts to think, ‘I better let ‘im go!’

‘Now, it was the time of a special feast in Jerusalem called Passover when each year Pilate lets one of the prisoners, who we’ve worked really hard to catch, go free! So we’re none to ‘appy about this idea, but apparently it keeps the Jews ‘appy! Anyway, Pilate doesn’t want to execute Jesus, so he goes before a ‘uge crowd and tries to make them agree to let Jesus go! But they refused! I think the Jewish leaders were down in the crowd telling the people to shout against Jesus. And then, the people start to demand that someone else, a murderer no less, called Barabbas, be set free! It made no sense to me!’

‘So Barabbas – the murdering scum that ‘e is – gets released and Pilate starts asking the crowd what ‘e should do with Jesus! At first ‘e suggests that ‘e has ‘im whipped and set free. But as I watch I see those religious leaders out in the crowd shouting as loud as they can for Jesus to be crucified! Crucified! ‘E’s innocent and they want to kill ‘im with one of the nastiest deaths that’s ever been thought of? Pilate didn’t like the idea of that, you could tell, but when the Jewish leaders started to say they’d tell the Roman Emperor that Pilate wouldn’t execute a rival king – because Jesus had claimed to be the ‘King of the Jews’ and Rome considered anyone who claimed to be a king to be an enemy of the Emperor – Pilate ‘ad no choice. It was more than ‘is job was worth to say no! So ‘e ‘anded Jesus over to us – to crucify ‘im.’ (P)

‘But all the time I was wondering, if ‘e really is the Son of God, then why is ‘e going through all this? Why doesn’t ‘e just walk away, call down a legion of angels or do … something? Why’s ‘e letting them treat ‘im like this? An’ after a while I think, well, maybe ‘e isn’t the Son of God after all? Coz surely God wouldn’t let all this ‘appen to ‘is own Son – would ‘e?’

‘Anyway, first thing we did, so that the whole crowd could see, was whip ‘im. An’ as it was Pilate’s order, we whipped ‘im good n proper. (P) Still nothing! Still no calling down of angels to help, not even after we turned ‘is back to – jelly!’

‘So then we took ‘im away to our barracks – we liked to have a little, er, fun with the condemned, remind them who’s boss so to speak. Now, one of my soldiers ‘ad an old purple cloak, the kind of thing only really important people use, an’ ‘e came up with a wicked idea. Jesus was supposed to be some kind of King or something right? So we wrapped ‘im up in the purple cloak while a couple of me men rushed outside to get some branches from a thorn bush and twist them together to make a kinda crown, which we ramed it on ‘is ‘ead and laughed as the blood flowed down ‘is face.’

‘Then, someone else gave ‘im a stick to hold, so that ‘e looked kind of like a king with ‘is royal robe, crown and sceptre! Then the lads laid into ‘im and with howls of laughter we knelt before the ‘king of the Jews’, and then grabbed the stick and whacked ‘im round the ‘ed with it. It was a laugh! And boy, did we give ‘im a good beating – we beat ‘im until we were bored! (P) And still, in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘surely ‘e can’t be the Son of God?’ Coz as we beat ‘im up, if ‘e was the Son of God, ‘e could’ve called down angels, or struck us dead or something! And yet, ‘e just took it, like I’d never seen before. Anyway, as I said, after a while we got bored of it all and took ‘im off to be crucified.’

‘‘E was real weak by now. I guess ‘e’d already lost a lot of blood, and as we put the cross on ‘im to carry up the ‘ill to be crucified, ‘e stumbled and fell over, it was all too much. (P) Funny really, I think maybe this would ‘ave been the time to call it a day. ‘Ed proved ‘is point! ‘E could take it, ‘e was special, we could see that. So why didn’t ‘e end it now? – One of me lads got a bloke who’d just arrived in town and made ‘im carry the cross for Jesus – we certainly weren’t going to carry it for ‘im! Cross’s are for scum – the only time we touch ‘em is when we nail villains to ‘em. And so Jesus carried on up the ‘ill, along with another couple of scum bags we were going to crucify with ‘im.’

‘When we got to the top of the ‘ill, we made the bloke carrying the cross put it on the ground.  And then, we laid Jesus on it and rammed the nails through ‘is hands and ‘is feet so that ‘e wasn’t going anywhere. Then we stood the cross up and let it drop into it’s hole in the ground. We did the same to the other two criminals. – And then we waited! It takes a long time to die when you’re crucified. Some of the others started to divide up Jesus’ clothes, but when they got to the undergarment, it’s an all in one job and they didn’t want to rip it up, it was too nice for that, so they cast lots to see who’d get it. Well at least one of ‘em was ‘appy.’

‘All of this ‘appened early in the morning and the people and the religious leaders came to gloat at the death of their enemy. They kept shouting at Jesus again ‘n again, telling ‘im to come down from the cross to prove ‘e was the Son of God. Yet ‘e stayed there! Surely if ‘e was the Son of God ‘e’d ‘ave come down? Surely?’

‘Then one of the criminals started ‘aving a go at Jesus as well. Why couldn’t they just leave ‘im alone? But before I could say anything the other criminal told the first one to shut it! ‘E said something like, ‘we deserve to die coz we’ve done bad things, but Jesus, ‘e’s not done anything wrong, ‘e’s innocent’. And then ‘e looked across at Jesus and said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.’ It sent chills down my spine. And Jesus said to ‘im, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’

‘A funny thing ‘appened then. Not funny ha ha, but funny strange. At about noon, just as we were beginning to think about our lunch, it went dark – as if the sun ‘ad just stopped shining! We carried on anyway, got some torches and kept watch. But there was a lot less noise, less people passing through or saying anything. I began to feel really uncomfortable. Coz somehow I knew what Jesus had told that criminal, about paradise and all that, was true!’

‘It stayed dark till about 3 in the afternoon and then, all of a sudden, Jesus shouts out in a really loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why ‘ave you forsaken me?’ It chokes me up just to remember the pain in ‘is voice, it was enough to break your ‘eart. And then, ‘e shouted again, ‘It is finished!’ And ‘e died – just like that!’

‘But as ‘e died, there was an earthquake and the rocks split open. And I found out later that a really important curtain in the Jewish temple, the curtain that’s supposed to keep the people separated from God, was torn in two from top to bottom.’

‘’N as I saw all this, at last I knew it really was true, so I said it, coz I didn’t care who heard. ‘Truly – this was the Son of God.’                  

Episode NT31 – The Crucifixion

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 15 verses 16 to 47 & Luke chapter 23 verses 39 to 43

The Crucifixion

What a victory! The religious leaders could hardly believe it was true – Jesus, the One they’d hated – the One who’d been nothing but a … but a pain in the neck since He’d first arrived, showing them up and embarrassing them with all His talk about the Kingdom of God, was finally going to get what He deserved – death!

It was almost too good to be true! This Jesus, who spoke so much about God, was now going to die the most disgraceful death imaginable. He was going to be crucified! Crucified with the scum of society; a death so horrible it was reserved for the most vile villains and murderers! Surely now, everyone would see what a phoney Jesus was because, if He’d been considered even slightly important, then the very least the Romans would have done for Him was give Him a quick death by the sword – but now He’d have to face the disgrace of dying like a common criminal. He was finished, and His teaching could be forgotten along with Him. In fact, it was almost funny! Didn’t the Bible say that anyone hung on a tree was under the curse of God? Now Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of God, was to die nailed to a tree – on a rough wooden cross!

As Jesus was led away after being whipped, the Jewish leaders started celebrating. At long last they’d won, Jesus had lost – it was over! (PAUSE)

After whipping Jesus, the Roman soldiers took Him to their headquarters. They wanted to have a little fun with the condemned man! The charge had been that Jesus was ‘the King of the Jews’, so now the all-conquering Romans – who bowed the knee to no one except their own leaders – would show just what they thought of anyone who claimed to be a king.

Stripping Jesus of His clothes, the soldiers took a purple robe, the kind of thing only rulers and leaders wore, and draped it around His shoulders – laughing at how pathetic He looked. But this wasn’t enough; surely a king deserves a crown? So taking some thin branches covered in long vicious thorns, the soldiers carefully weaved a makeshift crown and rammed it on His head until the blood poured down His face. And as Jesus stood before them, weak from the whipping, a crown of thorns on His head and a purple cloak over His shoulders – they took it in turns to salute their defeated enemy, then spit in His face and beat Him on the head with a stick – on and on until they were bored, bored of the beatings and ready to get on with the execution. So, removing the purple cloak, they put Jesus’ own clothes back on Him, put a cross on His back and forced Him to start the climb to Skull Hill – or as it was known in the local language – Golgotha, where the crucifixion was to take place.

