Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or The Bible
After the flash of light landed them in their destination, Rose immediately wished it hadn't. The four were standing along a road leading up the slope of a hill. The sky was overcast, but the street was still lined with people. What made Rose wish to be elsewhere were the events that were taking place.
She didn't know why, but she just felt very miserable all of a sudden. A glance at the Doctor showed her that he was affected too. But what was really surprising was that even Isaiah was affected.
"I am very sorry for the state of things here," Isaiah told them somberly, "but this is the force of the reality of what is to happen shortly."
"It doesn't seem to be affecting most of these people." the Doctor observed.
"Because they do not understand the grave magnitude of what they have done and what they are about to do." Isaiah explained.
"Why?" Rose asked. "What's going to happen?"
"You must watch and see, Rose Tyler; for this is the first of the three most important events that you will ever witness." Isaiah told her.
Isaiah led the two through the crowd until they found themselves at the bottom of the hill, behind whatever the people were there for.
"They cannot see us, so it is easier for us to travel in the street rather than through the crowd." Isaiah explained.
"What are we following?" the Doctor asked as the three began moving up the street.
"Three men have been sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin." Isaiah told them. "We are here for the one among them that is innocent."
The group they were following slowed down for some reason, allowing the time-travelers to catch up. When they did, Rose and the Doctor got to see what was holding everything up. Three men were surrounded by guards. Each one carried a large wooden cross on his back. The hold-up was that one of them was struggling to carry His burden. As He dropped the cross, unable to hold it any longer, Rose gasped upon seeing the source of the man's weakness.
The man's entire back was lacerated and bloody; the Doctor recognized it as the work of a whip. In addition to the injuries on His back, the man was also bleeding from something wrapped around His head. Rose looked closer and saw, to her disgust, that someone had placed a crown of thorns on the man's head. Finally, she and the Doctor also observed multiple, fearsome bruises all over the man's body. All in all, the man was a mess.
One of the guards noticed that the man had dropped the cross. He turned and scanned the crowd, before beckoning a man to join them. The man hurried over and was ordered to pick up and carry the cross for the prisoner.
"That's horrible!" Rose managed. "How can they be so cruel?"
"This is how things used to be done, Rose." the Doctor told her. "Criminals were not tolerated."
Just then, Rose and the Doctor took notice of a small cluster of women who were weeping loudly. Upon hearing this, the man who could not carry His cross turned and addressed them.
"Daughters of Jerusalem," He began, "stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed'. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
After he finished, he turned back and the group continued up the road, followed by the time-travelers, and then a very large crowd.
Upon arrival at the top of the hill, things began to take a turn for the worst. The three convicted men placed their crosses on the ground and were then forced down onto them. Rose watched, mortified as the guards pounded nails into the wrists of the three men. The screams of agony were almost unbearable. Once the nails were in, the men's feet were twisted sideways and then held together, one ankle on top of the other. Once this was done, a large spike was driven though the men's ankles and into the wood of the cross. Then, the crosses were hoisted to standing position with the men hanging helplessly from the structures.
As the guards secured the three crosses, the man in the middle began to speak. He was the one who gave the speech to the women earlier.
"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" He said.
"Who is that?" Rose asked Isaiah. "Who is He talking to?"
"That is the most important man to ever walk this planet or any other planet for that matter." Isaiah told her. "He is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ."
Rose's hand flew to her mouth and even the Doctor was struck by the memory of the young baby that they had met at the start of their journey with Isaiah. Tears began streaming down Rose's face as the full reality of the lesson hit her. She was seeing the death of an innocent man who was so much more. This was the ultimate proof for her of God's existence. Even the Doctor was fighting back tears of his own. Isaiah however, did not try to hold back his own weeping.
The next three hours were spent watching the crowds of people sneering at the three men. The guards had taken to casting lots for Jesus' robes. A group of men, whose clothes indicated that they held positions of importance, mocked Jesus as well.
"He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One." one of them said.
Jesus turned His head and saw a small group of men and women sobbing.
"Woman, behold, your son!" He addressed one of the women. Then He directed His gaze at one of the men and said. "Behold, your mother!"
A guard went up to Jesus and offered him some sour wine. When Jesus refused, the man stepped back and mocked him again.
"If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!" he said to Jesus.
Even one of the two men crucified with Jesus harassed Him, saying "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!"
But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."
Then he turned his head towards Jesus and continued.
"Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!"
Jesus answered him, saying, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
A short while after this, the whole area was suddenly enveloped in darkness as something obstructed the sun. Rose found that she could barely see and consented to follow the other two in sitting down and waiting it out. While she waited, Rose thought about all that she had learned and about how much her life was going to change.
"It's hard to believe that this is all real." she thought to herself. "I've never paid any attention to religion; never saw the 'true meaning of Christmas'. Now I even know why there's a Christ in Christmas. It's strange, but I feel a whole lot more secure in my life. I suppose that's the comfort of knowing that someone's going to take care of me. And that someone isn't the Doctor. Besides, even he needs someone other than me to care about him."
Three hours after the darkness fell, Isaiah motioned for them to stand with him.
"What's going on?" Rose asked.
"It is time." Isaiah responded.
"Time?" the Doctor question. "Time for what?"
Suddenly, they heard Jesus speak again.
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" he cried.
"What did he just say?" Rose asked.
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" the Doctor answered.
"God is too righteous to look upon the full force of the sins that Jesus is dying for." Isaiah explained.
"Behold, he is calling for Elijah." one of the bystanders assumed.
One of the centurions ran down the hill, past the three of them, and a few moments later, he returned with a sponge on a pole. The sponge was dripping and Rose could smell vinegar as the man carried the sponge past her. He lifted the sponge up to Jesus, who drank some of it. Then He spoke one last time.
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" He cried. As soon as He said this, His eyes shut and His head went limp. Jesus Christ was dead.
Suddenly, there was an enormous earthquake. Rose latched onto the Doctor for support as people began falling everywhere. Then, just as it started, the earthquake ceased. A few moments later, a man ran up to the officials.
"The curtain in the temple, it has been torn in twain!" he told them.
One of the centurions, after hearing this and seeing the earthquake spoke.
"Certainly this man was innocent."
As she saw Jesus' body hanging from the cross, Rose began crying again and this time, the Doctor was unable to hold his back.
"Come, we may take our leave now." Isaiah told them as he led them down the hill. As they walked, the Doctor, who had ceased his tears, placed his arm around Rose's shoulder and held her close as she still sobbed.
"Are you both ready?" Isaiah asked them when they reached the spot they first arrived at.
"Yes," the Doctor answered, "I think we're done here."
Rose could only nod numbly.
"Rose," Isaiah said to her gently, "you need not shed tears anymore. What is done is done. But this story is not over yet. And our next stop shall surely raise your spirits."
A/N: Whew. This was one of the most emotional scenes I've ever written. I hope this is a good presentation of this particular event. Did anyone catch the little bit of foreshadowing in that last line from Isaiah? Let me know what you thought of this chapter!