|
The
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Jesus
Christ was
Scourged Crucifixion
typically began with a scourging or
flogging of the victim’s back.
This was the case for Jesus Christ
as recorded in John 19:1-3: "Then
Pilate therefore took Jesus, and
scourged Him, And the soldiers
platted a crown of thorns, and put
it on his head, and they put on him
a purple robe. And said, Hail, King
of the Jews! and they smote him with
their hands.". Jesus faced
a severe beating and the torment
caused by the Roman soldiers, that
initially included the plucking of
His beard and the piercing of His
scalp with a crown of thorns.
In addition the flogging followed, The
Romans used a whip called a flagrum,
which consisted of small pieces of
bone and metal attached to a number
of leather strands. The number of
blows given to Jesus is not
recorded; however, the number of
blows in Jewish law was 39 [one less
than the 40 called for in the Torah,
to prevent a counting error]. During
the scourging, the skin was ripped
from His back, exposing a bloody
mass of tissue and bone. Extreme
blood loss occurred, often leading
to near unconsciousness or often
death .
Jesus
Christ Bore His Cross
After
the flogging, Jesus was forced
to carry His own crossbar, or
patibulum, to the execution site.
The patibulum could easily weigh 100
pounds. In the case of Jesus, the
record shows that He may have
carried His patibulum the distance
of over two football fields. In a
weak and tormented state, it’s no
wonder the record establishes that
Jesus Christ needed a great deal of
assistance. Once Jesus arrived at
the execution site, the patibulum
was placed on the ground and Christ
was forced to lie upon it. Spikes
about 7 inches long and 3/8 of an
inch in diameter were driven into
His wrists. The spikes would hit the
area of the median nerve, causing
shocks of pain up His arms to the
shoulders and neck. Already standing
at the crucifixion site would be the
7-foot-tall post, called a stipes.
In the center of the stipes was a
crude seat for the victim
“support” . The patibulum was
then lifted on to the stipes, and
the victim’s body was awkwardly
turned on the seat so that the feet
could be nailed to the stipes. At
this point, there was tremendous
strain put on the wrists, arms and
shoulders, resulting in a
dislocation of His shoulders and
elbow joints. The position of the
nailed body held the Jesus' rib cage
in a fixed position, which made it
extremely difficult to exhale, and
impossible to take a full breath.
Having suffered from the scourging,
the beatings and the walk with the
patibulum, Jesus was described as
extremely weak and dehydrated. He
was probably losing significant
amounts of blood. As time passed,
the loss of blood and lack of oxygen
would cause Him severe cramps,
spasmodic contractions and probably
near unconsciousness.
Jesus
Christ Faced a Horrible Death Ultimately,
the mechanism of death in
crucifixion was suffocation. To
breathe, Jesus was forced to push up
on His feet to allow for inflation
of His lungs. As His body weakened
and pain in His feet and legs became
unbearable, Jesus was forced to
trade breathing for pain and
exhaustion. Eventually, Christ would
succumb in this way, becoming
utterly exhausted or lapsing into
unconsciousness so that He could no
longer lift His body and inflate His
lungs. Due to the shallow breathing,
Jesus lungs would begin to collapse
in areas, probably causing hypoxia.
Due to the loss of blood from the
scourging, Jesus probably formed a
respiratory acidosis, resulting in
an increased strain on His heart,
which would beat faster to
compensate. Fluid would also build
up in His lungs. Under the stress of
hypoxia and acidosis, His heart
would eventually fail. There are
several different theories on the
actual cause of death for Jesus
Christ. One theory is that there was
a filling of His pericardium with
fluid, which put a fatal strain on
the ability of His heart to pump
blood. Another theory states that
Jesus died of cardiac rupture.
Another theory is that Jesus' death
was “multifactorial and related
primarily to hypovolemic shock,
exhaustion asphyxia and perhaps
acute heart failure.” Regardless
of the actual medical cause of His
final death, the historical record
is very clear -- Jesus suffered
numerous hours of horrible and
sustained torture on the cross of
Calvary. However, the scripture
clearly reveals in Luke 23:46, "And
when Jesus had cried with a Loud
Voice,
He said, Father, into Thy hands I
commend My spirit: and having said
thus, He gave up the ghost." John
10:18 states "No man
taketh it from Me, but I lay
it down
of Myself. I have power to lay
it down,
and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of
My Father" John 15:13
reveals:
"Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay
down
His life for His friends."
Jesus
Suffered for You and Me The
crucifixion accounts of our Lord
Jesus Christ are in entire agreement
with the customs and practices of
the Romans in that period of time.
The evidence for Christ’s horrible
and painful death is unquestioned by
today’s legitimate scholars. The
only dispute is the nature and
character of the “criminal charges
” against Jesus Christ. Look at
the record yourself -- Even with all
the pain, Jesus thought of others
rather than Himself. His first words
from the cross were, "Father,
forgive them; for they know not what
they do" Luke 23:34,. He
thought of His mother, who stood by
the cross weeping, and asked His
beloved disciple John to take care
of her. On either side of Jesus were
two thieves executed at the same
time. When one of them accepted
Jesus as Lord, Jesus shared with
him, "To day shalt thou be
with Me in paradise" Luke
23:43. Finally, Jesus expressed His
complete surrender to the will of
God as He said, "It is
finished;" John 19:30. "Father,
into Thy hands I commend My
spirit" Luke 23:46.
Investigate the historical record as
recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and
then examine your heart. Our Lord
Jesus Christ gave Himself willingly
and suffered a horrible death for
you and me. Jesus loved us so much
that He willingly died in utter
shame and pain for our sins. In
fact, the Bible teaches us that He
who was without sin was literally
"made sin" for us. God, in
human form, allowed Himself to be
made sin to save us. On the cross,
He bore all the sins of all the
Father gave Him because of His love
for them. The only way to complete
His story of love is to love Him in
return. The only sin that cannot and
will not be forgiven is the
"sin of unbelief" of the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
Believe and repent - or perish and
be eternally separated from
God!
|