But after His whipping, beating and humiliation, Jesus was too weak to carry His cross very far. (P) A man called Simon, who was from a place called Cyrene, found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and the soldiers grabbed him and forced him to carry Jesus’ cross the rest of the way to Skull Hill. (P)

The soldiers had executed many people before, they knew how to crucify, they also knew how painful it was and so offered Jesus some drugged wine to ease what was to follow, but Jesus refused to take it. Then, with a shrug of their shoulders, they laid the cross on the ground, put Jesus on top and stretched out His hands, put His feet one on top of the other and nailed His hands and feet in place. Above His head they nailed the charge He’d been found guilty of. It said simply: ‘King of the Jews’. (P) The cross, with Jesus, nailed on, was raised up and secured in place. Then, leaving Jesus for a moment, they laid out two other criminals who were to be crucified that same day and put one up on either side of Him. And then, to pass the time, they divided Jesus’ clothes into four piles, one for each of them, and tried to work out what to do with Jesus’ undergarment. It was a nice piece of clothing, and they didn’t want to rip it up and ruin it, so after some discussion, they decided to cast lots for it, which is like throwing dice, where the one who gets the highest number wins! So they cast lots for His clothes and then waited – because death by crucifixion can be a long, slow process. (PAUSE)

It was nine o’clock in the morning when Jesus was crucified, and Skull Hill was near enough to Jerusalem for many people to pass by and see what was happening. Of course, everyone already knew what had taken place and some just came to gloat over the end of this so-called Holy Man – this person who was supposed to be sent from God and yet ended up being executed under the curse of God! But it was the religious leaders who enjoyed it most, standing by the cross they shouted out for everyone to hear, ‘He SAVED others, but look at Him now! He can’t even save Himself! Let this ‘Messiah’, this ‘King of the Jews’, come down from the cross so that we can all see it with our own eyes! Only then will we believe anything He’s said!’ (P) And then, everyone was hurling insults at Him, even the criminals being executed on each side started mocking Him. At least, one of them did while the other one began to take notice of this special man nailed between them. And reading the charge nailed above Him – ‘King of the Jews’ – he began to wonder – or God began to speak to him even as he was being executed for his many crimes.

But the first criminal hadn’t seen anything special in Jesus, ‘So you’re the ‘Messiah’ are you?’ he mocked. ‘Well come on then!’ he continued, ‘Don’t just stay there, prove it to us all and save yourself! (P) Oh! And while you’re at it, you can save us too!’

At this, the other criminal could take no more. ‘Shut up, will you! Don’t you fear God even when you’re dying? We deserve what’s coming to us for what we’ve done, but this man,’ he nodded in Jesus’ direction. ‘This man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ At this, he turned his head as best he could to look at Jesus. ‘Jesus,’ he called, and Jesus looked his way. ‘When you, come into your Kingdom, please, remember me’. (P)

‘I will tell you something that’s absolutely true,’ Jesus replied as He looked into the eyes of the dying man. ‘Today – you will be with me in paradise.’ (PAUSE)

At 12 midday, it was almost as if the sun could no longer bear to look upon Jesus as He was dying on that cross, and darkness spread across the whole land until 3 in the afternoon. And then, after 6 hours on the cross, Jesus raised His head and called out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ Which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Then Jesus let out another loud cry and died. At that moment, the large thick curtain in the temple in Jerusalem, the curtain that separated the people from the Most Holy Place where they could not go because of their sin, was torn in two from top to bottom. And the Roman officer who stood watching Jesus die exclaimed, ‘Truly, this man was the Son of God!’ (PAUSE)

As evening drew near, a member of the high council called Joseph from the town of Arimathea, plucked up the courage to go and see Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died already and, after calling in the Roman officer to confirm He was dead, Pilate allowed Joseph to take the body. There wasn’t much time before the Sabbath day began because, for Jews, the day starts at sunset and sunset was close at hand. On the Sabbath day, no working could take place. So quickly taking Jesus’ body down from the cross, Joseph wrapped it in a long linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a large stone over the entrance and went sadly away. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ disciples, saw where the body had been left.

Episode NT18 – The Transfiguration

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 8 verse 27 to chapter 9 verse 13

The Transfiguration

As they travelled northeast, out of Israel to the area of Caesarea Philippi, they couldn’t help noticing all the temples and places of worship there were to different ‘gods’. It was said that at the bottom of one of the nearby mountains the so-called ‘god’ Pan was born – a god of fertility, perhaps the most important fertility symbol in the whole region. It was as they walked through this landscape, a landscape of so much worship but so little knowledge of the true and living God that Jesus turned to His disciples and asked, ‘Tell me, who do people say I am?’

