Who nailed Jesus to the cross?

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Question: Who nailed Jesus to the cross? What happened to the person or persons who did this? Did God forgive or punish them?

Answer: The only thing we know for sure is that one or more Roman soldiers did the real work of crucifying Jesus. In the first century A.D., the Romans occupied Judea. It had a Roman appointed king over them (Herod the Great). Because of this the Jews were not allowed to carry out capital punishment for crimes:

"Pilate then went out to them (the Jews who brought Jesus to him) and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?" They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you." Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law." Therefore the Jews said to him, "IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR US TO PUT ANYONE TO DEATH," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die." (John 18:29-32)

The Jews who hated Jesus had to send him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea (26 to 36 A.D.), to have the death sentence carried out. The Romans ultimately made sure the sentence would be carried out completely by having guards around Jesus' cross and those of the others condemned:

"So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God!' " (Matthew 27:54)

No record exists of the names of those Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the stake. As far as what happened to these people after Jesus' death, there is also no historical record.

Yes, Jesus did forgive His murderers:

"And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.' And they cast lots to divide his garments. (Luke 23:33-34, RSV)

"And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' And they divided His garments and cast lots. " (Luke 23:33-34, NKJV)

"When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots." (Luke 23:33-34, NIV)

You can find the account of His sufferings and death in the gospels of the New Testament.

Lucifer, whose name meant "light bringer" or "morning star" (Strong's Concordance #H1966), failed to be loyal to God. Lucifer became Satan, which means "the accuser." Likewise, Adam and Eve were also not loyal to God, choosing to believe and obey Satan instead. It was up to Jesus Christ, who had lived forever as THE WORD, to empty Himself of His divine power and become sin for the sins of man through His suffering and death on the cross. Since His death was worth more than the lives of all human beings combined, it was more than sufficient to pay for the sins of the world. He is now the mediator between God and man, who can now sympathize with man, because He has lived and suffered in the flesh.