"And bearing His own Cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh. And when He had tasted, He would not drink. And there were also two other, malefactors, led with Him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place they crucified Him there; and tha robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, And with the wicked He was reputed." - Matthew 27:33,34; Mark 15:22,23; Luke 23:32,33; John 19:17,18
This crowning act of the Passion, the Crucifixion, is told in a cold, matter-of-fact way by all the Evangelists. The details are the same in each case; including every variation and addition, we have but a few lines. The exact spot we know. Scholars may dispute about other sites, the Cave of Bethlehem, the House of Nazareth, the place of the Last Supper, but of Calvary there is no reasonable doubt. The Evangelists themselves are care ful to note the spot; they take the same care over no other, giving the name in two languages, etc. No wonder; for it is the most sacred spot upon this earth the one spot which has been steeped in the Blood of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, the one source from which has sprung the stream that has regenerated the world.
The details of the Crucifixion are few. The executioners had still in them a touch of legalized humanity. They offered Our Lord the partly stupefying drink which was offered to all condemned criminals before the butchery began. We could have known beforehand how it would be received. He tasted; why did He even taste? Was it as an act of condescension, of gratitude for a kindly deed? He was always courteous; He would not spurn an act of kindness even on an occasion such as this. But He would not drink; not in spite of His maddening thirst; that He should do so to avoid the coming pain is unthinkable. "The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" And to do so, that He may drink it to the dregs, He must resist the soothing chalice offered Him by man. There is something peculiarly strong, even while it is peculiarly agonizing, in this rejection of the cup that is already touching His lips. If we could only have the same strength!
The only other fact noted is the company in which He was crucified. "Two other male factors," says our translation, as if the Greek idiom best fitted the occasion "two other malefactors," implying that. He was already one. Indeed, "with the wicked He was re puted." Saint John cannot resist calling atten tion to the exact fulfillment of this prophecy. It is true this charge against Him was soon set aside; with Pilate it had not the least weight; nevertheless, at the very end, King or no King, Son of God or only son of man, seditionmonger or not, it was after the manner of criminals and in the company of criminals that He was actually put to death. Truly, as Saint Paul says, "He was made sin." Nowhere does Our Lord come nearer to man than when He so submits to be nailed down to earth among them. Saint Paul again and again dwells upon the simple fact. In his Eastern way he dwells affectionately, almost fancifully, on its manifold significance. And the Church has clung with both her arms round the foot of that cross ever since, while the drip of the blood has fallen unceasingly upon her.
- from The The Crown of Sorrow: Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord, by Archbishop Alban Goodier, SJ. It has the Nihil Obstat of Canon Franciscus M Wyndham, Censor Deputatus, and the Imprimatur of Canon Edmund Surmont, Vicar General, Diocese of Westminster, England, 16 May 1918