The disciples mulled it over for a moment or two. ‘Some say you’re John the Baptist come back to life,’ one said. Another added, ‘Or maybe Elijah or one of the other prophets, you know, Jeremiah or someone like that.’

‘But what about you?’ Jesus asked them, ‘Who do you say I am?’

Simon Peter didn’t hesitate when he heard the question, because somehow he already knew the answer. And so in a land of so many gods and idols, Simon Peter spoke his true confession, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’

‘God has really blessed you Simon son of John,’ Jesus said. ‘Because you didn’t learn this from anyone else, it was my Father in heaven who revealed it to you. And now I tell you that with your true acknowledgement of who I am – you are Peter, which means ‘rock’, and on this rock – I will build my church, and even though the powers of hell will rage against it, they will never conquer it. And, I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven so that whatever you bind up here on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you set free here on earth will be set free in heaven.’

Jesus knew that even though His disciples had begun to understand who He was, as yet they had little real idea of what the Messiah would be like. They thought the Messiah would set them free from the power of the Romans, that their nation would become the most powerful on earth – they only thought of the Messiah as someone who would set them free from the problems of this world. But Jesus knew how little they understood, and how easily others would misunderstand if they found out that He was the Messiah, and so He sternly warned them not to tell anyone else that He was the Messiah.

From that moment on Jesus was determined that the disciples should understand what the Messiah’s life was all about. So He began to tell them plainly that He would have to go to Jerusalem and about all that would happen there.  That He would have to suffer at the hands of the leaders, the high priests and teachers of the law. That He would be killed and on the third day, He would be raised back to life.

But this wasn’t anything like the Messiah the disciples had in mind! Peter couldn’t believe his ears! The Messiah suffer? Die? What was Jesus talking about, surely this couldn’t be right? Jesus must have got it all mixed up. So taking Jesus to one side he started to correct Him, ‘Jesus, Jesus, heaven forbid that these things you’re talking about should come true…’

As Peter spoke, Jesus realised where all the false ideas Peter had about the Messiah had come from, and who had whispered them into Peter’s head. So looking at Peter and making sure they could all hear He said, ‘Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me because you don’t see things from God’s perspective but from a human point of view!’

And with Peter still reeling from His rebuke, Jesus started to teach the disciples what it really meant to be one of His followers, to show them how wrong their ideas were and just how much it was going to cost them. ‘If anyone wants to be my follower,’ He began, ‘then they must put aside what they want and pick up their cross and follow me.’

Pick up a cross? Was Jesus saying that following Him was the same as being a prisoner under sentence of death? For only a convicted criminal walking to his place of execution would carry his cross, knowing it would be the last journey of his life! But Jesus was still talking, ‘If you try to keep living your life for yourself, then you will lose your life. But, if you live your life for me, then you will find true life! Tell me, what good is it if you become master of the whole world and have everything you could ever imagine and then lose your soul to the fires of hell? Is there anything worth more than your soul? For one day I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father, with His angels, and I will judge all people according to what they have done! And what’s more, I assure you that some of you standing right here will not die before you have seen me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom!’

The disciples were to remember this later when Jesus had risen from the dead!

About six days or so later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers James and John with Him as He went up a high mountain. When they reached the top something amazing happened before their eyes! As they watched, Jesus’ appearance started to change until His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any process known to man could make them. And as they watched in terror and awe, two other men appeared with Jesus. There was no doubting who these men were. One of them was Moses, the man who had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and who had received the law and passed it on to the people. The other man was Elijah the great prophet who had been taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. And as they met with Jesus, Moses and Elijah started to speak with Him about what was to take place soon!

The disciples didn’t know what to think, what to do. It would perhaps have been wiser if Peter hadn’t said anything, but as he looked at the scene unfolding before him he spluttered out, ‘Lord, this is wonderful! If you want, I could make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah!’ He didn’t really know what he was saying!

But even as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them all and a voice spoke from within the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him. Listen to Him.’ As the voice spoke the disciples were terrified, and just like Moses and Elijah had fallen down to worship God on Mount Sinai many years earlier, so the three of them fell face down on the ground. (PAUSE)

God had spoken His approval of all Jesus had said and done! In the most spectacular way, God had told these disciples that He was fully pleased with Jesus and that they should listen to Him even though He wasn’t the kind of Messiah they’d been expecting. And even though He taught that following Him would cost so much.

