11. Satisfied that there was nothing in Messiah's conduct worthy of death, Pilate sought to let him go; but the Jews insisted upon his execution. It was the custom among the Jews to have released to them a prisoner at the feast of the Passover, and on that ground Pilate sought to release Jesus; but the Jews would not listen to it, and preferred that the robber, Barabbas, a murderer, should be released. They told Pilate that whosoever made himself a king was an enemy to Caesar; and if he let Jesus go he was not Caesar's friend. By such arguments on the part of the chief priests, and the persistent cry of the people to crucify him, Pilate was over-awed, and at last confirmed the sentence of death. (See note 4, end of section.) {55} 12. The Crucifixion.--From the hall of judgment Jesus was led into the common hall, where the soldiers stripped him of his own raiment, and put upon him a scarlet robe in mockery of his claims to kingship. They also platted a crown of thorns and placed it on his brow, and for a scepter gave him a reed in his right hand. They bowed the knee before him, and mockingly cried: "Hail, king of the Jews!" They spit upon him, beat him with their hands and with the reed they had given him for a scepter. 13. From the common hall he was led away under a guard of soldiers to a place called Golgotha [Gol-go-tha], which, as well as its Latin equivalent--_Calvaria_-_Calvary_[54]--means, the place of a skull. Here Jesus was stripped, and nailed to the cross, which was erected between two other crosses, on each of which was a thief. Above the his head in Latin, Greek and Hebrew was fixed the superscription written by Pilate--"_This is the King of the Jews."_ As he hung there between the two thieves, the soldiers mocked him as did also the chief scribes and the Pharisees, saying: He saved others, let him save himself; if he is Christ, the chosen of God; let him come down from the cross and we will believe him; he trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God. In the midst of his great suffering, in which his mental agony was greater than his physical pain; the Son of God cried, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." 14. At the sixth hour--mid-day--there was a darkness that spread over the whole land, and continued until the ninth hour (see note 5, end of section). About the ninth hour Jesus said: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," then he bowed his head and expired. At the same moment the veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom, an earthquake shook {56} the solid earth and rent the rocks, all the elements of nature seemed agitated as if anxious to bear witness that a God had died!