Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

I just want to circle around and talk a little bit more about what exactly was being done to Jesus’ tomb. First, let’s talk about what Matthew meant when he said that the chief priests “made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” Pilate had sent a Roman officiator to inspect and certify that Jesus’ tomb was under Roman jurisdiction. In an article entitled, “Buried & Sealed: Jesus in the Tomb” published on CBN’s website we read, “Wasting no time, the chief priests and elders hastened to the tomb with their government- issued soldiers and the special officers assigned to inspect the tomb before placing Pilate’s seal upon it… The purpose of the seal was to authenticate that Jesus was dead; therefore, we can know that His body was thoroughly inspected again for proof of death… We can also be fairly certain that the chief priests and elders who accompanied the soldiers to the burial site demande...

Just like when the chief priests lied about Jesus and sought to murder him but refused to enter the Roman Hall of Judgment because they would become unclean, they are now concerned that his body would be on the cross during the Passover. Apparently there was a rule “that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for the Sabbath day was an high day.)” If they were going to murder someone, then it had to be done on any other day besides the Sabbath. It is this type of blatant hypocrisy that is so easy to identify in others but harder to see in ourselves and it’s not just because it’s dealing with the crucifixion of Christ, but even in our own everyday lives. We teach our kids to be honest, but then lie about the age of our children to get a cheaper movie ticket, or we teach chastity but then read a racy romance novel, stuff like that. Because the chief priests didn’t want people to be executed on the Sabbath, they asked Pilate “...

As soon as Jesus’ spirit leaves his body there is a major earthquake and “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”  I had no idea why this would have been significant until the IM gave some perspective. First let’s get a little bit of background on the ancient temple in Jerusalem. We have to remember that the Jewish temple was not laid out in the same manner that our temples are modernly. The temple was sprawling, with lots of different “porches” or “courts” or patios that were reserved for certain groups of people. For instance, the “Court of the Gentiles” was a place where Gentiles could go, but could go no further. Similarly, the “Court of Women” was for Jewish women to get closer to the temple, but then could go no further. It was a progressive type of architecture, meaning that a group of people could start out approaching the temple together, but then as they ascended closer...

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep the timeline straight for all the events because it is so content heavy and it’s taken me months to study the last 24 hours of Christ’s life. The IM helps us keep in mind that from when the Last Supper began until Jesus gave up the ghost was only 21 hours. Mark notes that “It was the third hour” when “they crucified him,” which the IM points out is “about 9:00 a.m.” Then Matthew tells us that “from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” Remembering that they are using a time system that starts at 6am, we can deduce that Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, three of which was while experiencing all the sins and sorrows of the world all over again. I think that Jesus probably had enough on his plate already to worry about commanding all the elements in the earth to self-destruct. But thinking about it, Jesus created the earth, and everything was created...

It would appear that the Savior suffered the spiritual pains of our sins and pains in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that he was now enduring physical pain on the cross, but while reading “The Infinite Atonement” Tad R. Callister suggests that that might not be the case. The book quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as commenting, “Again, on Calvary, during the last three hours of his mortal passion, the sufferings of Gethsemane returned, and he drank to the full the cup which he Heavenly Father had given him… Could id be that this was the period of his greatest trial, or that during it the agonies of Gethsemane recurred and even intensified?” As if the torture of being crucified wasn’t enough, it seems as though all the pain and suffering for sins that he had already experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane, was now coming back through to him on the cross.  But what is the purpose of that? This concept hasn’t been taught at the pulpit, therefore i...

Although Jesus’ execution is sudden, there are two other men crucified with him that probably knew it was coming to them for a while, “and there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death… one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” These guys were also identified as “thieves.” With all the other people walking around taunting Jesus, one of the thieves must have been encouraged by the idea that Jesus has some sort of extraordinary power and says, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” He must have seen them as a “we’re all in it together” and was I guess hoping for the best. But the other man who was hanging there waiting to die with them had a complete opposite reaction. Whereas the first man saw Jesus as more of a “magic powers,” how can this work best for me, the second man crucified with him saw Jesus for who he truly was, the Son of God. Before Jesus even has time to ans...

Since the crosses aren’t as far off the ground as we might have been led to believe, Jesus is well aware of those who are passing around him. There would definitely be a sense of vulnerability because at least if he was several feet off the ground, he would be out of range of most people. But having him only a couple of feet at most off the ground with hands and feet restrained, the tenderest parts of his body would have been unprotected and open to any who felt so inclined to make his situation worse. Jesus would also be acutely aware of those who were staying with him at the cross. Let’s remember that all the disciples fled after Jesus was arrested, except for Peter, who we already talked about, but also John who was allowed into Caiaphas’s palace for the trial and is now sitting at Jesus’ feet at the cross along with Mary, “his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.” To set the scene, there is Jesus ...

Crucifixion is one of those things where you think about it and can’t help but wonder, “who came up with this?” In order to understand the significance of what happens while Jesus is on the cross, it is important to have some background information on the actual process of crucifixion. It’s about to get graphic, so be warned. From an article entitled “Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ” Dr. David Terasaka explains, “Nails, about 7 inches long and with a diameter of 1 cm (roughly 3/8 of an inch) were driven in the wrists. The points would go into the vicinity of the median nerve, causing shocks of pain to radiate through the arms… Studies have shown that nails were probably driven through the small bones of the wrist, since nails in the palms of the hand would not support the weight of a body… The feet were then nailed to the (cross). To allow for this, the knees had to be bent and rotated laterally, being left in a ve...

Before we move forward, I think it’s important to give some information on the background of the Roman army because they play such a pivotal part in the life and death of the Savior. First, regular Roman soldiers, or Legionaries, were men over the age of 20 who enlisted for 20 years. Having been in the army myself, I feel that I can speak to at least some of the motivation to join, and I’d imagine that it’s similar to the Roman reasoning. It all has to do with opportunity, if you come from a wealthy family where you will inherit whatever they have, then spending 20 years marching, fighting, and building probably sounds disgusting to you. But if you come from a poor family or have lots of siblings to compete with for inheritance, then the opportunity to make your own money might be more appealing.  An article from  quora.com says, “Roman soldiers (Legionary & Auxiliary) were well paid for battles they fought, some of the wealthiest people in Roman ...

Jesus makes his way up the hill to be crucified, and the name of the hill is, in Hebrew “Golgatha” and in Latin “Calvery,” both which translate to “The place of a skull” because the rocks are sort of shaped like a skull depending on how you look at it. The IM says “ Calvariae  (in English,  Calvery ) is the Latin translation of the Greek word that means ‘skull.’ The other Gospel writers called the place of execution  Golgotha , which comes from the Hebrew  gulgoleth  and the Aramaic gulgutha , both of which mean ‘skull.’” It doesn’t say whether or not the Romans chose this hill as a place of execution because of the morbid look that it had or if it just was a highly visible place in which people could be made examples of. But either way it is fitting. But the significance of where Jesus was crucified isn’t just that the rocks form a face of death, but there is also significance ...

With Simon carrying Jesus’ cross, he’s probably making better time up the hill, but all the movies depict him as still falling over, which would make sense with his weakened physical condition. Assuming that because the morning is wearing on and the common people are finding out about what’s been going on while they were asleep, “there followed him a great company o people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.” I don’t know why the women are being pointed out as the predominant mourners, maybe it’s because it was more socially acceptable for women to mourn, where as men at the scene might be enraged by one of their own being executed, and might be more likely to become violent, which would cause all types of trouble for the people. And remembering that crucifixion was generally a punishment reserved for slaves and criminals, there probably weren’t a lot of mourns, generally, for those who were crucified. So Jesus having a la...

Pilate has officially “washed” Christ’s blood from his hands, but does consent to allow Jesus to be crucified, which must be quite a sight to those who watched from above, knowing full well that Jesus didn’t need Pilate to save nor condemn him. Let’s just remember that not only has Jesus suffered for all the sins and pains of all beings within the universe, but he’s also been tortured to the point that would have killed anyone else. Traditionally, Romans would take those sentenced to death from the judgment hall to the hill of execution with the condemned carrying their own cross. An article on  patheos.com  notes that there were five different methods of crucifixion, all incredibly horrible. We are only going to talk about the one affecting Jesus, which was the “traditionally shaped cross,” meaning that there was an upright pole sticking out of the ground, and a shorter wooden piece that was carried up the hill by the victim b...

I had to stop and think for a minute, if the Roman soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus because he was a "king" then where did they get it? Purple is the color of royalty and wouldn't have been readily available to just any common soldier. And even if a regular joe could get his hands on a purple robe, he wouldn't throw it away on some regular prisoner who was going to be executed shortly. Plus at this point, Jesus surely is bloody and dirty and sweaty, anything that would have been put on him would have probably been irreparable. So it comes back to the question, where did the soldiers get a royal piece of clothing that could have been ruined on something as trivial as a joke? My guess is that it came from Herod's personal collection. Just another reason why this guy sucks so much.   I can only imagine Pilate's disappointment upon seeing Jesus return to his court. His attempt to pawn this problem off on Herod had failed, and so he devises another plan. As ...