Hello there folks, this is a look into what the final hours of Jesus' mortal life was like, and links certain aspects to science an modern medicine proving these things happened and had been witnessed, I hope helps understand what Jesus went through, for you, the rest of the world and I. Thanks for reading in adavance take care and God Bless!
~Easter~ ~2010~
The death of Christ
Over the years people have claimed that Jesus wasn’t a real person let alone did he actually die on the cross for each of our sins. Some people claim that he did not die on the cross, condemning Him saying He merely fainted on the cross, drugged to appear dead and later awoke by the cold damp air of the tomb, and He could have been given the drug while hanging on the cross. Muslims consider that another man was actually crucified in His place or Allah took Him from the cross before He actually died. Basically these theories are attempting to discredit the resurrection by suggesting it was but a mere resuscitation and the tomb was empty because He did not actually die.
Ultimately what any of these theories are trying to suggest it that Jesus wasn’t resurrected from death and therefore wasn’t the son of God and did not fulfill the prophecies that were spoken of the Messiah who would come. But anyone who has conjured up any such theories states within or shortly there after that they are but only theories they have constructed on their own accord and have no evidence to prove the accuracy of such theory. Many people believe that science and religion can not work together however; science rather compliments religion and The Bible quite well, especially in circumstances where in that time they did not have science and therefore would have not known the things that they did without it having been from God or witnessing the event themselves, but today we have science to prove such things. The resurrection is everything, it is at the very core of the Christian faith, it is what makes Jesus God no other religion claims their Messiah is still alive today but we do as Christians, because Christ actually rose from the dead, all other arguments are futile, it proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The truth of Christianity rests on this issue. Ultimately whether or not we choose to believe it Jesus Christ arose from the dead and therefore Christianity and the Bible are completely true, are not subject to debate, and finally Christianity is the Truth and not Religion.
Let’s look at the crucifixion and determine for ourselves whether or not Jesus could have survived the cross.
Torture Before
After the last supper Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed there all night. While there He was anticipating the coming events and feeling the burdens of bearing all the sins of the world. Knowing the amount of suffering He would soon endure, Jesus was experiencing a great deal of stress and we can also assume bearing the sins of the world would have had a great deal to do with such anxiety, He literally took upon Himself the sins of the world, the grief, the angst, the hatred the sickness, he carried them all to the cross. Imagine feeling not one person’s guilt, sin, pain, and personal strife, but billions. Jesus felt more than any other person on this earth, He knew what was in people’s hearts and knew their thoughts He felt their pain and sorrow. Which is why when in Matthew 9:21 a woman was healed just from touching his garment, it wasn’t because he felt His “magic” leaving Him, but he felt her pain, her sorrow, dissipate.
Back to the garden.
“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:44
Did He actually sweat blood?
Yes He did!
This is a known medical condition called “Hem-a-ti-drosis” which is caused by a high degree of psychological stress. The sever anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in sweat glands, and as a result there is bleeding into these glands and the sweat comes from the skin tainted with blood.
This also affected the body in other ways. The skin would have become extremely fragile, so when Jesus was flogged His skin would have been very, very sensitive and fragile. A regular flogging would last approximately 39 lashes, but most often was more than that. The whip would have been leather with metal balls woven into it which would cause massive bruises or contusions instantly and would burst open with further repeated strikes. However this wasn’t seen as being painful enough. The whips also had pieces of sharp bone woven into them, which would cut and dig into the flesh severely, tearing even deeper into the body sometimes leaving the spine and other bones exposed and vulnerable. The whipping would begin from the neckline down to the heels leaving no portion unscathed. A third-century historian recorded a description of the events by saying “The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, the very muscles, sinews (tendons) and bowels were openly exposed” The victim of such brutality would more than likely have been killed in the process or if they survived, due to the tremendous pain would have gone into Hypovolemic shock; which essentially means the person is losing far too much blood than the body can bare, which causes the heart rate to accelerate in an attempt to pump no non-existent blood through the body. The blood pressure then drops causing fainting or collapsing, the kidneys stop producing urine, and the person craves fluids to replace the lost volume of blood. Jesus went into this physical state of shock and the condition grew worse as He climbed the road to Golgotha which means “place of the skull” Jesus was already in critical condition before He even made it to the cross. A man named Simon was forced to help Jesus with the rest of His final mortal journey. “Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.” Mark 15:21
The Cross
When Jesus arrived to the site of His Crucifixion, He would have been laid down, and His hands would have been nailed down in the outstretched position. Both shoulders would have been dislocated fulfilling yet another prophesy
“And all My bones are out of joint;” Psalm 22:14
The spikes were 5-7 inches long tapered to a sharp point, and were driven through his wrists, Just below the palm; in this position it would cause the hands to lock, if it were through the palms the skin would have torn and He would have fallen from the cross. In the language of this time it would have also been considered the hand. When being pierced through the wrist the nail would have crushed the Median Nerve, to illustrate this feeling- imagine you had hit your funny bone, now imagine the nerve that causes such pain being crushed and twisted by a pair of pliers. The pain would have been unbearable, at the time it was so indescribable they had to invent a new word to describe it which lead to the creation of the word excruciating. The pain was so intense ~They Had To Make A New Word!!!!!~
Next the nails were driven through His feet; once again the nerves in His feet would have been crushed causing a similar pain.
