Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus
Christ
Compiled by David Terasaka, M.D. ©1996. All Rights
Reserved, David Terasaka, M.D. However, permission is hereby granted to copy and
distribute free of charge for non-commercial purposes only. Heb 12:2 - "Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God." In the
last few hours of Jesus' life what did He endure, and what shame did He
suffer? EXCRUCIATE: to cause great agony, torment Latin : ex : out of, from cruciate : cross "from the cross" The tone
of this presentation can best be summarized in the word "excruciate",
(the root of the word "excruciating") which refers to
something which causes great agony or torment. The Latin roots of the word
are :"ex", meaning from or out of, and "cruciate",
meaning cross. The word "excruciate" comes from the Latin
for "from, or out of, the cross".(Websters) GENERAL OVERVIEW
Jesus spent the
last hours before the crucifixion at several places in Jerusalem. He started
the evening in the Upper Room, in southwest Jerusalem. At the Last Supper, He
told the disciples that His body and His blood were to be given for them. (Matt
26: 26-29) He went outside of the city to the Garden of Gethesemane. He
was then arrested and brought back to the to the palace of the High Priest.
where He was questioned by Annas, a former High Priest, and Caiaphas, Annas'
son in law . Afterwards, He was tried by the Sanhedrin, and found to be
guilty of blasphemy by proclaiming Himself the Son of God. He was sentenced
to the death penalty. Since only the Romans were able to execute criminals,
He was sent to Pontius Pilate at the Antonia Fortress. Pilate, not finding
anything wrong, sent Him to King Herod , who returned Him back to Pilate.
Pilate, submitting to the pressure of the crowd, then ordered that Jesus be
flogged and crucified. He was finally led out of the city walls to be
crucified at Calvary. THE HEALTH OF JESUS AND DEMANDS OF THE ORDEAL
It is reasonable to
assume that Jesus was in good health prior to the ordeal that He faced in the
hours before His death. Having been a carpenter and traveling throughout the
land during His ministry would have required that He would be in good
physical condition. Before the crucifixion, however, He was forced to walk
2.5 miles over a sleepless night, during which He suffered great anguish
through His six trials, was mocked, ridiculed and severely beaten, and was
abandoned by His friends and Father. (Edwards) THE UPPER ROOM OR CENACULUM
The ordeal began in
an upper room of a house at what we now call the Last Supper, where Jesus, in
giving the first communion, predicted that His body and blood would be given.
(Matt
26:17-29) Today in Jerusalem, one can visit the Cenacle or Cenaculum
(Latin for dining hall), a room which is built over what is believed to be
the site of the Upper Room, (Kollek) which was located on the southwestern
aspect of the old city. GETHESEMANE : oil press
Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more
earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the
ground. "the Spirit of God ....crushed" From the
upper room, Jesus went outside of the city walls where he spent time in
prayer at the Of
medical significance is that Luke mentions Him as having sweat like blood. The
medical term for this, "hemohidrosis" or "hematidrosis"
has been seen in patients who have experienced, extreme stress or shock to
their systems. (Edwards) The capillaries around the sweat pores become
fragile and leak blood into the sweat. A case history is recorded in which a
young girl who had a fear of air raids in WW1 developed the condition after a
gas explosion occurred in the house next door.(Scott)) Another report
mentions a nun who, as she was threatened with death by the swords of the enemy
soldiers," was so terrified that she bled from every part of her body
and died of hemorrhage in the sight of her assailants."(Grafenberg)
As a memorial to Jesus' ordeal, a church which now stands in Gethesemane is
known as the Church of the Agony. (also called the Church of the Nations
because many nations donated money to its construction.(Kollek) ABANDONED BY MAN
Matthew 26:56: "Then all the disciples deserted
him and fled." Psa 22:11: "Do not
be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help."
While in
Gethesemane, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Jews. His
disciples all desert Him, even at the expense of running away naked (Mark 14:51-52). He is bound (John 18:12) then brought back to the
city to the court of the High Priest, which is located near the Upper
room. ILLEGAL ASPECTS OF THE TRIAL OF JESUS
Following are some
of the illegal aspects of the trial of Jesus:
THE ISSUE OF WITNESSES
Deut 19:15: "One witness is not enough to
convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter
must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."
Deut 17:6: "On the
testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one
shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." Mark 14:56: "Many
testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree."
