A Medical View of the Crucifixion (Part 2)

This is an amazing view of our Lord's love for us. If you are not moved by this account then something is wrong with you! Please take the time to read this through. I know that it is long, yet I guarantee that you will not regret that you read this. If you have not read the first part of this article, please take the time to do so (click here).

"The heavy beam of the cross is then tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves and the execution detail, begin it’s slow journey. 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. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.

"At Golgotha the beam is placed 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 beam is then lifted in place at the top of the posts and 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 in the arch of each. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid the 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.

"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 re paralyzed 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 more 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 glory to the life-giving oxygen.

"Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphixation, 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.

"The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick , sluggish blood into the tissues- the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp is small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps “I thirst”.

"He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. 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 commend my spirit”.

"Apparently to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through pericardium and into the heart. Immediately there came out blood and water. We, therefore, have rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that Our Lord died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in pericardium."

A Medical View of the Crucifixion (Part 1)

Recently I was nosing through one of my old college textbooks and I came across this portrayal of the crucifixion in “The Crucifixion of Jesus” By C. Truman Davis . This is such a powerful testament to God's love toward us! Please take the time to read it and think about it. Spend time musing this article.

"The physical trauma of Christ begins in Gethsemane with one of the initial aspects of His suffering- the bloody sweat. It is interesting that the physician of the group St. Luke, is the only on to mention this. He says, “And being in agony, He prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of loose blood, trickling down upon the ground.”

"Though very rare, the phenomenon of hemathidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under the 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.

"After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by the High Priest. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat upon 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 Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia. It was there, in response to the cries of the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.

"Preparations for the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His hands are tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heave, 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 in 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 bear 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 scepter. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is then pressed into his scalp.

"Again there is a 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 it’s 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."

Ashamed of the Gospel?

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
~ Romans 1:16

In our modern society, Christians are conditioned to shy away from confrontation. Toleration is touted as the supreme rule of order and any individual or group claiming that another's belief system is wrong is found guilty of bigotry and bias.

It seems then that as Christianity finds itself with the greatest religious liberty that it would find itself with the greatest preachers, the greatest soul-winners, and the greatest Christians that this world has every known. The truth, however, is in sad contrast to this.

Christians who tout that their savior Jesus is the only way to a pleasant afterlife are shunned and labeled as intolerant. Society rejects the proselytizing efforts and the unique lifestyle of the Christian community as closed-minded or antiquated.

Yet even with this grievous social rejection, American Christianity faces nothing remotely comparable to what Christians have dealt with in the past and are currently facing in other areas of the world. In fact, a case could be made for the notion that Christianity has never been received the way that it has been in the modern American society.

The first few centuries following the death of Christ were marked by severe persecution of believers by the Roman emperors. During this era, it was commonplace to make sport of the death of Christians by burning them in public, feeding them to animals in the arena, or forcing them to fight as gladiators. This era was followed by the Dark Ages appropriately named for the harsh suppression of the gospel light by the Roman Catholic Church. Scholars estimate that the pope and his legion of devilish imps eventually murdered over fifty million people most of which were Bible believing Christians. This has been the common trend faced by Christians of all ages.

It seems then that as Christianity finds itself with the greatest religious liberty that it would find itself with the greatest preachers, the greatest soul-winners, and the greatest Christians that this world has every known. The truth, however, is in sad contrast to this. Christians today are afraid of social rejection more than the early followers of Christ were afraid of death!

The Apostle Paul makes it very clear in both his preaching and his lifestyle that the gospel message is the most important thing in the world to him. In many passages, he speaks about the persecutions and trials that he personally faced as a result of his gospel preaching efforts.

"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."

~ II Corinthians 11:24-27

Paul embraced the way of the martyr. We know that Paul eventually gave his life for the gospel. I wonder if I compared my life to that of the Apostle Paul's what would I find in this area? Am I committed to the gospel or am I among the ranks of modern Christians who live in fear of the world's societal rejection?