Calvary

<p> CALVARY</p> <p>Jesus had been sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate and then tortured and flogged by the cruel guards of King Herod, and finally commanded by Pilate to carry his cross to Calvary, or Golgotha, which means ‘the place of the Skull’. Pilate told the Centurion to arrange for an escort of guards around Jesus to escort him to the windswept hill. One of the Centurion's men put the heavy beam on Jesus' bleeding shoulder as they left the yard and went into the crowded street. The already large crowd continued to grow, some of them followers and friends, others bitter enemies, and yet others who were just confused and angry. Jesus staggered and buckled under the weight of the beam but he continued to drag it behind him. It was the custom to write a description of the crime committed on a clay plate and fix it to the top of the cross. Pontius Pilate had written an inscription that read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS” An angry voice called out above the crowd “Who wrote that inscription? – it’s wrong”, and one of the temple priests had protested that It should have said that ‘He said he was king of the Jews’ However Pilate had made it very clear to them earlier that he had written that inscription and it had to stay as it was.</p> <p>A few paces further on Jesus staggered again but this time fell headlong to the ground. He could see blood flowing freely from Jesus now and he knew that he had to keep him on his feet. He must not let Jesus die here on the street. A burly lumbering man who, by the look of his clothing was visiting from some other region, was close by Jesus as he stumbled forward. The Centurion called out to the man. “You, help him. He is too weak to carry that on his own.” The man from Cyrene did what he was told and took the beam and strode on into a journey that was to be immortalized in endless time, as a reminder to all of us to not just be onlookers but to take up our share of the burden of the cross. When the trek to Calvary was completed, it would take six full hours on Calvary for Jesus