While in
the court of the High Priest, He was questioned by Annas (John 18:13) and struck by a soldier (John 18: 22). He was then
brought to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. who sought to put Jesus to death by the
false testimony of many witnesses. The witnesses brought against Him did not
agree. By the law, no one could be put to death without the agreement of two
or three witnesses. Although the witnesses did not agree, He was found guilty
of blasphemy when He told them of His identity as the Son of God. He was
sentenced to death. Jesus suffered ridicule from the palace guards, who spat
on Him, beat Him and slapped Him on the face.(Mark 14:65.) During the trial, Peter
denies Him three times. The proceedings of Jesus' trial violated many of the
laws of His society. Among some of the
other broken laws were:(Bucklin) 1.
Any
arrest could not be made at night. 2.
The
time and date of the trial were illegal because it took place at night and on
the eve of the Sabbath. This time precluded any chance for the required
adjournment to the next day in the event of a conviction. 3.
The
Sanhedrin was without authority to instigate charges. It was only supposed to
investigate charges brought before it. In Jesus' trial, the court itself
formulated the charges. 4.
The
charges against Jesus were changed during the trial. He was initially charged
with blasphemy based upon His statement that He would be able to destroy and
rebuild the Temple of God within three days, as well as His claim to be the
Son of God. When He was brought before Pilate, the charge was that Jesus was
a King and did not advocate paying taxes to the Romans. 5.
As
stated above, the requirement of two witnesses in agreement to merit the
death penalty was not met. 6.
The
court did not meet in the regular meeting place of the Sanhedrin, as required
by Jewish law. 7.
Christ
was not permitted a defense. Under Jewish law, an exhaustive search into the
facts presented by the witnesses should have occurred. 8.
The
Sanhedrin pronounced the death sentence. Under law, the Sanhedrin were not
allowed to convict and put the death sentence into effect. (John 18:31) Today, one can
visit the palace of the High Priest. where one can stand in the midst of the
ruins of the courtyard. A model of the structure in Jesus' time is available
for viewing. PILATE'S VERDICT
Mark 15:15 - "Wanting
to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged,
and handed him over to be crucified." The
Sanhedrin met early the next morning and sentenced Him to death. (Matthew 27:1) Because the
Jews were not, and the Romans were, able to carry out an execution, Jesus was
brought before Pilate. The charge was now changed to an allegation that Jesus
claimed to be King and forbade the nation to pay taxes to Caesar. (Luke 23:5) In spite of all the
charges, Pilate finds nothing wrong. He sends Jesus to Herod. Jesus is
speechless before Herod, except to affirm that He is King of the Jews. Herod
sends Him back to Pilate. Pilate is unable to convince the crowds of Jesus'
innocence and orders Jesus to be put to death. Some sources state that it was
Roman law that a criminal that was to be crucified had to be flogged
first.(McDowell) Others believe that Jesus was flogged first by Pilate in the
hope of getting Him off with a lighter punishment .(Davis) In spite of his
efforts, the Jews allow Barabbas to be released and demand that Jesus be crucified,
even crying that ,"His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25) Pilate hands
Jesus over to be flogged and crucified. It is at
this point that Jesus suffers a severe physical beating. (Edwards) During a
flogging, a victim was tied to a post, leaving hisback entirely exposed. The
Romans used a whip, called a flagrum or flagellum which consisted of small
pieces of bone and metal attached to a number of leather strands. The number
of strikes is not recorded in the gospels. The number of blows in Jewish law
was set in Deuteronomy 25:3 at forty, but later reduced to 39 to prevent
excessive blows by a counting error. (Holmans). The victim often died from
the beating. (39 hits were believed to bring the criminal to "one
from death".) Roman law did not put any limits on the number of
blows given. (McDowell) During the flogging, the skin was stripped from the
back, exposing a bloody mass of muscle and bone ("hamburger "
: Metherall). Extreme blood loss occurred from this beating, weakening the
victim. perhaps to the point of being unconscious. ROMAN SOLDIERS MOCK AND BEAT JESUS
Matthew 27:28-30
(The soldiers) stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and then twisted
together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his
right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of
the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and
struck him on the head again and again. Jesus was then beaten by the Roman
soldiers. In mockery, they dressed Him in what was probably the cloak of a
Roman officer, which was colored dark purple or scarlet .(Amplified Bible) He
also wore the crown of thorns. Unlike the traditional crown which is depicted
by an open ring, the actual crown of thorns may have covered the entire
scalp.(Lumpkin) The thorns may have been 1 to 2 inches long. The gospels
state that the Roman soldiers continued to beat Jesus on the head. The blows
would drive the thorns into the scalp (one of the most vascular areas of the
body) and forehead, causing severe bleeding. THE CROWN OF THORNS AND THE ROBE
Genesis 3:17-18: "Cursed is the ground because of
you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It
will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the
field."Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are
red as crimson, they shall be like wool." The significance of the
scarlet robe and crown of thorns is to emphasize Jesus' taking the sins of
the world upon His body. The Bible describes sin by the color of scarlet (Is
1:18) and that thorns first appeared after the fall, as a sign of the
curse. Thus, the articles that He wore are symbols to show that Jesus took on
the sins (and the curse) of the world upon Himself. It is not clear that He
wore the crown of thorns on the cross. Matthew describes that the Romans removed
His clothes after the beating, and that they put His own clothes back on Him.