Moments later Jesus came over and touched them. ‘Get up,’ He said, ‘don’t be afraid.’ As they got up and looked around they saw that only Jesus remained with them – as if Moses and Elijah had been pointing to Jesus so that only Jesus remained, because, in Him, all the law and the prophets found their fulfilment. As they descended the mountain, Jesus commanded them yet again not to tell anyone what they had seen until He had been raised from the dead.’

‘As I look’ – a song

This felt like the right place to share.

Simon Faulks and I were at Moorlands College together way back when… And during that time we wrote and performed some songs together. Well, during this time of lockdown and restriction, we’ve reconnected to see if we can’t do some level of music from our separate locations and this is the first song.

It’s called ‘As I Look’ and imagines looking up at Jesus on the cross and catching His eye… I hope you enjoy it. More will follow – like it or not!

Oh, and if you want to understand the name ‘spellt ronge’ you’ll need to look at the website Simon has set up for the music as it helps explain it all! https://spellt-ronge.notashamed.co.uk/’

7 Sayings From the Cross

A story told from the perspective of the Roman soldier who crucified Jesus and saw Him die.

Music: ‘Bats’ by Phil Syonds – Partners in Rhyme, Inc From SmartSound

Photo by Francesco Alberti on Unsplash

 Full script and notes:

Seven Saying from the Cross – The Centurions Story

‘I’d seen men die before – lots of them coz it’s me job, I execute the ‘enemies of the state’. ‘Corse, ‘enemies of the state’s a cover all – a phrase to mean we execute anyone and everyone we don’t like. Rome rules – and seeing our power displayed in the bodies of the dead – tends to keep people in line.

But this one was different. The other two were just like everyone else we’d crucified. Pleading, panicking, promising, cursing and threatening as we nailed ‘em in place. But not this man Jesus.

When ‘e was passed on to us to crucify ‘ – already ‘e was in a bad state. ‘is back was more jelly than flesh ‘caz of the whipping the others ‘ad given ‘im and ‘e’d lost a lot of blood. They’d also rammed a crown on thick thorns on ‘is ‘ed which ‘ad the blood flowing down ‘is face. Honestly? It was pretty much a miracle ‘e was still alive for us to nail up there – but that said, ‘e was alive, ‘e knew what was ‘appening and spent the next 6 hours being the kind of person – I’d never met or seen before in all my life.

As I said, usually when we nail ‘em in place there’s screaming, crying, panicking, pleading – you know that kind of thing, but not this Jesus. Instead through the stress of it all, ‘e looks up at us and at the hate filled faces all-around – of people ‘ow seem to be loving every moment of ‘is suffering – and instead of cursing us all – ‘e calls out to ‘is ‘Father’! He calls, ‘Father, forgive ‘em because they don’t know what they’re doing.’

It took a moment to sink in, but then I realized that this ‘Father’ ‘e was talking to – was God. ‘e was pleading to God for God to forgive us! I’d never heard anything like it – forgiveness and no hate. I shook my head in wonder – and got on with ‘me job.

One of the ‘perks’ of the job is that whatever the ones we’re to crucify ‘av when they get to us, we get to keep. So ‘aving stripped them we got down to divide up their clothes between us – probably worth a few pennies. But this Jesus ‘ad a really nice garment, woven all in one piece and we didn’t see the point of running its value by ripping it up to share between ourselves, so we threw dice to see who’d get it. I guess it was my lucky day!

As I was smiling to myself at my good fortune I noticed Jesus once again. ‘e couldn’t care less about ‘is clothes, instead ‘e’s looking towards some people in the crowd. I turned to see who ‘e was looking at and there in the crowd were some people whose sadness seemed to flow from their faces. I guess it must ‘ave been ‘is family – some women and a man.

Now, once you’re on one of them crosses life aint to easy caz they’re designed to give maximum pain. You breath in ok, but to breath out you’ve got to push down on your feet – feet nailed in place. So breathing’s a bit of an issue – which also means speaking’s pretty tough. But Jesus sees these people and looks with such love towards one of the women – it didn’t take a genius to realise it was probably ‘is mother – and ‘e says. ‘Dear woman,’ then he indicates with ‘is head to the man standing near her and carries on. ‘here is your son’. Then ‘e turns ‘is eyes to the man – and with a knowing look ‘e says, ‘Here is your mother’. At that, the man moved next to the woman. Even as ‘e was dying, this Jesus was still looking after ‘is family!

