Page 543 - Bible History

­
516 CHRIST REDEEMS THE WORLD
At last they reached Calvary. The crosses were laid on the ground, and Jesus and the two thieves were stripped of their garments. The Jews had a custom of giving to those about to be cruci ed a cup of wine mixed with myrrh. This was an act of mercy, for when the victim drank the wine mixed with myrrh, he became drowsy and his sense of pain was deadened. A society of noble ladies had been formed in Jerusalem for the purpose of supplying this merciful drink to all of those who were about to be cruci ed. But when a soldier o ered the ne mixed with myrrh to Jesus, He re­ fused to drink it.
Now Jesus was stretched upon the cross, and a spike was driven into each of His hands and His feet. It is quite likely that ropes were tied around His arms, to hold them to the cross. Then they raised the cross and dropped the end of it into one of a number of holes that had been prepared for this purpose. The cross was not very high, the feet of the Cruci ed being about two feet from the ground.
They placed over the head of Jesus the board which the centurion had been carrying, and on which was written His name and the o ense for which He had been condemned. Pilate himself had written the title for the cross of Jesus, in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. It read : Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
Meanwhile, the two thieves had been nailed to their crosses; and one of them was placed on the right of Jesus, the other on His left.
No sooner had Jesus been raised on the cross, than