#history
Calvary/ Golgotha.
Good Friday is commemorated by Christians all over the world as the day Jesus Christ was crucified.
The place where the crucifixion took place is mentioned by the Hebrew /Aramaic word ( transliterated into Greek) Golgotha by the authors of the Gospel – Mathew, Mark and John. Luke refers to the site by the Latin word Calvaria ( English – Calvary).
It must be remembered that Hebrew, Latin and Greek were commonly used in Jerusalem during the Roman rule. Pontius Pilate had fixed a notice on Jesus’s cross in all three languages saying Jesus the Nazarene, King of Jews.
Both Golgotha and Calvary have the same meaning – Skull.The Bible gives no hint of the origins of the name. It may have been the conventional or customary place of execution or it may have physically resembled a human skull.
The location was near Jerusalem ( John 19:20) , was just outside the city walls( Heb.13:12), apparently near a well travelled road(Matt.27:39). There was a garden nearby (John 19:41; 20:15) in which there was a tomb cut out of rock ( Matt. 27:59-60 ; Luke 23:53).
The tomb was sealed with a large stone after the interment of Jesus ( Matt. 27:60 ; Mark 15:46).
The place was discovered by Helena , mother of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century (325).
Golgotha/ Calvary has been a place of pilgrimage from the middle ages.
( ref: Holman Bible Dictionary)
– Joy Kallivayalil.
