_Let Him be crucified_ (Joh. xix. 16). CHAPTER VIII. _THE CRUCIFIXION._ A.D. 30. THUS the Holy One was formally delivered into the hands of the soldiers[563], who instantly made their preparations for His crucifixion. The place of execution was a spot of slightly rising ground without the gates of the city, called, probably from the shape of its rounded summit[564], Golgotha[565], _the place of a skull_ (Mtt. xxvii. 33; Jn. xix. 17). Thither, therefore, after stripping Him of the purple robe, and putting on Him His own garments (Mtt. xxvii. 31; Mk. xv. 20), the soldiers led Him forth bearing[566], as was customary, the Cross on which He was to suffer (Jn. xix. 17), attended by a centurion[567], and two malefactors who were to be crucified with Him[568] (Lk. xxiii. 32). As they proceeded from the city, the Redeemer, exhausted by the grievous sufferings He had already undergone, sank under the heavy weight of the Cross, and the soldiers meeting one Simon[569] of Cyrene in Northern Africa, coming from the country[570], laid hold upon him, and compelled[571] him to assist in bearing it (Mtt. xxvii. 32; Mk. xv. 21; Lk. xxiii. 26). And so the mournful procession was resumed, followed by a great multitude, amongst which many women began to utter loud laments at the sad spectacle. Turning to these _daughters of Jerusalem_ the exalted Sufferer with superhuman composure bade them _weep not for Him, but for themselves_; for nameless sorrows awaited them, days when they would _bless the wombs which had never borne_, and _the paps that had never given suck_, when they would _cry to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the hills to cover them_[572] (Lk. xxiii. 28–31). On reaching the appointed place, the hole for the Cross was dug in the ground, and the customary stupefying potion[573] of wine mingled with myrrh was offered to the Holy One. He touched it with his lips (Mtt. xxvii. 34), but would not drink it, being resolved to preserve His senses clear, and to endure all the coming agony in the full possession of His consciousness. Then the soldiers stripped Him of His garments, nailed His hands and feet to the Cross[574], placed over His head the title[575] which Pilate had written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, _This is Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews_, and between the two malefactors, one on His right hand and the other on His left (Isai. liii. 12), the Redeemer hung suspended between heaven and earth, breathing forth even under the hands of His murderers words of infinite love, _Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do_ (Lk. xxiii. 34).