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centuríon,
who stoodfacing him,
saw
that he thus breathed hís last, he
said, 'Truly this man was the Son of
God!'" (Mark 15:37, 39.) Here is a
formerly hostile witness who in per–
son saw Jesus Chríst die-havíng to
acknowledge that Jesus was the Son
of God no doubt because of Hís
conduct and demeanor on the cross.
As Peter later wrote: "When he was
revíled, he did not revile in return;
when he sutfered, he did not
tbreaten ..." (1 Peter 2:23).
Mark's version goes on to show
that the Roman centurion was far
from being the on1y witness. "There
were
also women looking on from
ajar,
among whom were Mary Mag–
dalene, and Mary the mother of
James ... who, when he was in Ga–
lilee, followed him, and ministered
to him ..." (Mark 15:40, 41). These
women were Jesus' very closest
friends who knew Him well during
His ministry- not just curious on–
lookers and passersby who hap–
pened to be in the vicinity at the
time. The account continues:
" ... and
also many other women
[looking on from afar] who carne up
with him to Jerusalem" (verse 41).
Here were still more women ac–
quaintances who accompanied the
party on Jesus' last trip to Jerusa–
Jem.
Luke makes it clear that there
were far more eyewitnesses than just
these distraught women followers.
"And
a/1 the multitudes who assem–
bled to see the sight,
when they saw
what had taken place, returned
borne beating their breasts.
And al/
his acquaintances
and the women
who had followed him from Galilee
stood at a distance and
saw these
things"
(Luke 23:48-49). Luke men–
tions first the Roman centurion
(verse 47), then a general gathering
probably of curiosity seekers, next
other acquaintances, and finally, the
women friends that Mark's and
Luke's accounts emphasize.
John, writing in bis old age, later
adds important details. Roman sol–
diers were gambling over Christ's
very expensive garments. Later
sorne of those same soldiers re–
turned to the crucifixion scene
after
Jesus was a1ready dead (see John
19).
At sorne point between the hour
that Jesus was nailed to the cross
12
and the hour of His death, His own
motber and closest friend among
the twelve disciples were standing
only a few feet from the cross.
"But
standing by the cross
of Jesus were
his mother, and his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus saw his
mother, and the disciple whom he
loved [John] standing near, he said
to his mother, 'Woman, behold,
your son!' Then he said to the dis–
ciple [John], 'Behold , your
mother!'" (John 19:25-27.)
Later, as Mark and Luke both
wríte, Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary apparently retreated to
a position "afar off," · but near
enough that they cou1d still see
Jesus. His mother either stuck by
Hís síde to the very end, or possibly
John took her to his borne because
she may have been unable to stand
the awful ordeal of seeing her own
son beaten almost beyond recogni–
tion and suffering horribly.
After
Jesus was nailed up, and be–
fore the soldiers gambled over His
garments, Pontius Pílate placed a
title on the cross (see verses 18 and
19). So Pilate, too, was an actual
eyewitness ofJesus on the cross.
Earlier, Jesus had been judged by
Pilate, the Roman governor of the
time. That would be somewhat like
beíng judged by the prime minister
of a country such as Great Britain.
Sometime in the tría! proceedings
Jesus was also brought before
Caiaphas, the high priest of the na–
tion whose equivalent today might
be the archbishop of Canterbury.
He was also examined by another
ruler whose stature might be coro–
pared to the king or queen of Great
Britain-Herod Antipas, the son of
Herod the Great. Finally, Jesus un–
derwent His court tria! by the San–
hedrin, a body of judges perhaps
comparable to the Supreme Court
today. (All of these theoretical com–
parisons are not intended as reflec–
tions on the character of those who
presently hold lhose modern-day of–
fices, but are intended only lo show
that members of the highest eche–
lons of government in Judaea were
involved
in
the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ ofNazareth.)
So not only were the common
people of Jerusalem and the sur–
rounding area of Palestine witnesses
to the events of the crucifixion, but
so were the highest classes of so–
ciety- people representing three lev–
els of government: Jewish religious
leaders, Jewish civil rulers, and the
Roman occupational authorities–
including the top man, with con–
nections at the very seat of govern–
ment in Rome.
That ·whole nation knew that
Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on
the cross. As Paul later told King
Agrippa: "This was not done in a
comer" (Acts 26:26).
The execution of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth was witnessed by persons at
every point on the political and social
spectrum- all the way from blood–
thirsty religious leaders, who wanted
more than anything to see Him killed,
to disinterested Roman occupational
personnel who just didn't care, but
must have enjoyed the spectacle. His
friends also watched with sorne ofHis
own disciples, all of whom had fled
the night before but who had gath–
ered up enough courage to retum the
next day. His own molher was only a
few feet from lhe cross on one occa–
sion.
Many were shaken lO the very
core by Christ's brutal murder–
even "beating their breasts" in utter
frustration at seeing their hero and
champion die.
No, His execution was not done
"in a comer."
1t
took place at Pass–
over time when many thousands
converged on Jerusalem for the
Passover celebration and the Days
of Unleavened Bread. The first-cen–
tury Jewisb historian Josephus tells
us that as many as two million
people gathered in the vicinity of
Jerusalem at Passover time. Schol–
ars have disputed this figure as
grossly exaggerated, but be that as it
may, multiple thousands were den–
nitely in Jerusalem at the time.
Undoubtedly hundreds or even
thousands of people lined the road
as Jesus dragged
His
own stake part
way to the site of the crucifixion.
Later thousands saw His body
hanging on the stake upon the hill.
Afterwards , all those Jewish
people in temporary residence at Je–
rusalem during the spring festival
were bound to have taken that in–
formation back with tbem to all of
Judaea, Galilee and throughout that
whole Middle Eastern area.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1977