Do not weep for me    

   The exhausted man is thrown down, backwards onto the cross. A soldier drives a heavy, square, wrought iron nail through a wrist into the wood, then repeats the action on the other side, allowing some movement in the arms. 

   They lift the cross into place and drop it into a hole. When the upright beam hits the bottom, flesh begins to tear. The left foot is pressed back against the right foot, and a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  (Psalm 22:1)    

   As the man slowly sags, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers, up the arms and into the brain. Nails in the wrists are putting pressure on median nerves. 

   He pushes himself upward to ease this torment. Again, he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.

   The arms fatigue, and cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them in relentless, throbbing pain. He is unable to push himself upward to breathe. 

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.  

   He fights to raise himself to get one small breath. Carbon dioxide builds in the lungs and blood stream. 

   Hours of pain, cycles of twisting, joint-wrenching cramps and intermittent partial asphyxiation occur. His movements tear any remaining tissue in his lacerated back. 

It is finished.      

   A deep, crushing pain deep in the chest occurs as the pericardium (sac) fills with (watery) serum and begins to compress the heart, which struggles to pump sluggish blood. Finally, he can allow his body to die. 

   Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.