A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #24, November 1992 (Internet Edition) S T A N D I N G B E F O R E T H E T R E E J O H N 1 9 : 1 6 - 3 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective - Yehohanan, Son of Hagakol Perspective - Mary from Magdala Perspective - Come Down and We'll Believe Perspective - Blinders Perspective - Never Before Forgiven ----------------------------------------------------------------- Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. -JOH 19:16-30 NIV __________________________ How are we to approach the death of Christ? With our mind or with our heart? It is my earnest belief that to fully comprehend the depth of His sacrifice--and its impact on our lives--we must first be conversant in the particulars of that sacrifice. Before we can understand the why, we must understand the what and the how. I love my earthly father. I love him all the more knowing of the sacrifices he made so that I might have a good life. It is the same with my heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus became a man. For a time He inhabitated flesh--flesh that ached and knew hunger, was refreshed by the cool evening breeze, that was warmed by the sun and chilled by the wet sea breeze. On our behalf Jesus left the peace and comfort of heaven to dwell among those He had created out of the dust of the earth and the star dust of the firmament. If we speak of His crucifixion and death blithely, without intimate knowledge of precisely what Jesus was obliged to suffer for us, we cheapen that suffering. If His sacrifice is little more than a song topic in an Easter musical, we diminish that sacrifice. Conversely, if we lose ourselves in the minutia of archaeology without weeping with His mother at the foot of the cross, we have missed the meaning of Jesus' death. If we spend all of our time arguing the location of Golgotha, (1) our hearts will never ache with joy over the victory that happened there. Let us strive for balance. Let us, together, strive to understand what Jesus suffered, then why--the latter especially through the eyes and hearts of those who stood in sorrowful disbelief before the tree. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective Y E H O H A N A N , S O N O F H A G A K O L ------------- In 1968, Vassilios Tzaferis, an archaeologist with the Israel Department of Antiquities, examined a tomb near Jerusalem that had been accidently opened by a construction crew. Tzaferis discovered the bones of two generations of a Jewish family that lived in Jerusalem about the first century AD. A large nail piercing the heel bones of one skeleton led to the conclusion that this man had been crucified. The following has been taken from his article in the January/February 1985 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Many people erroneously assume that crucifixion was a Roman invention. In fact, Assyrians, Phoenicians and Persians all practiced crucifixion during the first millennium BC. Crucifixion was introduced in the west from these eastern cultures; it was used only rarely on the Greek mainland, but Greeks in Sicily and southern Italy used it more frequently, probably as a result of their closer contact with Phoenicians and Carthaginians. During the Hellenistic period, crucifixion became more popular among the Hellenized population of the east. After Alexander died in 323 BC, crucifixion was frequently employed both by the Seleucids (the rulers of the Syrian half of Alexander's kingdom) and by the Ptolemies (the rulers of the Egyptian half). Among the Jews crucifixion was an anathema. (2) The traditional method of execution among Jews was stoning. Nevertheless, crucifixion was occasionally employed by Jewish tyrants during the Hasmonean period. At the end of the first century BC, the Romans adopted crucifixion as an official punishment for non-Romans for certain legally limited transgressions. Initially, it was employed not as a method of execution, but only as a punishment. Moreover, only slaves convicted of certain crimes were punished by crucifixion. Only in later times, probably in the first century BC, did crucifixion evolve into a method of execution for conviction of certain crimes. Outside of Italy, the Roman procurators alone possessed authority to impose the death penalty. Thus, when a local provincial court prescribed the death penalty, the consent of the Roman procurator had to be obtained in order to carry out the sentence. Once a defendant was found guilty and was condemned to be crucified, the execution was supervised by an official known as the Carnifix Serarum. From the tribunal hall, the victim was taken outside, stripped, bound to a column and scourged. Following the beating, the horizontal beam was placed upon the condemned man's shoulders, and he began the long, grueling march to the execution site, usually outside the city walls. Sometimes the victim was attached to the cross only with ropes . . . If the victim was attached by nails, he was laid on the ground, with his shoulders on the crossbeam. His arms were held out and nailed to the two ends of the crossbeam, which was then raised and fixed on top of the vertical beam. The victim's feet were then nailed down against this vertical stake. THE CRUCIFIXION OF YEHOHANAN His remains reveal the horrible manner of his dying. From the way in which the bones were attached [to the excavated nail], we can infer the man's position on the cross. The two heel bones were attached on their adjacent inside (medial) surfaces. The nail went through the right heel bone and then the left. Since the same nail went through both heels, the legs were together, not apart, on the cross. A small seat, or sedile, must have been fastened to the upright of the cross. The evidence as to the position of the body on the cross convinced the investigators that the sedile supported only the man's left buttock. This seat both prevented the collapse of the body and prolonged the agony. Given this position on the cross and given the way in which the heel bones were attached to the cross, it seems likely that the knees were bent, or semi-flexed. This position of the legs was dramatically confirmed by a study of the long bones below the knees, the tibia or shinbone and the fibula behind it. Only the tibia of the crucified man's left leg was available for study. The bone had been brutally fractured into large, sharp slivers. This fracture was clearly produced by a single, strong blow. . . The angle of the line of fracture on these left calf bones provides proof that the victim's legs were in a semi-flexed position on the cross. The arm bones of the victim revealed the manner in which they were attached to the horizontal bar of the cross. A small scratch was observed on one bone (the radius) of the right forearm, just above the wrist. The scratch was produced by the compression, friction and gliding of an object on the fresh bone. This scratch is the osteological (3) evidence of the penetration of the nail between the two bones of the forearm, the radius and the ulna. Christian iconography usually shows the nails piercing the palms of Jesus' hands. Nailing the palms of the hands is impossible, because the weight of the slumping body would have torn the palms in a very short time. The victim would have fallen from the cross while still alive. As the evidence from our crucified man demonstrates, the nails were driven into the victim's arms, just above the wrists, because this part of the arm is sufficiently strong to hold the weight of a slack body. The position of the crucified body may then be described as follows: The feet were joined almost parallel, both transfixed by the same nail at the heels, with the legs adjacent; the knees were doubled, the right one overlapping the left; the trunk was contorted and seated on a sedile; the upper limbs were stretched out, each stabbed by a nail in the forearm. Normally, the Romans left the crucified person undisturbed to die slowly of sheer physical exhaustion leading to asphyxia. (4) However, Jewish tradition required burial on the day of execution. Therefore, in Palestine the executioner would break the legs of the crucified person in order to hasten his death and thus permit burial before nightfall. (5) __________________________ So here was the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, hanging outside the city of Jerusalem from a crude wooden cross perched atop an ugly, rocky place shaped liked a human skull. Since the quiet beginning of His short life He had given Himself to serving His children. Jesus had come to serve, to minister, to redeem those lost in sin. He had come to love those who hated Him. And love still flowed out of Him, as steadily as the blood flowing from his awful wounds. His children had turned against Him, begging Pilate to put Him to death; His children had plotted against Him, fabricating lies that would convince the Romans to cooperate in their travesty of justice; His children had beat Him and spat upon Him and cursed Him; and finally His children had laid Him back upon a crude beam and had driven spikes through His flesh. And His love still flowed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective M A R Y F R O M M A G D A L A ------------- After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out . . . (6) __________________________ Jesus had loved her when no one else had dared. He had loved her enough to free her tortured mind from the demons that had held it in bondage. For years she had known no peace--only the screaming of those in competition for her sanity. Then one day Jesus stepped into her life and she was suddenly free--free!--her mind clear and attentive, and receptive to her Lord's every word. She was a woman of means, and she now shared freely from her modest wealth to support Jesus and His disciples in their ministry journeys. Even more, knowing no better way to repay Jesus for her new-found clarity and freedom, Mary left her life beside the Sea of Galilee to accompany them. But now the one who had granted her such life-changing freedom hung dying before her, captive of a cruel Roman cross, and Mary once again felt the world pressing in on her. How could this be happening? How could anyone in his right mind think to crucify one so filled with compassion and love? How could God permit this hideous end to a life filled with such promise? As she stood there, huddled with the other followers against the jeering crowd, Mary struggled to make some sense out of it all. She paged back through her memory--leaves still fresh and alive with images so vivid after years of disuse--and recalled a quiet and restful evening some time back when she had asked the Lord a very important question . . . They had all shared from a simple meal cooked beneath the stars; Jesus, His twelve disciples, and the others that traveled with them lounged against the trunks of trees in a small grove. Mary cautiously approached her Lord, who was sitting by Himself. "Master?" "Did you get enough to