A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion
A medical explanation of what Jesus endured on the day He died
by Dr. C. Truman Davis
Several years
ago I became interested in the physical aspects of the passion,
orsuffering, of Jesus Christ when I read an account of the crucifixion
in JimBishop's book, The Day Christ Died. I suddenly realized that I had
taken thecrucifixion more or less for granted all these years - that I
had grown callousto its horror by a too-easy familiarity with the grim
details. It finally occurredto me that, as a physician, I did not even
know the actual immediate cause ofChrist's death. The gospel writers do
not help much on this point. Sincecrucifixion and scourging were so
common during their lifetimes, theyundoubtedly considered a detailed
description superfluous. For that reason wehave only the concise words
of the evangelists: "Pilate, having scourgedJesus, delivered Him to them
to be crucified ... and they crucified Him."
Despite the
gospel accounts' silence on the details of Christ's crucifixion, many
havelooked into this subject in the past. In my personal study of the
event from amedical viewpoint, I am indebted especially to Dr. Pierre
Barbet, a Frenchsurgeon who did exhaustive historical and experimental
research and wroteextensively on the topic.
An attempt
to examine the infinite psychic and spiritual suffering of
theIncarnate1 God in atonement2 for the sins of fallen man is beyond the
scope ofthis article. However, the physiological and anatomical aspects
of our Lord'spassion we can examine in some detail. What did the body
of Jesus of Nazarethactually endure during those hours of torture?
Gethsemane
The physical
passion of Christ began in Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of
Hisinitial suffering, the one which is of particular physiological
interest is thebloody sweat. Interestingly enough, the physician, St.
Luke, is the onlyevangelist to mention this occurrence. He says, "And
being in an agony, heprayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of
blood, trickling down uponthe ground" (Luke 22:44 KJV).
Every attempt
imaginable has been used by modern scholars to explain away
thephenomenon of bloody sweat, apparently under the mistaken impression
that itsimply does not occur. A great deal of effort could be saved by
consulting themedical literature. Though very rare, the phenomenon of
hematidrosis, or bloodysweat, is well documented. Under great emotional
stress, tiny capillaries inthe sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood
with sweat. This process alone couldhave produced marked weakness and
possible shock.
Although Jesus'
betrayal and arrest are important portions of the passion story,
thenext event in the account which is significant from a medical
perspective isHis trial before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High
Priest. Here the firstphysical trauma was inflicted. A soldier struck
Jesus across the face forremaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas.
The palace guards thenblindfolded Him, mockingly taunted Him to identify
them as each passed by, spaton Him, and struck Him in the face.
BeforePilate
In the
early morning, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and worn out from
asleepless night, Jesus was taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of
theFortress Antonia, the seat of government of the Procurator of Judea,
PontiusPilate. We are familiar with Pilate's action in attempting to
shiftresponsibility to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Jesus
apparentlysuffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and
was returned toPilate. It was then, in response to the outcry of the
mob, that Pilate orderedBarabbas released and condemned Jesus to
scourging and crucifixion.
Preparations for
Jesus' scourging were carried out at Caesar's orders. The prisoner
wasstripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head.
The Romanlegionnaire stepped forward with the flagrum, or flagellum, in
his hand. Thiswas a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather
thongs with two smallballs of lead attached near the ends of each. The
heavy whip was brought downwith full force again and again across Jesus'
shoulders, back, and legs. Atfirst the weighted thongs cut through the
skin only. Then, as the blowscontinued, they cut deeper into the
subcutaneous tissues, producing first anoozing of blood from the
capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurtingarterial bleeding
from vessels in the underlying muscles.
The small
balls of lead first produced large deep bruises that were broken open
bysubsequent blows. Finally, the skin of the back was hanging in long
ribbons,and the entire area was an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding
tissue. Whenit was determined by the centurion in charge that the
prisoner was near death,the beating was finally stopped.
Mockery
The half-fainting
Jesus was then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement,wet
with his own blood. The Roman soldiers saw a great joke in this
provincialJew claiming to be a king. They threw a robe across His
shoulders and placed astick in His hand for a scepter. They still needed
a crown to make theirtravesty complete. Small flexible branches covered
with long thorns, commonlyused for kindling fires in the charcoal
braziers in the courtyard, were plaitedinto the shape of a crude crown.
The crown was pressed into his scalp and againthere was copious bleeding
as the thorns pierced the very vascular tissue.After mocking Him and
striking Him across the face, the soldiers took the stickfrom His hand
and struck Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper intoHis scalp.
Finally, they tired of their sadistic sport and tore the robe fromHis
back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood and
serumin the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a
surgicalbandage, caused excruciating pain. The wounds again began to
bleed.
Golgotha
Indeference
to Jewish custom, the Romans apparently returned His garments. Theheavy
patibulum3 of the cross was tied across His shoulders. The procession
ofthe condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution detail of Roman
soldiersheaded by a centurion began its slow journey along the route
which we knowtoday as the Via Dolorosa.
Inspite
of Jesus' efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden
beam,together with the shock produced by copious loss of blood, was too
much. Hestumbled and fell. The rough wood of the beam gouged into the
lacerated skinand muscles of the shoulders. He tried to rise, but human
muscles had beenpushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, anxious to
proceed with the crucifixion,selected a stalwart North African
onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry thecross. Jesus followed, still
bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat ofshock. The 650-yard
journey from the Fortress Antonia to Golgotha was finallycompleted. The
prisoner was again stripped of His clothing except for a loincloth which
was allowed the Jews.
