Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears: The Horrors of a Crucifixion

“The Romans perfected crucifixion; they reserved it as the most painful mode of execution for the most despised people, such as slaves, the poor, and Roman citizens guilty of the worst high treason. The crucifixion methods varied with the sadism of the soldiers. They tried to outdo one another and experimented with various forms of torture. They grew learned in the ways to prolong the pain and agony...

The victim was affixed to the cross with either ropes or nails. The pain of crucifixion is due in part to the fact that it is a prolonged and agonizing death by asphyxiation. Crucified people could hang on the cross  for anywhere from three to four hours or for as long as nine days, passing in and out of consciousness as their lungs struggled to breath while laboring under the weight of their body...

None of this was done in dignity or privacy, but rather in open, public place. It would be like nailing a bloodied, naked man above the front entrance to your local mall. Crowds would gather around the victim to mock them as they sweated in the sun, bled, and became incontinent in the sun.”

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8