THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
C. Truman Davis,
M.D., M.S. ,
In this article, I
shall discuss some of the physical aspects of the passion, or suffering, of
Jesus Christ. We shall follow Him from
I
became interested in this about a year ago when I read an account of the
crucifixion in Jim Bishop's book, "The Day Christ Died." I suddenly
realized that I had taken the crucifixion more or less for granted all these
years, that I had grown callous to its horror by a too easy familiarity with
the grim details and a too distant friendship with Him. It finally occurred to
me that as a physician I didn't even know the actual immediate cause of death.
The Gospel writers don't help us very much on this point because crucifixion
and scourging were so common during their lifetime that they undoubtedly
considered a detailed description totally superfluous. So we have the concise
words of the Evangelists: "Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to
them to be crucified - - and they crucified Him."
Alexander and his
generals brought it back to the Mediterranean world - to
The upright post,
or stipes, was generally permanently fixed in the ground at the site of
execution and the condemned man was forced to carry the patibulum, apparently
weighing about 110 pounds, from the prison to the place of execution. Without
any historical or biblical proof, medieval and Renaissance painters and most of
the sculptors of crucifixes today show the nails through the palms. Roman
historical accounts and experimental work have shown that the nails were driven
between the small bones of the wrists and not through the palms. Nails driven
through the palms will strip out between the fingers when they support the
weight of a human body. The misconception may have come about through a
misunderstanding of Jesus' words to Thomas. "Observe my hands."
Anatomists, both modern and ancient, have always considered the wrists as part
of the hand.
A titulus, or
small sign, stating the victim's crime was usually carried at the front of the
procession and later nailed to the cross above the head. This sign with its
staff nailed to the top of the cross would have given it somewhat the
characteristic form of the Latin cross.
The physical
passion of Christ began in
Every attempt
imaginable has been used my modern scholars to explain away this phase,
apparently under the mistaken impression that this just does not happen.
A great deal of
effort could be saved by consulting the medical literature. Though very rare,
the phenomenon of Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under
great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus
mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness
and possible shock.
We shall move
rapidly through the betrayal and arrest; I must stress again that important
portions of the Passion story are missing from this account. This may be
frustrating to you, but in order to adhere to our purpose of discussion only
the purely physical aspect of the Passion, this is necessary. After the arrest
in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and
Caiaphas, the High Priest; it is here that the first physical trauma was
inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when
questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly
taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat on Him, and struck
Him in the face.
In the early
morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a
sleepless night, is taken across
Preparations for
the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His
hands tied to a post above His head. It is doubtful whether the Romans make any
attempt to follow the Jewish law in this matter of scourging. The Jews had an
ancient law prohibiting more than forty lashes. The Pharisees, always making
sure that the law was strictly kept, insisted that only thirty-nine lashes be
given. (In the case of a miscount, they were sure of remaining within the law.)
The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum (or flagellum) in his
hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two
small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought
down with full force again and again across Jesus' shoulders, back and legs. At
first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue,
they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of
blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial
bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first
produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows. Finally
the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an
unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the
centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally
stopped.
The half-fainting
Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His
own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming
to be a King. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His
hand for a sceptre. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. A
small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used for
firewood) are plaited into a shape of a crown and this is pressed into His
scalp. Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most
vascular areas of the body). After mocking Him and striking Him across the
face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the head,
driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic
sport and the robe is torn from his back. This had already become adherent to
the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the
careless removal of a surgical bandage, causes excruciating pain.... almost as
though He were again being whipped - and the wounds again begin to bleed.
In deference to
Jewish custom, the Romans return His garments. The heavy patibulum of the cross
is tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two
thieves and the execution detail of Roman soldiers, headed by a centurion,
begins its slow journey along the Via Dolorosa. In spite of His efforts to walk
erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by
copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the
beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. The
Centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, selects a stalwart North
African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus follows, still
bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock. The 650 yard journey
from the fortress Antonia to
The crucifixion
begins, Jesus is offered wine mixed with Myrrh, a mild analgesic mixture. He
refuses to drink. Simon is ordered to place the patibulum on the ground and
Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood. The
legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a
heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood.
Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not
to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The
patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes and the titulus
reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" is nailed in place.
The left foot is
pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes
down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately
flexed. The victim is now crucified. As He slowly sags down with more weight on
the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and
up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists are putting
pressure on the median nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this
stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet.
Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between
the metatarsal bones of the feet.
At this point,
another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep
over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these
cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the
pectoral muscles are paralysed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act.
Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise
Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds
up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside.
Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the
life-giving oxygen. It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the
seven short sentences which are recorded:
The first, looking
down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice for His seamless garment,
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
The second, to the
penitent thief, "Today thou shalt be with me in
The third, looking
down at the terrified, grief stricken, adolescent John, (the beloved Apostle),
He said, "Behold thy mother," and looking to Mary, His mother,
"Woman, behold thy son."
The fourth cry is
from the beginning of the 22nd Psalm, "My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?"
Hours of this limitless
pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial
asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He
moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep
crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and
begins to compress the heart.
Let us remember
again the 22nd Psalm (the 14th verse), "I am poured out like water, and
all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst
of my bowels."
It is now almost
over - the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level - the compressed
heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues - the
tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The
markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain.
Jesus gasps his
fifth cry, "I thirst."
Let us remember
another verse from the prophetic 22nd Psalm: "My strength is dried up like
a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and
thou hast brought me into the dust of death."
A sponge soaked in
Posca, the cheap, sour wine which is the staple drink of the Roman
legionnaires, is lifted to His lips. He apparently does not take any of the
liquid. The body of Jesus in now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of
death creeping through His tissues. This realization brings out His sixth words
- possible little more than a tortured whisper.
"It is
finished."
His mission of
atonement has been completed. Finally He can allow His body to die.
With one last
surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail,
straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh and last
cry, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit."
The rest you know.
In order that the Sabbath not be profaned, the Jews asked that the condemned
men be dispatched and removed from the crosses. The common method of ending a
crucifixion was by crurefracture, the breaking of the bones of the legs. This
prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; the tension could not be
relieved from the muscles of the chest, and rapid suffocation occurred. The
legs of the two thieves were broken, but when they came to Jesus they saw that
this was unnecessary.
Apparently to make
doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth
interspace between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart.
The 34th verse of the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to
Thus we have seen a glimpse of the epitome of evil which man can exhibit toward man - and toward God. This is not a pretty sight and is apt to leave us despondent and depressed. How grateful we can be that we have a sequel: A glimpse of the infinite mercy of God toward man - the miracle of the atonement and the expectation of Easter morning.
http://www.joyfulministry.com/crucif.htm