Six Trials

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Six Trials

John 19:17

17 And [kai] he bearing [bastazo] his [autos] cross [stauros] went forth [exerchomai] into [eis] a place [topos] called [lego] the place of a skull [kranion] , which [hos] is called [lego] in the Hebrew [Hebraisti] Golgotha [Golgotha] : KJV-Interlinear

17 They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. NASB

Matt. 27:31-32
31 And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. 32 And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross. NASB

Mark 15:20-22
20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, and put His garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. 21 And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. NASB

Luke 23:26
26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. NASB

Pilate is finished. He now turns Jesus over to his soldiers who took the robe off of Jesus and placed his original clothing back on Him. The typical attire of the Jewish male composed of five pieces of clothing - a full body length under garment, an outer garment, sandals, belt and a head piece. The four soldiers will divide up the four pieces and cast lots for the fifth piece.

Jesus was humiliated at several times, when he was stripped for scourging and then the scarlet robe was placed on Him and now when the robe is removed and His own clothes are placed on Him. This last clothing change being done in full view of the public. At the Cross he will be stripped one last time and left hanging on the Cross for all to gawk at.

On the way a man is taken from the crowd and recruited to help carry the Cross. He is Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus). The mention of his sons is again referenced by Paul in Rom. 16:13. where Rufus and his mother (Simon's wife) are mentioned.

Cyrene was a settlement located west of Alexandria on the North African coast of the Mediterranean, directly south of Greece in present day eastern Libya. Obviously this event had a tremendous impact on Simon, for his family (wife and sons) are believers in Christ.

The procession will go to a hill which is named for its looks. There are no bones or skulls there. But the features of the hill make it look like a skull. Skull translates from a Greek term 'kranion' equivalent to the Hebrew/Aramaic 'Golgotha.' The name Calvary comes from the Latin word 'calvaria' for skull, or cranium.

It is in a prominent location along a well traveled road and in full view of the general public. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a very public execution, witnessed by man and angels. The 'only' Son of God (there is no other person through whom we may approach God) was rejected and despised and humiliated by all, just as foretold by many passages in the scriptures.

He was sinned against by those who were ignorant of His identity (the soldiers), by those who knew they were evil (the other two criminals), by those who were fickle in their opinions (the crowd of public opinion), by those who were religious (the chief priests who defined God to their liking), by those who were indifferent (Herod), by those who were self justified (Pilate), and he was sinned against by those who were weak in their faith (the apostles). Yet Jesus Christ goes to the Cross for all of these peoples, all (you and me included), totally undeserving.