(Matt
27:31) THE SEVERITY OF THE BEATING
Isaiah 50:6: "I offered my back to those who
beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 52:14: ".....
Just as there were many who were appalled at him -- his appearance was so
disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human
likeness--" The
severity of the beating is not detailed in the gospels. However, in the book
of Isaiah, it suggests that the Romans pulled out His beard.(Isaiah 50:8) . It is also
mentions that Jesus was beaten so severely that His form did not look like
that of "a son of a man" i.e. that of a human being. The
literal translation of the verse reads, "So marred from the form of
man was His aspect, that His appearance was not as that of a son of a man."
People were appalled to look at Him (Isaiah 52:13). His
disfigurement may explain why He was not easily recognized in His post
resurrection appearances.(Missler) Today, one can visit a site known as the
Lithostrotos, traditionally believed to be the floor of the Antonio Fortress.(although
recent excavations may cast doubt on this theory (Gonen)) The floor is marked
for games once played by the Roman soldiers From the
beating, Jesus walked on a path, now known as the Via Dolorosa or the "way
of suffering", to be crucified at The
present Via Dolorosa was marked in the 16th century as the route over which
Christ was led to His crucifixion.(Magi) As is the location of SUFFERING ON THE CROSS
Psalm 22:16-17: Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil
men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all
my bones; people stare and gloat over me." The crucifixion
event is prophesied in several places throughout the Old Testament. One of
the most striking is recorded inIsaiah 52:13 ,where it says
that , "My servant will act wisely (or prosper) .He will be raised
and lifted up and greatly exalted." In John 3, Jesus talks about His
fulfillment of that prophecy when He says, "Just as Moses lifted up
the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone
who believes in Him may have eternal life." He refers to the events
recorded inNumbers 21:6-9. The Lord had
sent a plague of fiery serpents on the people of Gordon's
Jesus
was then crucified. Crucifixion was a practice that originated with the
Persians and was later passed on to the Carthaginians and the Phoenicians. The
Romans perfected it as a method of execution which caused maximal pain and
suffering over a period of time. Those crucified included slaves, provincials
and the lowest types of criminals. Roman citizens, except perhaps for
soldiers who deserted, were not subjected to this treatment. (McDowell)
The
crucifixion site "was purposely chosen to be outside the city walls
because the Law forbade such within the city walls...for sanitary reasons ...
the crucified body was sometimes left to rot on the cross and serve as a
disgrace, a convincing warning and deterrent to passers by." (Johnson)
Sometimes, the subject was eaten while alive and still on the cross by wild
beasts. (Lipsius) The
procedure of crucifixion may be summarized as follows. The patibulum was put
on the ground and the victim laid upon it. Nails, about 7 inches long and
with a diameter of 1 cm ( roughly 3/8 of an inch) were driven in the wrists .
