The first nail

Saint Mark - Chapter 15

The first nail. 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 Cross, then, is now lying upon the ground; at least that is our idea, though we must add that the fact is open to question.  According to some early writers, the instrument of execution was set up in a hole in the ground to begin with, and the condemned was then hoisted on to the kind of seat already referred to, and it was not until the body was thus placed that the hands and feet were nailed to the different portions of the cross.  Many later writers are of opinion that this was the mode of crucifixion employed in the case of Our Saviour, and, truth to tell, it is quite possible that it may have been so.

There is, however, a tradition which gives quite a different version of the course of the procedure, and this tradition we propose to follow in our rendering of the terrible scene.  It was, of course, with the hands that the horribly painful operation of the nailing began; but, as there was a danger that the weight of the body would tear away the flesh, the probability is that the limbs were first bound to the cross with cords.  We know from what we are told by Pliny, Xenophon, and several other early writers, that ropes were often used as well as nails.  Lucian speaks in one sentence of nodes nocentes, or painful knots, and of chalybem insertum manibus, or nails driven into the hands, and later, following these ancient authors, the Fathers of the Church often refer in their accounts of the execution of the Saviour to this double mode of fastening to the cross, which they looked upon as a double martyrdom.

Saint Hilary speaks of the wounds made alike by the nails and the fastening with cords in the following passage: colligantium funium vincula et adactorum clavorum vulnera.  It is evident that, but for some such precaution, the work could not have been properly done.  In order to nail down the hands satisfactorily it was desirable first to bind the arms to the cross with cords; for, however patient and resigned the victim might be, the agony inflicted by the driving in of the nails must have caused spasmodic movements, which would have greatly hindered the executioners in their cruel task.  It would, of course, be more than ever necessary to take this precaution when the condemned man struggled to get free, and, as this was very often the case, the practice of binding the arms to begin with naturally became universally customary.

The upper part of the body was also kept in place by a whole series of ligatures, which must indeed have added in a very marked degree to the sufferings of the condemned, for, if they were drawn tight enough to be of any use in binding the victim to the instrument of death, they must have eaten into the flesh, and by compressing the chest, have made restoration horribly painful, whilst the free circulation of the blood was also checked.  It is, however, certain that what we may call this supplementary suffering inflicted on the unfortunate victim really saved him from even worse agony, and was, in the great majority of cases, actually necessary to prevent accidents, such as could easily be foreseen if these various precautions were neglected.  Without these cords supporting the body by being passed under the armpits, the victim could not longer have retained his position, for, on the slightest slipping of the limbs, or the first swoon of the sufferer, the knees would have bent, the head would have fallen forward and the body would have followed it, drawn out of the perpendicular by its own weight.  Then the hands would have dragged away from the nails and a horrible fall would have broken the legs, which were held in position by the nail in the feet.

Such skilled workmen as the executioners in the service of Pilate, accustomed for a long time to the a sinister task of crucifying malefactors, were not at all likely to risk any such accident; they are very sure to have bound the Saviour securely before they drove in the nails.  Jesus, then, lies extended on the Cross, the body placed in the right position for His martyrdom; one arm is bound down to begin with, the hand extended so that the palm comes over the hole already pierced in the wood.  Then one of the executioners drives the point of the huge nail in with vigorous and blows from his hammer.  As the first blow rings out, a groan escapes the lips of the Victim, and from a little distance a cry replies to it, for Mary, the mother of the Sufferer, is standing with the other Holy Women at the foot of the Mount, and she rushes forward as if to succour her defined Son.

The first nail driven home, the upper part of the body is stretched out horizontally and the second arm is made fast with ropes.  Another nail is driven in, and one of the executioners fling himself astride upon the Sufferer to hold Him down.  The next step is to bind the head and shoulders to the Cross, and then the legs, all quivering with anguish, are drawn down whilst the executioners put out all their strength to drive the third nail through both feet.  All this time the friends of Jesus are bewailing His terrible sufferings; they cling to each other and huddle together, wild with compassion and misery, as they listen to His moans, whilst at each stroke of the hammer they shudder afresh.They have gradually approached the scene of the awful drama.  They had at first been arrested at the foot of the hill, but now they have managed to advance as far as the southern corner of Calvary to a small space just at the edge of the platform of Golgotha.  The crowd meanwhile has been pressing nearer; the Chief Priests and the leading Jews are close at hand, eager to witness everything; the sentinels have hard work to keep the space reserved for the execution clear of the curious crowds, and clear it must be kept if the difficult operation of the elevation of the Cross is to be successfully accomplished.

Are we to suppose that the crown of thorns was again placed on the head of Jesus at the final scene of His martyrdom?  Yes; Origen, Tertullian and many other writers of antiquity have asserted the fact, and their statement is never even been called in question by any authoritative contradiction.  The Gospel of Nicodemus (I, 1), moreover, tells how the executioners, who had taken off the crown of thorns in order to strip the Saviour of His garments, put it on again and also passed a cloth about His loins.  Even if, however, tradition had been silent on the point there would still have been every reason to believe that the crown of thorns was upon the Victim;s head at His death, for those who wrote the title on the Cross: "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews", are not likely to have failed to leave to that King of Whom they were making sport the melancholy insignia of the royal dignity.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam