What Was on the Cross with Jesus?

What was on the cross with Jesus? Seems like a simple enough question, I suppose. If you give it consideration, it seems there was very little there with Him? Let’s examine this thought a little further.

As was the practice of the Romans, they wanted to make death on a cross as miserable as could be. Crucifixion was not just the agony of being nailed to a post. Had it been no more than that, it would still qualify as one of the most horrible ways to die imaginable. No, the Roman soldiers were experts at inflicting pain and humiliation on their intended victims.

A man destined for crucifixion, would spend whatever time he had left in the squalor of a cell with little, if any, food or water or sleep. He would, for the duration, be subjected to whatever tortures and humiliations that might present themselves to his jailers. When it came time for the actual event, he would be stripped of any possessions he had, including his clothing. Then they would flay him, quite literally, alive. (Yes, you might say, they removed any covering he might have including that of his own skin.)

He would then be forced to carry his own cross to the place of his death, being abused the entire trip. His arrival meant that his hands and feet would be swiftly and securely tied and nailed to the cross and he would lifted rudely above the earth. There he would hang, in the most conspicuous place they could find, usually on some very public avenue. This of course, (as was the case with our Lord,) add to his agony by humiliating him in the eyes of passersby, often including women, children and, of course, his family. As a matter of course, they would also nail his accusation on the cross, above his head for all the world to see. Here the poor man would find himself, stripped of his clothing, naked before the gawking crowds, bereft of hope and friendship.

If you should have happened by this macabre scene of slow death, you would have seen no more than what has been described: a naked man, nailed to a cross beam, his body covered only by his own blood and his accusation hanging, like the sword of Damocles, over his head.

So, back to my question: "What was on the cross with Jesus?"

Nothing! There was nothing there, but Himself, His blood, and His accusation. He was there alone, His blood completely poured out in a Holy Libation for you and me, His body, naked and trembling as He breathed His last breaths and the accusation, which foolish Pilot actually got correct: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

Could we have a more beautiful, more perfect, more complete image of the salvation that our Savior offered? Could God have shown the world any more clearly what, or rather, Who, and who alone, was needed for the deliverance of sinful man?

In conclusion: Had we required anything else for our rescue from death and hell, God, in His infinite wisdom, would have put it on the cross with His Son. Yet, all He gave us was the Son of Man, the Son of God, crucified alone, for all mankind! Hallelujah! What a Savior!