Jesus and Golgotha

John 19:14-18

“Now it was the, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So, they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a (Skull), which is called in Hebrew, (Golgotha), where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the centre.”

Jesus gave up His spirit for us on the cross. Golgotha is from the noun גלגלת (gulgoleth), skull or head, which in turn derives from the verb גלל (galal), to roll. Golgotha means Goliath’s head. When David defeated Goliath, he cut off the head of the giant Goliath and then went to Jerusalem. When David defeated Goliath, this was a foreshadowing of Jesus defeating Satan on the cross. King David buried the skull of Goliath there:

In the book of Genesis, we have the first prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus to be the Savior of mankind:

Genesis 3:15

“And I will put hostility between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

The crushing of Satan’s head is our first insight as to why Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, the place of the skull. Moses prophetically writes that there will come a time when the future seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. In 1st Samuel 17, we read about David’s battle with Goliath of Gath. Victors would often decapitate their enemy and then set them on a hill or a site that would display victory for everybody to see. The significance of Jesus being crucified on Calvary, the place of the skull, was to show His victory over Satan thus fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. As the nine-inch nail would have been driven through the heels of the one crucified, the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was being partially fulfilled and Satan would bruise his heel. The remainder of the prophecy was fulfilled as Christ was lifted above the ground at the place of the skull-crushing head of Satan. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. Aaron was a prophet, high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. He was a foreshadow of Jesus our High Priest.

Through Jesus, we become ambassadors and Priests in His kingdom. We are priests in the world but not of the world.

When the camp was plundered, they took the riches of Goliath as spoils of war. As priests or Ambassadors, we are to not take up the riches of material things. Through the defeat of Goliath, many came to believe in the God of Abraham. David took five small smooth stones from a brook. He had an amazing abundance of faith and thought he would take Goliath down with one stone. The other four were for Goliath’s brothers if needed. David understood he was a priest in the Lord and didn’t need heavy physical armour, he just put on the armour of God. Jesus was sacrificed on the Northern peak of Mt Moriah and buried in the garden tomb:

Isaiah 53:9

“And they made His grave (Jesus) with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”

Jesus’ death and burial are connected to a rich man in a garden tomb fulfilling the prophecy. David chose Mount Moriah, or the Temple Mount, as Abraham had built an altar on which to sacrifice his son Isaac. Issac carried the wood of the altar to the peak of Moriah, just like Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha two thousand years later. Isaac of cause did not sacrifice his son, as God told him the final sacrifice would be His one and only Begotten Son on Mt Moriah. The peak of Mt Moriah was just outside the city gate or the Damascus gate today. Therefore, Christ was crucified at Calvary or Golgotha just outside the north wall of Jerusalem. Jesus carried the cross through the Damascus ceremonial gate to start His journey to the cross. Skull hill was part of an ancient quarry that was used to build the temple. The stone for Solomon’s temple came from this area. Golgotha hasn’t changed much in two thousand years:

Mark 15:22-24

“And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.”

Hebrews 13:12

“Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the (gate).”

Jesus would have turned right out of the Damascus Gate for a short distance before turning left, the place at the foot of the hill overlooking skull rock, which is now a bus station. He was crucified there against the rock face, not on top of the hill. Golgotha was also the Jewish place of stoning mentioned in the Mishna. Steven the first Christian martyr was stoned to death in this exact quarry at the same place as Christ. Jesus was crucified in front of a jeering crowd, while people passing by on the main road mocked Him:

Lamentations 1:12

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see If there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, Which the Lord has inflicted In the day of His fierce anger?”

Jesus would have been crucified at the place of the skull at the base of the rock face close to the road, while signs hung on the rock face and over Him:

Luke 23:38

“And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Three cutouts for notices have been discovered in the skull face. Jesus was taken down from the cross and placed in the garden tomb nearby cut into the same rock face as Mt Moriah.

John 19:41-42

“Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”

The garden belonged to a rich man Joseph of Arimathea. All four canonical gospels, state this man assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion in a new tomb not used before. The garden was an extensive rich man’s vineyard as a large wine press and water irrigation system have been discovered by archaeologists:

John 19:36-41

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate permitted him. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So, there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”

Jesus’ tomb is a typical first-century style Jewish tomb that was never completed:

Luke 23:53

“Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.”

In Luke, we see the tomb was carved out of the rock face by hand, and a round stone was rolled over the entrance. Some troughs allow the stone to be rolled at the tomb entrance. The weight of the stone would have been seven tons. The original great stone is missing, there is a replica at the side of the tomb entrance today. There were only three other tombs in Israel that had round stones that size to block the entrance. There is a hole on the left and the right side of the cliff face, the result of a large iron pin driven in there, which would have had cords and a Roman seal to officially shut it off. The remains of the original iron shaft remain today in the left-hand shaft. The iron pin could take thirty tons of pressure before it moved, which it was pushed back forcefully by an Angel. Humans would not have been able to break and roll this tombstone away;

Matthew 28:2-4

“And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.”

The iron pin was tested by the authorities which contained iron and lead consistent with Roman construction and were forced by extreme pressure to break it from the 1st century. Sunday, April the 3rd AD 33:

Matthew 28:1

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb but the stone had been rolled away.”

The resurrection had happened right at dawn after the Sabbath.

Mark 16:1-4

“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was (very large).”

John 20:2

“Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

The woman went into the tomb and found an Angel:

Matthew 28:5

“But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is risen.”

The tomb itself was built with the layout on the right side which was unusual for this type of tomb. This links with Christ being at the right hand of the Father. From the entrance of the tomb, there is a clear line of sight to the burial niche. There is a soul hole that is believed that the soul departs through after three days. The grave clothes were still in the tomb as a witness that Jesus had risen. The Turin shroud is five foot eleven, the garden tombstone bed is the same.

Many think that Golgotha is the centre of the earth, while Shem and Melchizedek buried Adam in a cave under the crucifixion site. The head of all the children of men was deposited there. The skull-shaped mountain with a trodden down head symbolises Satan crushed by Christ on the cross. Melchizedek was of the seed of Shem and ministered to Adam at the centre of the earth, after carrying Adam’s body from Noah’s Ark to the cave. An altar of twelve stones was built and bread and wine were taken. It’s believed that the earth split open while Jesus was on the cross and His blood ran down to the cave and landed on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant that is still there to this day.