Jesus on Mount Golgotha.
Sixth and Seventh Falls of Jesus.
The procession again moved on; the road was very steep and rough
between the walls of the town and Calvary, and Jesus had the greatest
difficulty in walking with his heavy burden on his shoulders; but his
cruel enemies, far from feeling the slightest compassion, or giving the
least assistance, continued to urge him on by the infliction of hard
blows, and the utterance of dreadful curses. At last they reached a
spot where the pathway turned suddenly to the south; here he stumbled
and fell for the sixth time. The fall was a dreadful one, but the
guards only struck him the harder to force him to get up, and no sooner
did he reach Calvary that he sank down again for the seventh time.
Simon of Cyrene was filled with indignation and pity;
notwithstanding his fatigue, he wished to remain that he might assist
Jesus, but the archers first reviled, and then drove him away, and he
soon after joined the body of disciples. The executioners then ordered
the workmen and the boys who had carried the instruments of the
execution to depart, and the Pharisees soon arrived, for they were on
horseback, and had taken the smooth and easy road which ran to the east
of Calvary. There was a fine view of the whole town of Jerusalem from
the top of Calvary. This top was circular, and about the size of an
ordinary ridingschool, surrounded by a low wall, and with five separate
entrances. This appeared to be the usual number in those parts, for
there were five roads at the baths, at the place where they baptised,
at the pool of Bethsaida, and there were likewise many towns with five
gates. In this, as in many other peculiarities of the Holy Land, there
was a deep prophetic signification; that number five, which so often
occurred, was a type of those five sacred wound of our Blessed Saviour,
which were to open to us the gates of Heaven.
The horsemen stopped on the west side of the mount, where the
declivity was not so steep; for the side up which the criminals were
brought was both rough and steep. About a hundred soldiers were
stationed on different parts of the mountain, and as space was
required, the thieves were not brought to the top, but ordered to halt
before they reached it, and to lie on the ground with their arms
fastened to their crosses. Soldiers stood around and guarded them,
while crowds of persons who did not fear defiling themselves, stood
near the platform or on the neighbouring heights; these were mostly of
the lower classes--strangers, slaves, and pagans, and a number of them
were women.
It wanted about a quarter to twelve when Jesus, loaded with his
cross, sank down at the precise spot where he was to be crucified. The
barbarous executioners dragged him up by the cords which they had
fastened round his waist, and then untied the arms of the cross, and
threw them on the ground. The sight of our Blessed Lord at this moment
was, indeed, calculated to move the hardest heart to compassion; he
stood or rather bent over the cross, being scarcely able to support
himself; his heavenly countenance was pale and was as that of a person
on the verge of death, although wounds and blood disfigured it to a
frightful degree; but the hearts of these cruel men were, alas! harder
than iron itself, and far from showing the slightest commiseration,
they threw him brutally down, exclaiming in a jeering tone, 'Most
powerful king, we are about to prepare thy throne.' Jesus immediately
placed himself upon the cross, and they measured him and marked the
places for his feet and hands; whilst the Pharisees continued to insult
their unresisting Victim. When the measurement was finished, they led
him to a cave cut in the rock, which had been used formerly as a
cellar, opened the door, and pushed him in so roughly that had it not
been for the support of angels, his legs must have been broken by so
hard a fall on the rough stone floor. I most distinctly heard his
groans of pain, but they closed the door quickly, and placed guards
before it, and the archers continued their preparations for the
crucifixion. The centre of the platform mentioned above was the most
elevated part of Calvary,--it was a round eminence, about two feet high,
and persons were obliged to ascend two of three steps to reach its top.
The executioners dug the holes for the three crosses at the top of this
eminence, and placed those intended for the thieves one on the right
and the other on the left of our Lord's; both were lower and more roughly
made than his. They then carried the cross of our Saviour to the spot
where they intended to crucify him, and placed it in such a position
that it would easily fall into the hole prepared for it. They fastened
the two arms strongly on to the body of the cross, nailed the board at
the bottom which was to support the feet, bored the holes for the
nails, and cut different hollows in the wood in the parts which would
receive the head and back of our Lord, in order that his body might
rest against the cross, instead of being suspended from it. Their aim
in this was the prolongation of his tortures, for if the whole weight
of this body was allowed to fall upon the hands the holes might be
quite torn open, and death ensue more speedily than they desired. The
executioners then drove into the ground the pieces of wood which were
intended to keep the cross upright, and made a few other similar
preparations.