And at last, wishing to please them, Pilate had Barabbas brought out of prison, and gave Jesus up to be beaten. The Roman soldiers seized Jesus, and took off His clothes and put a scarlet dress on Him, to imitate the Emperor's purple robe; and they twisted pieces of a thorny plant which grows round Jerusalem into the shape of a crown, and put it on His head; and they put a reed in His hand for a sceptre. And then all the soldiers fell down before Jesus, and said, 'Hail, King of the Jews.' And then they spit at Jesus, and slapped Him; and they snatched the reed out of His hands and struck Him on the head, so as to drive in the thorns.
Outside the city gate, on the north side of Jerusalem, there is a round hill, called the Place of Stoning. On one side of that hill there is a straight yellow cliff, and prisoners used sometimes to be thrown down from that cliff, and then stoned. And sometimes they were taken to the top of that round hill and crucified. It is very likely that this is where the soldiers took Jesus. That hill is often called Calvary.
The soldiers made Jesus lie down on the cross, and they nailed Him to it—putting nails through His hands and His feet. Then they lifted up the cross with Jesus on it, and fixed it in a hole in the ground. And Jesus said,
'FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.'
Then the soldiers crucified two thieves, and put them near Jesus, one on each side; and they nailed up some white boards at the top of the crosses with black letters on them, to say what the prisoners had done. They put over Jesus Christ's head the words—
'THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.'
Three hours of fearful pain passed away. It was twelve o'clock. And now it became quite dark and it was dark till three o'clock in the afternoon. That was a dreadful three hours more for Jesus. It was a time of agony of mind, like the time He spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was having His last fight with Satan, and He felt quite alone. When it was about three o'clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'It is finished.' And He cried again with a loud voice, and said, 'Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.' And He bowed His head and died.