eat, Mary?" "James is a good cook. I only wish he could keep the sand out of the pot." "We wouldn't want to hurt his feelings," Jesus laughed. "Besides, he's the only one who can get all those tiny bones out of the fish." "Lord, may I ask you a question?" Jesus looked intently into her eyes and His smile slowly faded. "I can see there is something troubling you. Sit down." Though Mary had been rehearsing the words for days, she still hesitated, collecting her thoughts into a coherent question. "I--I've been wondering for some time: Why?" Jesus waited for her to continue. "Why did you do it? Why me? Why did you heal me?" Jesus let his gaze travel past Mary, out over the blackness of the Sea of Galilee, out to where the apron of stars met the far distant hills. The easiest answer would be that He had healed His friend Mary because He loved her and wanted her to be freed from her tormentors. But that would be only part of the correct answer. Jesus turned back to face Mary. "I've spoken so often in parables and stories," He began, "but this time I'd like to tell you about a very real event that took place during the early days of my ministry. "It was the Sabbath, and I was in my home town of Nazareth after being away for some time. In the synagogue it became my turn to read from the scroll. I was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, so the Spirit led me to read: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (8) "After I handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat down, I went on to tell them: 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' (9) "My friends became very agitated, because I was proclaiming Myself to be the long-awaited Messiah, and especially because I told them I would have no special favors for them just because they were people I had grown up with. In all things I would obey the will of the Father." Jesus took her hands in His. "Mary, what I was telling them was that I had come to release people from their bondage--both now and eternally. You were in the possession of demons; I released you from that bondage so you could minister in my name. The world is in the possession of sin; I have come to release it from that bondage so that all people might have eternal life. All that is required--both from you and anyone else--is that they believe that I have the power to do it." __________________________ Freedom. Freedom from bondage. Mary stared up at the sagging body of her Lord. Rusted spikes protruded from His wrists and feet. Blood ran in ugly russet ribbons off His brow, into His eyes. His naked chest heaved from the painful exertion of breathing. His skin was pasty white, cold, trembling in the gathering darkness. Where was His freedom? This one who had salvaged her life from Satan's torment, who had given her purpose and a reason to get up each morning . . . Where was His freedom? Who would free Jesus from this horrible end? Who would save Him just as He had saved her? "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (10) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective C O M E D O W N A N D W E ' L L B E L I E V E ------------- And good riddance. Finally the deed was done--the heretic was at last where they had been trying to put him for months. Malchiah felt as if he had been suffering with a pounding toothache for the last six months; seeing this Nazarene finally affixed to a Roman tree, he felt as if the nagging pain had miraculously disappeared. There were other of his fellow councillors who were displaying no small measure of regret after seeing the result of their scheming, but Malchiah was experiencing nothing short of total relief. Clearly the God of Abraham would be blessing their actions. Once again they had faithfully defended the Law of Moses and the holy traditions of Israel. And once again the land was cleansed of yet another false messiah. Surely, though, this one had been the worst. Even now, with his last, lingering breaths, he was spouting his pathetic blasphemy. Could no one shut him up! Surely he was as insane as they had made him out to be. Now was the time, as he hung dying, for him to come clean! But the lunatic was raving on, even refering to God as his "father," and calling upon Him to forgive those who had crucified him. Forgiveness? He is the one who should be begging for forgiveness! Were he not a pious man, Malchiah would have gladly volunteered to pound in the nails himself. Word was spreading that this false prophet had succeeded in turning even some in the Sanhedrin. This was unthinkable to Malchiah, that someone so obviously counterfeit could persuade any member of that august body. What was even more unthinkable--and painful--was that one of those who had turned had once been Malchiah's closest friend . . . BLINDERS Time: Thursday before the crucifixion Place: An anteroom of the Sanhedrin's council chamber Enter MALCHIAH [Mal-keye'-uh] and JOSEPH of Arimathea , members of the Sanhedrin. Occasionally voices can be heard from backstage, outbursts coming from the heated exchange in the council chambers. MALCHIAH: You're a fool, Joseph! How much longer do you think you can keep this up? JOSEPH: Will you now give me away? MALCHIAH (exasperated): No, I'll not give you away. You're still my friend. But I should turn you in. If you persist in this you'll bring us all down with you. JOSEPH: You didn't vote with me. MALCHIAH: I am implicated by your confidence in me. I take a chance by simply leaving the council chamber with you. JOSEPH: Then why can't you vote with me? Why can't you see it, Malchiah? MALCHIAH: I would ask you the same, my misguided friend. JOSEPH: You were even with me that day he spoke. MALCHIAH: There have been many days he has spoken. Too many. JOSEPH: Yes, he's given us every opportunity to understand, and still some refuse........ MALCHIAH: There's no need to get personal! JOSEPH: But that's precisely what Jesus has been telling us! Malchiah, are you just like the rest? We keep going to him, we learned men of the Sanhedrin, trying to....debate Jesus into submission. MALCHIAH (insistently): This man is a disruption! JOSEPH: And what is he disrupting? MALCHIAH: Well...our way of life....the way we do things here.......our tradition. JOSEPH (he had been waiting for that word): Yes, our tradition. And I thank God he is disrupting our tradition. There is a surge of voices from offstage during JOSEPH's last line and MALCHIAH nervously tries to silence JOSEPH. MALCHIAH: Don't press your luck, Joseph. JOSEPH (slightly subdued; acknowledging his rash behavior): It was quite some time ago. A group of us had sought Jesus out to once again argue trivialities. A report had come to the council that the disciples of Jesus had been observed eating without having washed their hands. MALCHIAH (smugly): Now I remember. He refused the challenge, as I recall. JOSEPH: Jesus refused to join in our petty bickering. MALCHIAH: `Petty bickering'? It's the Law! JOSEPH: Your memory fails you, Malchiah---as does your scholarship. MALCHIAH is greatly offended. JOSEPH: We didn't challenge him on the law. We asked Jesus why his disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. MALCHIAH (not seeing the difference): Yes....... JOSEPH (incredulous; sadly): Well, I see you are still one of them. MALCHIAH (alarmed): One of `them'? Joseph, (gesturing toward backstage) you are one of them! JOSEPH (with a touch of melancholy): Not anymore. Not since that day. MALCHIAH (taking Joseph firmly by the shoulders): Don't take this any further. You are a respected councillor, a member of the Sanhedrin. Don't jeopardize your standing for the ravings of a lunatic prophet---an accused blasphemer. JOSEPH (pulling away): I'm told there is an animal down in Ethiopia that has a habit of hiding its head in the sand when challenged by an adversary. (pause) When I heard Jesus that day, I heard the truth---as if for the first time. Don't you feel the hunger, Malchiah? Don't you hunger for the truth? MALCHIAH (stiffly): I know the truth. JOSEPH: Do you think Jesus serves a God other than ours? MALCHIAH: Don't quiz me on the twisted contents of his mind! My faith has been tested by time and was given by the very hand of God. JOSEPH: But it's those commandments God handed down to us that have become twisted. We have designed for ourselves such a maze of regulations that we've lost sight of who God really is! All Jesus has done is cut through the confusion to show us that our relationship with God must be personal. It can't be founded on regulations. MALCHIAH (indignantly): He called us hypocrites! JOSEPH: And he backed it up by quoting Isaiah: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." Tradition, Malchiah. Just empty, selfish tradition. MALCHIAH: Don't quote the scriptures to me! JOSEPH (heatedly): Why not? You seem to have forgotten them! MALCHIAH: All right! Go follow your miniature God. I'll not stand in your way---and I'll not expose you to the rest of the council. (with bitterness) But I'll not vote with you. (pause) And I'll not be your friend. MALCHIAH exits in a huff. JOSEPH stares after him, his anger diminishing into a sadness for his friend. With a heavy sigh, he follows, returning to the council chambers for the next vote against Jesus. (12) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective N E V E R B E F O R E F O R G I V E N ------------- It began as just another execution. What did he care who it was or what their offense? Jew, Syrian, Egyptian, Moabite--who cared. Not caring made his work much easier. After all, he wasn't judge and jury; he wasn't the accuser; in fact, he wasn't even the one who actually put the sorry beggars up on the cross. A centurion could pick from one hundred other guys for someone to do the dirty work; he rarely soiled his own hands. Marcus Sertorius had his first clue that this was going to be no ordinary crucifixion during the customary procession through the streets of Jerusalem. The condemned generally fell into two categories: by the time the crossbeam was strapped to their shoulders they were either struggling wildly against their bonds or dejectedly resigned to their fate. In both cases, they always appeared to Marcus Sertorius to be completely guilty, and deserving of their end. But this Nazarene was different. As they had wound their way through the narrow streets, the prisoner had retained some mysterious--even otherworldly--dignity and calm. He was resigned to his death, yes, but seemed to be going to it out of duty--not so much enjoying it, but expecting it, even wanting it. Then there were his eyes. Normally he wouldn't bother looking into the face of any prisoner; they just weren't worth it. But for some reason he had with this one. What he saw there chilled him to the bone. For those eyes held no hate, no resentment, no fear. Those eyes held only love--and the very thought of one condemned loving his executioner was too much for Marcus Sertorious to bear. He was inured to the screams of those being impaled on a cross. Besides, they