Honestly, the next thing that happened ‘ad me shaking my ‘ed in disbelief. You see the level of hatred towards this Jesus bloke was off the chart – all kinds of well to do people kept coming by to shout all kinds of stuff at ‘im. Even the criminals on the other two crosses mocked ‘im – at least at first. But then one of those criminals quickly stopped ‘is mocking. Maybe ‘e heard what Jesus said to us and to ‘is mother, or maybe it was the hatred of the leaders – I don’t know, it’s beyond me. But for a while this other criminal just watched and listened then, ‘e seemed to just snap. The first criminal had been using ‘is energy up throwing hate at Jesus along with all the others. But then this second criminal takes a breath, pushes down on ‘is feet: – and almost as if ‘e doesn’t feel it ‘e shouts at the first criminal. ‘Don’t you fear God? We’ve been condemned the same as Him but we deserve it for all the things we’ve done. But this man’s innocent!’ That shut the other one up for a while. Then, this criminal turned as best ‘e could towards Jesus and pushing down once again so ‘e could speak ‘e asks, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’.

Kingdom? What Kingdom? ‘e seemed to think this Jesus was some kind of King? Maybe it was the sign the governor ‘ad ‘ad nailed on the cross above Jesus ’ed which read, ‘King of the Jews’. It was all a bit beyond me and I just snorted. Anyway, I knew what this man was like – scum, an’ ‘e was right, ‘e did deserve to be on that cross and there was no way I could see Jesus wanting to talk to the likes of ‘im.

But again, Jesus didn’t follow the rules. Instead, taking a breath and pushing down on ‘is own feet Jesus turned as best ‘e could towards that criminal and said, ‘I tell you the truth. Today you will be with me in the garden of delights.’

I stood there shaking my head – something was going on that was beyond my understanding. And, a change came over that criminal – or maybe I should say – something changed … intangible but real. But what really scared me was that I found I didn’t doubt what Jesus said.

Strange things happened from about midday. It was as if the sun didn’t want to shine anymore and darkness covered … everywhere from what I could tell. The hours ticked by with the three on their crosses unable to do much more than survive. But at about 3 in the afternoon the silence of slow death was suddenly shattered. Jesus cried out in a way that seemed impossible – and ‘e cried out in words that were in a language I didn’t know, but they were words from so deep inside ‘im it was as if the whole of Jesus sobbed them out – words of a broken heart. He cried out, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ Which I later found out meant, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’

Things were moving fast for Jesus, you could tell the end was close. Now, from hours of bleeding and dying on the cross, gently he said, ‘I’m thristy’. And someone lifted a sponge up to ‘im to take a drink.

When people die from crucifixion, usually it’s a quite affair as they expire – but as I said before, Jesus wasn’t following the rules because after ‘ed ‘ad a drink – it was as if there was a change. Moments before, it was as if ‘is heart was broken but then, with a power, a strength the likes of while ‘e shouldn’t really of ‘ad ‘e cries out. ‘It … is … FINSIHED’.

I didn’t know what was finished – but there was a new strength in ‘im – a joy of some kind – somehow whatever ‘e’d done or … or finished ‘ad changed … everything. Then once again in a loud voice – not a moan or a murmur like the other died. Clearly and for all to hear – ‘e cries out. ‘Father, into your hands I commend My Spirit’. Then it was as if ‘e dismissed ‘is spirit – and then ‘e was dead.

I saw it – I saw it all. And when ‘e died, a death the likes I’ve never seen before – I praised the God ‘e talked to – the God He called Father – and said, ‘Surely, this man was the Son of God.’

© Story Copyright Andrew Devis – June 13th 2016 – all rights reserved

NOTES: Here is a list of the sayings and where they can be found

While they were nailing his hands and feet to the cross, or a little later, when they were putting up the cross, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Touched by the repentant attitude and the faith of one of the thieves crucified with him, Jesus turned towards him and declared, “ I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Even while dying, Jesus was preoccupied with others. He thought of his mother, among others, and made arrangements to ensure that she would not lack anything. “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:2627)

After five and a half hours of agony, at the peak of his pain, the Lord cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

As he was on the point of dying, Jesus, with parched lips, cried out “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)

Just before giving up his spirit, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Usually a crucified person at the point of death did not have the strength to cry out but rendered his spirit with a moan. Jesus gave out a loud cry. His cry was not a cry of death but a cry of victory.

At the moment of rendering his spirit, Jesus opened his mouth again and cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) This prayer is an expression of total trust in God.

Music: ‘Bats’ by Phil Syonds – Partners in Rhyme, Inc From SmartSound

Photo by Francesco Alberti on Unsplash