JOHN 19: 18 “There they crucified him…” Rome did not invent crucifixion but they took it to an art form. It was indeed a great deterrent to crime. When the Roman Legions conquered a town, they would round up ten men and crucify them. It was a message that Rome was in charge and you better not try to defy Roman law. Unlike the neat clean pictures of crucifixion in our Bibles, crucifixion was a slow and painful death. The crucified were stripped of all clothing to add insult to injury. Cause of death of was asphyxiation, heart failure, or exposure. Spikes were driven through the ankles and wrist bones. Sometimes ropes were tied around the wrists to keep the dying man in place. It was not uncommon for a man to hang on the cross for two to three days before he died. Often birds would come and tear off the flesh or peck out the eyes of the dying. There was nothing neat and clean about crucifixion. It was tradition to put a sign on the cross naming the condemned man and his crime. The sign on Christ’s cross said, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. If Jesus had not endured the cross, the sign would read, “My Name, Sinner.” Thanks be to God for Christ’s sacrifice. Amen.