were criminals; they deserved what they were getting. He would never have to do it to another Roman, so what difference did it make. But this one, whom they had laughingly labeled the "King of the Jews," did not cry out. His face betrayed his agony, but he did not cry out. And Marcus Sertorious felt another chill run down his spine. His men raised the Nazarene into place, with the crossbeam fixed to the top of the upright post. They then laid the wooden plate against his feet and drove home the spike. Marcus Sertorious looked up into that face--but quickly glanced away. He stepped away: far away from the groans of the three prisoners, the wailing of the men's friends and family, the incessant joking and cynical laughter of his men. It was only a man! Just another man who had broken the law. Why should it upset him so? He had joined his men in the Praetorium in their contemptuous abuse of the prisoner. He had struck at him and spit upon him with the same relish as had they. He was just another filthy Jew! Then why was he sick at heart? Why was it he couldn't look this man in the face? Who was he to intimidate him so? As the hours dragged on, Marcus Sertorious found himself being drawn to the small cluster of the Nazarene's followers. By eavesdropping on their dispirited conversation he had learned that--at least in their eyes--this was no ordinary man. His name was Jesus, and he claimed to be the Son of God--son of the Jews' One God. He had been a carpenter, as his father, before leaving home to travel about the area speaking to and healing people. He had never married, but traveled about with twelve disciples and many other followers that included women. It was said that he forgave others as if he were God, which didn't mean much to Marcus Sertorious. In his life the gods had always been plural, and none of them ever forgave anyone. Funny. The sky was getting abnormally dark. Was that thunder? He glanced up at Jesus, to see that the man was gasping for breath. His years of experience told Marcus Sertorious that he was just moments away from death. He moved closer to the base of the cross and looked up. Jesus slowly, painfully lifted His head. He looked down into the searching eyes of a calloused Roman executioner. Their eyes met, and for the first time in his life Marcus Sertorious knew what it was to be forgiven. He felt his soul lifting up to embrace this one who he now knew to be no ordinary man. Suddenly Jesus raised up and cried loudly into the darkening sky. Lightning crashed overhead, splitting open the black clouds, and the earth trembled as if giving birth to a second moon. The body of Jesus slumped against the crude, wooden tree. Marcus Sertorious knew He was dead. And Marcus Sertorious also knew that his own life would be forever changed. "Truly this was the Son of God!" __________________________ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ, my God; All the vain things that charm me most-- I sacrifice them to His blood. See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small: Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. (13) ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1 "The site of Jesus' crucifixion is given in MAT 27:33, MAR 15:22, and JOH 19:17. The text of the NT gives only the briefest description--the place-name Golgotha (Aramaic Golgota) explained with the two terms kraniou ('skull') and topos ('place'). The Latin Vulgate translated kraniou into Latin as calvaria, which was carried into English. Wycliffe's version (1380) reads 'and their camen into a place, that is clepide golgotha, that is the place of caluari.' From this name, 'calvary' passed into English, alt hough it is nowhere found in Scripture." [from Theological & Grammatical Phrasebook of the Bible, by William White, Jr. (Moody Press, 1984), p43.] 2 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. -DEU 21:22-23 NIV 3 Osteology: the study of the structure and function of bones 4 "The unnatural position, growing thirst, exposure to the weather, some loss of blood, and impaired breathing contributed to bringing about a lingering and painful death. The tension of the arms prevented normal breathing, which caused the lungs to slowly fill with moisture. The victim drowned slowly by internal accumulation of fluid. The action of the heart was seriously affected. Frequently a crucified man might live as long as thirty-six hours, or even longer in an increasing agony, unless by sheer exha ustion or dementia he finally lapsed into unconsciousness. Crucifixion was probably the most diabolical form of death ever invented." [Merrill C. Tenney, in his commentary on the Gospel of John, The Expositor's Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 1984), Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor, p.181.] 5 Vassilios Tzaferis, in his article Crucifixion--The Archaeological Evidence, published in Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1985, Vol XI No. 1, p44. 6 LUK 8:1-2. 8 LUK 4:18-19. 9 LUK 4:21 NASB. 10 JOH 14:18-21. 12 From Blinders, Copyright c 1986, 1992, David S. Lampel, page 11 in the His Company catalogue, Order #SK1. Blinders is taken from Act 1, Scene 2 of the 3-act play The Essence of His Death, Copyright c 1988 David S. Lampel, page 33 in the His Company catalogue, Order #3A2. Visit the His Company archive at ICLnet directory /pub/resources/text/his.company 13 Isaac Watts, Hymn #185 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. 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