| | THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
In this article, I shall discuss some of the physical
aspects of the passion, or suffering, of Jesus Christ. We
shall follow Him from Gethsemane, through His trial, His
scourging, His path along the Via Dolorosa, to His last dying
hours on the cross.
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 did not even know the actual immediate cause
of death. The Gospel writers do not 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 Evangelist: "Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him
to them to be crucified - and they crucified Him".
What did the body of Jesus of Nazareth actually endure
during those hours of torture?
This led me first to a study of the practice of crucifixion
itself; that is, the torture and execution of a person by
fixation to a cross.
The upright portion of the cross (or stipes) could have the
crossarm (or patibulum) attached two or three feet below it's top
(this is what we commonly think of today as the classic form of
the cross, the one which we have later named the Latin cross).
However, the common form used in our Lord's day was the Tau
cross, shaped like the Greek letter Tau or like our "T". In
this cross the patibulum was placed in a notch at the top of the
stipes. There is fairly overwhelming archeological evidence that
it was on this type of cross that Jesus was crucified.
The upright post, or stipes, was generally 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. 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 trough 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 it's 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 Gethsemane. Of the
many aspects of this initial suffering, I shall only discuss the
one of physiological interest, the bloody sweat. It is
interesting that the physician of the group, St. Luke, is the
only one to mention this. He says, "And being in agony, He
prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood,
trickling down upon the ground".
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 of 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 each of them as they passed by, spat on
Him, and struck Him in the face.
In the morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated,
and exhausted from a sleepless night, is taken across Jerusalem
to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia, the seat of government
of the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. You are, of course,
familiar with Pilate's action in attempting to pass responsibility
to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Jesus apparently
suffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and was
returned to Pilate. It was then, in response to the cries of
the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released and condemned
Jesus to scourging and crucifixion. Most Roman writers from this
period do not associate the two. Many scholars believe that
Pilate originally ordered Jesus scourged as his full punishment
and that the death sentence by crucifixion came only in response
to the taunt by the mob that the Procurator was not properly
defending Caesar against this pretender who claimed to be the
"KING OF THE JEWS".
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 made 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 this
way, they were sure of remaining within the law in case of a
miscount). The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum
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 blows
continue, they cut deeper into the 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 centurian 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 scepter. 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 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 begin to bleed again.
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 it's slow journey. 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
lacrated skin and muscles of the shoulders. The centurian,
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 to Golgotha is finally completed.
The prisoner is again stripped of His clothes - except for a loin
cloth which is allowed the Jews.
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 and 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
as 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 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 parlyzed 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 utterd 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 persistent thief, "Today thou shalt be
with me in Paradise."
The third, looking down at the terrified, grief stricken,
adelescent 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 asphixiation, searing pain
as the 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, verse 14: "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 is now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of death
creeping through His tissues. This realization brings out His
sixth words, possibly 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 legs. This
prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; the tension
could not be relieved from the muscles of the chest, and rapid
suffocation then 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 St. John:
"And immediately there came out blood and water." Thus there was
an escape of watery fluid from the sac surrounding the heart and
blood from the interior of heart. We therefore, have rather
conclusive postmortem evidence that our Lord died, not the
usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due
to shock and a constriction of the heart by fluid in the
pericardium.
Thus we have seen a glimpse of the epitomy of evil which man
can exibit 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!
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