“…he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” John 19:17-22

More than one reason has been suggested for the strange, grim name, “The Place of a Skull.” One legend suggests it was so called because the skull of Adam was buried there. I am not sure that could be confirmed. Another suggestion is because it was littered with the skulls of crucified criminals. That is not likely either. By Roman law a criminal must hang upon his cross until he died from hunger and thirst and exposure, a torture which sometimes lasted for days. And by Jewish law the body must be taken down and buried by nightfall. No Jewish place would be littered with skulls. It is much more likely that the place received its name because it was on a hill shaped like a skull. In any event it was a grim name for a place where grim things were done. Names are important – especially names of places that had been handed down from antiquity in Israelite tradition. Here, Jesus carries his own Cross to the place where he was to die – a place all Christians know and yet still dread two thousand years later — the Place of the Skull.

Pastor Dave