The elevation of the Cross

Saint Mark - Chapter 15

The elevation of the Cross. J-J Tissot

[25] Erat autem hora tertia : et crucifixerunt eum.
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

The elevation of the Cross with the Victim upon it was a delicate operation hedged about with more than one difficulty.  The body of the Sufferer, held in place as it was by the nails in the hands and feet, was, of course, high up on the Cross, so that all the weight was concentrated above the centre, and the slightest slip on the part of those whose duty it was to set up the instrument of execution would have resulted in a horrible accident.  Certain authors, indeed, adopt the opinion that the Cross was quite a short one, and, if this were so, of course the operation of elevating it would have been comparatively easier and would have as well completely changed the character of the scene.  According to them, the feet of the Saviour must have been quite near to the ground, but their opinion has very little probability to support it, and it is in contradiction to most of the traditions on the subject.  One of the most ancient of these traditions attributes to the Cross the length of no less than fifteen feet, whilst the cross-beam was nearly half the length.  Some earlier writers speak of the bodies of those crucified having been devoured by dogs and wild beasts, which proves that in some cases crosses were quite low; but there is no evidence to prove that the practice of using short crosses was ever generally adopted, and our own opinion is that the Saviour's Cross was not the not a low one.  All that we concede is that the feet of Our Lord Jesus Christ were near enough to the ground to be embraced by anyone standing at the foot of the Cross, and that Mary Magdalene did so embrace them is affirmed by all traditions.

This fact, however, still leaves us free to suppose that the lower part of the Cross was of considerable length, for of course it included the portion which would be driven into the ground.  The necessary precautions must therefore be taken; time was pressing; everything must be done in such a manner as to prevent accident, for the Sabbath would begin at sunset, and it was not lawful to put to death on that day.  The upright pieces of wood which were to serve as a gibbets for the two thieves were already in position, and it was therefore a comparatively simple thing to prepare for their execution, all that was left to be done being to bind each of them with the transverse beam to the post which had been fixed in the ground before hand.  These remarks bring us to the moment before the elevation of the Cross.  The upright beams of the crosses for the thieves being firmly fixed in the ground, it was easy to connect them at the top with a horizontal beam, over which could be drawn without difficulty the ropes fastened to the ends of the transverse beam of the Cross of Jesus.  Some of the assistants have now only to push the Cross from behind, whilst it is slowly drawn up by others with the aid of the ropes, care being taken to keep it properly balanced and in the right position with regard to the beam at the top. The whole operation is really accomplished in the twinkling of an eye, and, through the darkness and gloom, which are ever run increase, the body of the Lord of the bluish-white collar of marble, dashed with the red blood from His wounds, is seen to rise up through the air before the spectators who look on in a silence weighted with tragedy.  Mary, the mother of the Sufferer, and the friends who have been with her from the first are still there, following all that the beloved Victim goes through with eyes fall of anguish; their hearts are crucified with Him, they feel as if their own last hour had come.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam