I was reading the Wikipedia article on crucifixions and y’all, it made me realize just how brutal and horrible they were. It gave me better perspective of what Jesus had gone through.

Now, crucifixions were reserved for the worst of the worst. For murderers, escaped slaves, or enemies of the state. They were not allowed burials, as that would be too generous for someone who was not supposed to have a decent death. Instead they were left hanging on their cross for scavengers.

Although crucifixion was a version of the death penalty, it had many different leading causes of death. Asphyxiation was the most common, but there were also deaths from bleeding out, broken legs (Roman soldiers would break the legs to make the victim die, unable to push themselves up to breath), heart failure, dehydration, blocked bloodstreams, and infection from wounds that soldiers would give.

Again, it was the worst kind of death. A kind of death that spared no humiliation. More often than not the victims would be stripped naked, unlike the crucifixes that portray Jesus with a strap of cloth.

Let’s be grateful for the kind of death that Jesus died for us.

Thanks for reading this short and slightly disturbing post.
~Willow