“…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

²⁸ Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹ So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³² (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters^[i] again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷ Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” John 18:28-38

The Jews would begin hating Jesus; they would finish in a hysteria of hatred, howling like wolves, with faces twisted in bitterness: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” In the end they reached such an insanity of hatred that they were impervious to reason and to mercy and even to the claims of common humanity. Nothing in this world warps someone’s judgment as hatred does. Once we move to hate, we lose the ability to think or see straight. Hatred is a terrible thing because it takes our senses away. And when we are enslaved to hatred, we lose all sense of proportion.

Look at the text. The Jews were so careful of ceremonial and ritual cleanness that they would not enter Pilate’s headquarters. And yet, they were busy doing everything possible to crucify the Son of G-d. To eat the Passover, a Jew had to be absolutely “ceremonially” clean. As such, if they had gone into Pilate’s headquarters, they would have incurred uncleanness in a double way. First, the scribal law said: “The dwelling-places of Gentiles are unclean.” Second, the Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. To go into Pilate’s headquarters would have been to go into a place where leaven might be found; and to go into such a place when the Passover was being prepared was to render oneself unclean. But even if the Jews had entered a Gentile house which contained leaven, they would have been unclean only until evening. Then they would have had to undergo ceremonial bathing after which they would have been clean. Now we see how their rage took away all of their reason. And what was true for the Jews at the trial of Jesus, we often see happen even in the church today. Many a church member, together with other well meaning church members often find themselves arguing and complaining over the sheerest of trifles, breaking G-d’s law of love and of forgiveness every day.

It is so easy to see how human mind can lose its sense of proportion and its ability to put first things first—and the first thing for us should be the love of G-d with all our heart mind and strength—and the love of our neighbor.

Pastor Dave