Were there three or five crosses on Golgotha? Most readers will never have asked themselves that question. After all, it is common knowledge that the Lord was crucified with two others. Yet, especially when something is rarely questioned, it’s good to listen to those who do question it.. The fact that something is generally accepted doesn’t necessarily prove it’s true.
Articles
Every so often, someone points out to me the idea that there were five crosses on Golgotha. Not two, but four crucified people would have hung next to Jesus. Recently, I was pointed to an article (Dutch) that puts this forward. Incidentally, this idea goes back further than the article itself, as Dr. E.W. Bullinger wrote about it over a hundred years ago in his Companion Bible, appendix 164. I want to examine the main arguments from both articles.
Important?
Is it important whether there were three or five crosses? I don’t think so. It won’t make any difference to our practical lives as believers. If there were five crosses, a nice typology can be derived from that, but that’s also the case with three crosses.
Four Gospels
In any case, studying history is certainly a good exercise for Bible study. The events surrounding the crucifixion are found in all four Gospels, a rarity. This means we have to compare four accounts and thus reconstruct the whole story, considering the various details. Moreover, it’s not only a good exercise, but in my opinion, this issue also demonstrates how difficult translating Scripture can be.