The points would go into the vicinity of the median nerve, causing shocks of
pain to radiate through the arms. It was possible to place the nails between
the bones so that no fractures (or broken bones) occurred. Studies have shown
that nails were probably driven through the small bones of the wrist, since
nails in the palms of the hand would not support the weight of a body. In
ancient terminology, the wrist was considered to be part of the hand. ( There
were several different types of crosses used during crucifixion. In Jesus'
time, it was most likely that the cross used was a T shaped (or tau cross,),
not the popular Latin, or t shaped cross which is accepted
today.(Lumpkin) PHYSICAL SUFFERING ON THE CROSS
Psalm 22:14-15: "I am poured out like water, and
all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away
within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to
the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death." Having
suffered from the beatings and flogging, Jesus suffered from severe
hypovolemia from the loss of blood. The verses above describe His dehydrated
state and loss of His strength. When the
cross was erected upright, there was tremendous strain put on the wrists,
arms and shoulders, resulting in a dislocation of the shoulder and elbow
joints.(Metherall) The arms, being held up and outward, held the rib cage in
a fixed end inspiratory position which made it extremely difficult to exhale,
and impossible to take a full breath. The victim would only be able to take
very shallow breaths.(This may explain why Jesus made very short statements
while on the cross). As time passed, the muscles, from the loss of blood,
last of oxygen and the fixed position of the body, would undergo severe
cramps and spasmodic contractions ABANDONED BY GOD -- SPIRITUAL DEATH
Matthew 27:46: "About the ninth hour Jesus cried
out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'--which means, My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" With the
sin of the world upon Him, Jesus suffered spiritual death (separation from
the Father ).Isaiah 59:2 says that sins
cause a separation from God, and that He hides His face from you so that He
does not hear. The Father must turn away from His Beloved Son on the cross. For
the first time, Jesus does not address God as His Father.(Courson) DEATH
BY CRUCIFIXION : SLOW SUFFOCATION
The slow process of
suffering and resulting death during a crucifixion may be summarized as
follows: "...it
appears likely that the mechanism of death in crucifixion was suffocation. The
chain of events which ultimately led to suffocation are as follows: With the
weight of the body being supported by the sedulum, the arms were pulled
upward. This caused the intercostal and pectoral muscles to be stretched. Furthermore,
movement of these muscles was opposed by the weight of the body. With the
muscles of respiration thus stretched, the respiratory bellows became
relatively fixed. As dyspnea developed and pain in the wrists and arms increased,
the victim was forced to raise the body off the sedulum, thereby transferring
the weight of the body to the feet. Respirations became easier, but with the
weight of the body being exerted on the feet, pain in the feet and legs
mounted. When the pain became unbearable, the victim again slumped down on
the sedulum with the weight of the body pulling on the wrists and again
stretching the intercostal muscles. Thus, the victim alternated between
lifting his body off the sedulum in order to breathe and slumping down on the
sedulum to relieve pain in the feet. Eventually , he became exhausted or
lapsed into unconsciousness so that he could no longer lift his body off the
sedulum. In this position, with the respiratory muscles essentially
paralyzed, the victim suffocated and died. (DePasquale and Burch) Due to
the shallow breathing, the victim's lungs begin to collapse in small areas.
causing hypoxia and hypercarbia. A respiratory acidosis, with lack of
compensation by the kidneys due to the loss of blood from the numerous
beatings, resulted in an increased strain on the heart, which beats faster to
compensate. Fluid builds up in the lungs. . Under the stress of hypoxia and
acidosis the heart eventually fails. There are several different theories on
the actual cause of death. One theory states that there was a filling of the
pericardium with fluid, which put a fatal strain on the ability of the heart
to pump blood (Lumpkin). Another theory states that Jesus died of cardiac
rupture." (Bergsma) The actual cause of Jesus' death, however, "may
have been multifactorial and related primarily to hypovolemic shock,
exhaustion asphyxia and perhaps acute heart failure."(Edwards) A
fatal cardiac arrhythmia may have caused the final terminal event. (Johnson,
Edwards) A LAST DRINK OF WINE VINEGAR
John 19:29-30 "A
jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the
sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips."
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, `It is finished'.
"With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." Having
suffered severe blood losses from His numerous beatings and thus in a
dehydrated state, Jesus, in one of His final statements, said "I
thirst." He was offered 2 drinks on the cross. The first, which He
refused, was a drugged wine (mixed with myrrh). He chose to face death
without a clouded mind. Edersheim writes: "It
was a merciful Jewish practice to give to those led to execution a draught of
strong wine mixed with myrrh so as to deaden consciousness" (Mass Sem 2.9;
Bemid. R. 10). This charitable office was performed at the cost of, if not
by, an association of women in The second
drink, which He accepts moments before His death, is described as a wine
vinegar. Two points are important to note. The drink was given on the "stalk
of a hyssop plant". Remember that these events occurred at the Feast
of the Passover. During this feast, (Exod 12:22) hyssop was used to apply
the blood of the Passover lamb to the wooden doorposts of the Jews. It is
interesting the end of this hyssop stalk pointed to the blood of the Perfect
Lamb which was applied to the wooden cross for the salvation of all mankind. (Barclay)
In addition, the wine vinegar is a product of fermentation, which is made
from grape juice and yeast. The word literally means "that which is
soured" and is related to the Hebrew term for "that which is
leavened". (Holmans) Yeast or leaven, is a Biblical symbol of sin. When
Jesus took this drink, (i.e. a drink which was "leavened")
it is thus symbolic of His taking the sins of the world into His body. CELEBRATION OF THE OPPOSITION
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