The Crucifixion itself is an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The stress on the muscles and diaphragm keep the chest locked into the inhaled position, in order to exhale the Jesus would have to push up on his feet to ease the tension on the other muscles for a brief moment. Through doing this the nails would tear through the foot locking up again the Tarsal Bones. On top of this He would have been scrapping His beaten back against the coarse grain of the wooden cross. This would have continued until He suffered complete exhaustion and would not have been able to push up anymore. As Jesus would have begun to slow His breathing he would have gone into “Respiratory Acidosis” – the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbon acid, causing the acidity of His blood to increase, which eventually leads to an irregular heart beat of which he was already victim to due to the hypovolemic shock. With His heart beating so erratically, Jesus would have known that He was at the moment of death, when He was able to say
“Father into your hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 22:46. He then died of cardiac arrest. Finally once Jesus gave His spirit to God He was pierced in the side with a spear; of which subsequently blood and water poured from His wound.
“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” John 19:34
This isn’t just a case of random symbolist imagery. In this case the hypovolemic shock He had incurred earlier would have contributed to a sustained rapid heart rate causative to His heart failure, resulting in the collection of fluid in the membrane around the heart, called “Pericardial effusion” and around the lungs called a “Pleural effusion”. He was pierced through His right side, through His lung and into His heart to ensure that He was once and for all deceased. Once the spear was removed the “pericardial effusion and the pleural effusion and blood would have rushed out from His body. John would have had no idea why He saw both blood and a clear fluid come from His side; however John’s description is consistent with what modern medicine would have anticipated. Jesus was undoubtedly dead.
The Tomb
The tomb where Jesus was buried and placed in after being taken down from the cross belonged to Joseph of Arimathea whom was a Pharisee, and asked to have Him placed there. In front of the tomb there was slanted groove that led downward to a low entrance, and a large disc shaped stone was rolled down this groove and lodged into place over the opening, a smaller stone was then used to secure the disc in place. It would have been easy to roll this stone down the groove, however to go back upward would take several men. So it was very secure, and there were guards posted to the tomb to ensure that it would not have been tampered with. We know the first people to have retuned to Jesus’ tomb were women and were ultimately the first to be witness’s of His resurrection. In this time women were looked down upon and inferior to men, so having females attributed to be the bearer’s of this testimony would have if anything discredited the entire story; however shortly there after Jesus came to the disciples and showed Himself to them so that they might believe. Some might refute this saying, well they all may have suffered from a hallucination because they all wanted to see Him, so one might trick themselves into thinking that it in fact happened, but there were many more sightings of Jesus recorded, let alone 500 people all at once. For such a thing to have been all based on illusion would be impossible. People might shares hopes, and reality but not a visual and audible hallucination of the Risen Christ especially of which countered their expectations. “After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:6
Resurrection
Science indicates that under normal circumstances dead people do not come back to life by natural means let alone after three days, but it cannot disprove that such a thing might be possible by a supernatural means. Miracles are performed by a supernatural force that cannot be broken down or examined by scientists and their tools, all of which are confined to the natural world. Ironically enough, science’s restriction against the resurrection of a mutilated three-days-dead body actually highlights and calls for God’s involvement. There is no way Jesus could have suffered more than 40 lashes, nail punctures through wrists, feet, and a deep stab wound through his torso, and come back to life after being wrapped tightly in a cocoon-like fashion sealed into a tomb for three days. It is without question Science affirms what faith accepts: Jesus’ return from death was a miracle.
The Apostle’s Creed -1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter,] and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Disciples….
No one who watched Jesus die, nor did any of His disciples anticipate that He was going to come back to life, which is why all but a few followers of Jesus avoided or fled the scene of His crucifixion. For these men it meant the end of Jesus’ life and all their hopes died with the man whom they believed in. At first His disciples panicked fled and sank into hopelessness, in yet days later they joyously embark on a mission to spread faith in the risen Christ, which lead to each one’s death. They were mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and murdered because they just wouldn’t shut up about Jesus and His triumph over death. Lets step back, hypothetically, lets say He didn’t die on the cross, and he did survive the tomb, would his followers really think He had conquered death if He was dragging around half dead? Would you? Let alone the fact that if the soldiers who had crucified Him allowed Him to survive, they would surely lose their own lives. His movement might have granted Him the Title of being elusive and crafty, but hardly a resurrected Messiah. Who would sacrifice themselves for a lie?
WHY?
Why would someone do this? Why would someone allow themselves to be murdered and in such a torturous fashion?
A typical person couldn’t have done what Jesus did, but He was willing and knew what needed to be done so that all of us could have eternal life with Him. This was the only way He could redeem us, by serving as our substitute Jesus died the sinner’s death, the death we all deserve, He a man of no sin died for the entire world’s sin. Jesus paid the death penalty we deserve because of our rebellion against God. This was His entire mission being conceived in the flesh and living a mortal life. Jesus’ only motivation was Love; He loves every single one of us so much that He died for us.
So all of you… You are worth dying for!