The crucifixion
began. Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild
analgesic,pain-reliving mixture. He refused the drink. Simon was ordered
to place the patibulumon the ground, and Jesus was quickly thrown
backward, with His shouldersagainst the wood. The legionnaire felt for
the depression at the front of thewrist. He drove a heavy, square
wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deepinto the wood. Quickly, he
moved to the other side and repeated the action,being careful not to
pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion andmovement. The
patibulum was then lifted into place at the top of the stipes4,and the
titulus5 reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" wasnailed into
place.
The left
foot was pressed backward against the right foot. With both feet
extended,toes down, a nail was driven through the arch of each, leaving
the kneesmoderately flexed. The victim was now crucified.
On the Cross
As Jesus
slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the
wrists,excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms
to explode inthe brain. The nails in the wrists were putting pressure on
the median nerve,large nerve trunks which traverse the mid-wrist and
hand. As He pushed himselfupward to avoid this stretching torment, He
placed His full weight on the nailthrough His feet. Again there was
searing agony as the nail tore through thenerves between the metatarsal
bones of this feet.
At this
point, another phenomenon occurred. As the arms fatigued, great waves
ofcramps swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless,
throbbingpain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself
upward. Hanging bythe arm, the pectoral muscles, the large muscles of
the chest, were paralyzedand the intercostal muscles, the small muscles
between the ribs, were unable toact. Air could be drawn into the lungs,
but could not be exhaled. Jesus foughtto raise Himself in order to get
even one short breath. Finally, the carbondioxide level increased in the
lungs and in the blood stream, and the crampspartially subsided.
The LastWords
Spasmodically,He
was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving
oxygen.It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the seven
shortsentences that are recorded.
The first
- looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice6 for His seamless
garment: "Father, forgive themfor they do not know what they do."
The second - to the penitent thief7:"Today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
The third
- looking down at Mary Hismother, He said: "Woman, behold your son."
Then turning to theterrified, grief-stricken adolescent John , the
beloved apostle, He said:"Behold your mother."8
The fourth cry is from the beginning ofPsalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
He suffered
hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending
cramps,intermittent partial asphyxiation, and searing pain as tissue was
torn from Hislacerated back from His movement up and down against the
rough timbers of thecross. Then another agony began: a deep crushing
pain in the chest as thepericardium, the sac surrounding the heart,
slowly filled with serum and beganto compress the heart.
The prophecy
in Psalm 22:14 was being fulfilled: "I am poured out like water,and all
my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax; it is melted in
themidst of my bowels."
The end
was rapidly approaching. The loss of tissue fluids had reached a
criticallevel; the compressed heart was struggling to pump heavy, thick,
sluggish bloodto the tissues, and the tortured lungs were making a
frantic effort to inhalesmall gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated
tissues sent their flood of stimulito the brain. Jesus gasped His fifthcry:
"I thirst." Again we read in the prophetic psalm: "Mystrength is dried
up like a potsherd; my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thouhas brought
me into the dust of death" (Psalm 22:15 KJV).
A sponge
soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine that was the staple drink of
theRoman legionnaires, was lifted to Jesus' lips. His body was now in
extremis,and He could feel the chill of death creeping through His
tissues. Thisrealization brought forth His sixthword, possibly
little more than a tortured whisper: "It is finished."His mission of
atonement9 had been completed. Finally, He could allow His bodyto die.
With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn
feetagainst the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and
uttered His seventh and last cry: "Father,into Your hands I commit My spirit."
Death
The common
method of ending a crucifixion was by crurifracture, the breaking of
thebones of the leg. This prevented the victim from pushing himself
upward; the tensioncould not be relieved from the muscles of the chest,
and rapid suffocationoccurred. The legs of the two thieves were broken,
but when the soldiersapproached Jesus, they saw that this was
unnecessary.
Apparently, to
make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance between the
ribs,upward through the pericardium and into the heart. John 19:34
states, "Andimmediately there came out blood and water." Thus there was
an escape ofwatery fluid from the sac surrounding the heart and the
blood of the interiorof the heart. This is rather conclusive post-mortem
evidence that Jesus died,not the usual crucifixion death by
suffocation, but of heart failure due toshock and constriction of the
heart by fluid in the pericardium.
Resurrection
In these
events, we have seen a glimpse of the epitome of evil that man
canexhibit toward his fellowman and toward God. This is an ugly sight
and islikely to leave us despondent and depressed.
But the
crucifixion was not the end of the story. How grateful we can be that
wehave a sequel: a glimpse of the infinite mercy of God toward man--the
gift ofatonement, the miracle of the resurrection, and the expectation
of Eastermorning.
1Incarnate
2 Atonement
3 Horizontal portion of the cross
4 Vertical portion of the cross
5 Small sign stating the victim's crime
6 Gambling
7 The one who felt remorse for his sins and asked Jesus to help him.
8 As Jesus was dying, He gave his trusted friend responsibility for the care ofHis mother.
9 Taking our place by suffering the death penalty for our sin.
Dr.C.
Truman Davis is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College
ofMedicine. He is a practicing ophthalmologist, a pastor, and author of a
bookabout medicine and the Bible.
Editors'note:
If Jesus had remained dead, Christianity would be nothing but an
empty promise. But three days after His death, He rose again from the
dead. This is the miracle of resurrection, which is what Christians
celebrate at Easter. To learn more about the resurrection, read John
chapters 20 and 21.