I just knew this day was going to be very different. The air seemed like it was charged with electricity. You could tell, by the excitement of the crowd this day was going to be like no other. Activity in the city increased as the time approached for the procession to start. The crowd became more boisterous as the three condemned men were led through the streets to Calvary Hill where they would be crucified. I found myself being swept up by the crowd that was heading for Calvary. I wanted to escape the press of the crowd, but there was something inside me that wouldn't allow me to leave. When the crowd reached Calvary, the Roman soldiers were already making preparations to crucify the men.

The head Roman soldier was surveying the crowd with hard steely eyes. The crowd became quiet and shrank back as the soldier's gaze traveled around the crowd. When his eyes rested on me, he stopped and focused his attention on me. After a brief period of time, which seemed like forever, the Roman soldier pointed his finger at me and motioned for me to come to him. What did he want with me? My heart was pounding. I stood frozen not able to move. The Roman soldier became more insistent in motioning for me to come to him. With fear griping me I stepped forward to find out what he wanted of me.

When I reached him he handed me a mallet and 3 of the biggest longest steel spikes I had ever seen. The mallet was so heavy, that I almost dropped it. The Roman soldier pointed to one of men who was being held down and stretched out on a cross by the other soldiers. I hesitated. He grabbed me by the back of my shirt and thrust me forward until I was over one of the condemned man’s hands. The soldier pointed with his finger to a spot on his hand. In a gruff voice the soldier told me to nail his hand to the cross. Why me? I said to myself. What had I done that the soldier was making me nail this man to the cross? I heard one of the soldiers refer to him as Jesus. Shaking, with a cold sweat on my brow I put the point of the spike on Jesus' hand and hit the spike with the mallet. As the point of the spike broke his fresh, I could sense the pain he was feeling race up his arm. The soldier yelled in my ear, HARDER, HIT HARDER. I caught a glimpse at the sign that one of the solders was nailing to the cross, which read, "KING OF THE JEWS". I could barely see the last spike, as the tears were welling up in my eyes. Anxious to finish, I grabbed the mallet with both hands and drove the spike through Jesus’ feet. With the echo of the last blow fading, the soldier took the mallet from me and forcibly shoved me back into the crowd.

What had I done? I stood stunned, unable to move, watching the soldiers, raise the cross with Jesus nailed to it. I winced, when I saw the pain ripple through his body, as the cross was dropped in the hole. Why was Jesus being crucified? He was innocent. What have I done? Stumbling, I made my way through the crowd as fast as I could, trying to escape the feeling of guilt that was flooding over me. I wandered about the city trying to make some sense out of what just happened. Finally heading for home, I started to realize that it was because of my sin that Jesus was nailed to the cross. It was hard for me to accept that Jesus had to suffer and take my place. He paid the penalty for my sin so God would see me as having no sin. From deep down inside my soul, came a conviction that all I had to do was accept that Jesus took my sin and paid the penalty for it. As I continued walking toward home, my head hung in shame. Little by little I accepted the price Jesus had paid for me. As I continued walking towards home, a sense a peace that I had never known before started to fill me. Little by little it filled my whole being.