Did Jesus really die on the cross?
Now that we have established that the New Testament is indeed a reliable source of information, I want to tackle the issue of the death of Jesus. This may seem like a silly question but it is at the heart of the debate over the resurrection because there are many theories that contend that Jesus never really died. This then makes the resurrection nothing more than an elaborate hoax.
There have been many who have brought this issue into question but as Dr. Alexander Metherell points out the original concept came from Muslim teachings. “The idea that Jesus never really died on the cross originally comes from the Koran” (The Case for Easter p. 10) Let’s begin to look at the evidence that proves Jesus really died.
1. The ordeal of the crucifixion begins in the Garden of Gethsemane
The opening scene of The Passion of the Christ shows Jesus in the garden in a type of deep physical, emotional and spiritual anguish. The fact that Satan is in the garden trying to get Him to abandon up His mission and the cross is not in the Bible but it is possible. Satan could not sway Jesus earlier and was waiting for a more opportune time and this could have been it.
The gospel of Luke records that Jesus was in such deep anguish that He sweat great drops of blood. (Luke 22:44) It is obvious that Jesus was losing a great deal of bodily fluids by the enormous amount of sweat. There is a high likelihood that Jesus experienced hematidrosis, a mixing of sweat and blood, which is cause by extreme stress or strain.
Jesus would have lost a great deal of fluid at this point and would have been given no chance to replenish these fluids before His trial and crucifixion. So it is safe to say that Jesus is beginning the ordeal in a dehydrated state.
2. Jesus suffered physical abuse during His questioning
When Jesus is arrested it is important to remember that the guards that come for Him are Jewish, not Roman. These men are likely from the Jewish temple guard and servants of the high priest. Many of these men took the opportunity to beat Jesus as they escorted High to the high priest and Pilate.
LK 22:63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" 65 And they said many other insulting things to him.
Jesus would have also been beaten during the questioning process.
JN 18:22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.
MK 14:63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.
3. Jesus endured a Roman flogging (John 19:1; Matthew 27:26)
The gospels do not go into detail about the nature of flogging, so we have to look at other historical references to understand what this process consisted of. The movie depicted that Christ went through two different beatings; the first was with rods and the second was with a scourge. There is no evidence to tell us what Jesus went through but we do know that He was sentenced to a severe flogging.
“Roman floggings were known to be terribly brutal. They usually consisted of thirty-nine lashes but frequently were a lot more than that depending on the mood of the soldier applying the blows.” Dr Alexander Metherell (The case for Easter p. 15)
The scourge was a whip designed with nine straps of leather with weights at the end of each strap. This allowed each of the nine straps to wrap themselves around the body of the victim. On each strap were knots about an inch apart that held a sharp piece of metal, wood or even bone. These pieces were designed to cut and tear the flesh of the victim. Each strap was dipped in sheep’s blood and then rolled in broken pottery, this process bonded the pottery to the leather. This would cause every strap to scratch and cut at the skin. Needless to say, the scourge was designed to inflict damage on a massive scale.
The Romans used a scourging post for their floggings. The post was driven into the ground and stood between 10 to 15 feet high with a bronze ring around the top of the post. The victim would have their hands tied with a long rope that would be threaded through the brass ring at the top of the post. The rope would then be pulled to stretch the arms of the victim above the head to make the skin on the victims back tight. This allowed for even greater effectiveness of the scourge.
To say that a Roman scourging was brutal would be an understatement.
Medical experts say that at this point that Jesus would have experienced hypovevolemic shock. This means that the extreme loss of blood would have caused Him to have a low volume of blood in His body. This would have caused His heart to race trying to pump blood that is not there, blood pressure then drops causing fainting, the kidneys stop producing urine to maintain the blood level that was left and the person begins to crave water because of the massive loss of fluid. (The Case For Easter p. 16)
4. Jesus was crucified
There is no credible historian that denies the crucifixion of Jesus because it is so well documented in other ancient sources. The Roman crucifixion was likely one of the most horrible methods of execution ever devised. In essence, it is a long, agonizing death by asphyxiation.
The Romans forced each person being crucified to carry their cross from the place of trial to the place of execution. This made Jesus and the two criminals walk through at least one marketplace and crowds lined the street to watch the condemned, spit on them and try to trip them as they walked.
The cross would have been dropped onto Jesus causing the rough wood to dig deep into His back and shoulder. Jesus was so exhausted from the beatings and the loss of blood that He collapsed on the way to Golgotha. Simon of Cyrene was then forced to carry the cross the rest of the way.
The place where Jesus was crucified was called Golgotha, which literally means place of the skull. This place was appropriately named. Golgotha served three key purposes from the city of Jerusalem. The first was a garbage dump for all of the refuse from the city. The second purpose was that of an open grave. Poverty was so great in Jerusalem that beggars literally died in the streets. With no money for a proper burial the Romans used Golgotha as the place to take the bodies. Literally, this place would have been filled with skulls. The third purpose was a place for Roman executions.
Jesus was nailed to the cross with nine inch spikes that would have been driven through each of His wrists and a twelve inch spike driven through His feet. The cross would then be raised, dropped into a hole in the ground and set into place with braces. This would have caused a severe jolting of the body and intense pain.
Crucifixions were held through the hottest part of the day so that the victims would have to endure not only extreme pain but also the harsh heat of the day. This added to the already severe and unquenchable thirst.
During crucifixion the nerves sent signals into the chest that would cause the diaphram to go into massive spasms. In order, to take a breath the person being crucified would have to stand on the nail in their feet to relieve the spasms in their chest.
Jesus did not die of asphyxiation but rather He died of cardiac arrest. The Roman soldier wanted to be sure that Jesus was indeed dead and so he drove the head of his spear into the side of Jesus. The wound produced both blood and water. This was caused by pericardial effusion and pleural effusion and when the spear pierced the side it ruptured both the lungs and the heart. At this point there can be no doubt that Jesus was indeed dead.
