As I was reading about Jesus and His death on the cross my attention was drawn to three men who figured into the story of Jesus and His suffering at Calvary. The three men are: Barabbas,
Christian tradition holds that Gestas was on the cross to the left of Jesus and Dismas was on the cross to the right of Jesus. In Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend, the name of the impenitent thief is given as Gesmas. The impenitent thief is sometimes referred to as the "bad thief" in contrast to the good thief.
Three Crosses stood upon Calvary 2,000 years ago. Those three crosses speak of two destinies, of three men and in what condition they died.
It would read, “There they crucified him and with him two others on either side and Jesus between them.” This is the simple truth of Scripture. There were four others crucified with Jesus, as John says, two others on either side.
In antiquity crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC.
Also, the Gospel of Barnabas “also presents Judas Iscariot as the one who died on the cross instead of Jesus, whereas in the New Testament, Judas betrays Jesus,” Y-Jesus reported.
On July 19, 1805, an Italian shoemaker named Mattio Lovat crucified himself outside the third-floor window of his Venice home. He was rescued by passersby, sent to the hospital, and recovered.
In the Gospel of Luke, we are told that during Our Blessed Lord's crucifixion, there were two other men suffering the same death, one to either side of Him. The one to Christ's right has become known as the “Good Thief,” while the one to His left is referred to as the “Unrepentant Thief.”
Contemporary sources tell us that so many men were crucified—about 6,000—that crosses lined the road from Rome to Capua.
According to John Chrysostom, the thief dwelt in the desert and robbed or murdered anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. According to Pope Gregory I, he "was guilty of blood, even his brother's blood" (fratricide).
We cross our forehead so that the Word of God may be in our thoughts and purify our minds. We cross our lips so that our speech may be holy and incline us to share the Gospel with others. And we cross our hearts to invite God to strengthen our love for Him and others.
It shows us the one who carried our sins. It's important that Jesus' cross was in the middle. The cross is at the center of God's work of salvation. We can't avoid the cross; it forces the question “What will you do with Jesus?”
After the arrest of Jesus, Peter and the "other disciple" (according to tradition, John) followed him into the palace of the high-priest. The "beloved disciple" alone, among the Apostles, remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary alongside myrrhbearers and numerous other women.
Summary: Each cross on calvary carries a message: we see a cross of redemption, a cross of rejection, and a cross of repentance. Picture in your mind one of the drawings or paintings that you have seen portraying Christ's crucifixion.
All four canonical gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) noted Mary Magdalene's presence at Jesus's Crucifixion, but only the Gospel of Luke discussed her role in Jesus's life and ministry, listing her among “some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities” (Luke 8:1–3).
Peter was crucified around 66AD in Rome under the persecution of Emperor Nero. There are all kinds of unverified traditions about his death, most notably that he was crucified upside down because he didn't consider himself worthy to die the same way Jesus did. James was the first of the 12 to be put to death.
Yes, Jesus chose John because he was tender and affectionate. He told her, “Woman, behold, your son” (John 19:26, ESV). Then, to John, He declared, “Behold, your mother” (verse 27, ESV). The disciple knew what He meant precisely.
The figure to the left of Saint Peter holds a key, a traditional symbol of this Saint. His execution was ordered by the Roman Emperor Nero, who blamed the city's Christians for a terrible fire that had ravaged Rome. Peter requested to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.
Apparently there is only one extant account (in Josephus) of one person surviving crucifixion out of the hundreds reported in ancient literature. (And that case was only when excellent medical care was immediately provided by the Romans, and even so, only one out of three who were so rescued actually survived!)
To speed death, executioners would often break the legs of their victims to give no chance of using their thigh muscles as support. It was probably unnecessary, as their strength would not have lasted more than a few minutes even if they were unharmed.
These witnesses to the resurrected Jesus include the Apostle Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and, most intriguingly, a group of more than 500 people at the same time.
After the Ascension of Jesus
Her death is not recorded in the scriptures, but Orthodox tradition, tolerated also by Catholics, has her first dying a natural death, known as the Dormition of Mary, and then, soon after, her body itself also being assumed (taken bodily) into Heaven.
Abstract. On three occasions, Acts refers to Jesus' crucifixion as 'hanging on a tree' (5.30; 10.39; 13.29), a phrase alluding to the proscriptions for displaying an Israelite convicted of a capital crime (Deut. 21.22-23).
Aramaic is best known as the language Jesus spoke. It is a Semitic language originating in the middle Euphrates. In 800-600 BC it spread from there to Syria and Mesopotamia. The oldest preserved inscriptions are from this period and written in Old Aramaic.