A Physician Testifies About
the Crucifixion
by Dr. C. Truman Davis
About a decade ago, reading
Jim Bishop's The Day Christ Died, I realized that I had for years taken the
Crucifixion more or less for granted -- that I had grown callous to its horror
by a too easy familiarity with the grim details and a too distant friendship
with our Lord. It finally occurred to me that, though a physician, I didn't
even know the actual immediate cause of death. The Gospel writers don't help us
much on this point, because crucifixion and scourging were so common during
their lifetime that they apparently considered a detailed description
unnecessary. So we have only the concise words of the Evangelists:
"Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to them to be crucified --
and they crucified Him."
I have no competence to
discuss the infinite psychic and spiritual suffering of the incarnate God
atoning for the sins of fallen man. But it seemed to me that as a physician I
might pursue the physiological and anatomical aspects of our Lord's passonate
some detail. 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, torture and execution by fixation to a cross. I am
indebted to many who have studied this subject in the past, and especially to a
contemporary colleague, Dr. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who has done
exhaustive historical and experimental research and has written extensively on
the subject.
Apparently, the first known
practice of crucifixion was by the Persians. Alexander and his generals brought
it back to the Mediterranean world -- to Egypt and to Carthage. The Romans
apparently learned the practice from the Carthaginians and (as with almost
everything the Romans did) rapidly developed a very high degree of efficiency
and skill at it. A number of Roman authors (Livy, Cicer, Tacitus) comment on
crucifixion, and several innovations, modifications, and variations are
described in the ancient literature.
For instance, the upright
portion of the cross (or stipes) could have the cross-arm (or patibulum)
attached two or three feet below its top in what we commonly think of as the
Latin cross. The most common form used in our Lord's day, however, was the Tau cross,
shaped like our T. In this cross the patibulum was placed in a notch at the top
of the stipes. There is archeological evidence that it was on this type of
cross that Jesus was crucified.
Without any historical or
biblical proof, Medieval and Renaissance painters have given us our picture of
Christ carrying the entire cross. But the upright post, or stipes, was
generally fixed permanently in the ground at the site of execution and the
condemned man was forced to carry the patibulum, weighing about 110 pounds,
from the prison to the place of execution.
Many of the painters and most
of the sculptors of crucifixion, also show the nails through the palms.
Historical Roman accounts and experimental work have established that the nails
were driven between the small bones of the wrists (radial and ulna) and not
through the palms. Nails driven through the palms will strip out between the
fingers when made to support the weight of the 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 wrist as part of the hand.
(THIS IS HIS OPINION, BUT THE BIBLE IS VERY LITERAL IN MY OPINION JESUS HANDS WERE PIERCED NOT HIS WRISTS).
A titulus, or small sign,
stating the victim's crime was usually placed on a staff, carried at the front
of the procession from the prison, and later nailed to the cross so that it
extended above the head. This sign with its staff nailed to the top of the
cross would have given it somewhat the characteristic form of the Latin
cross.
But, of course, the physical
passion of the Christ began in Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of this initial
suffering, the one of greatest physiological interest is the bloody sweat. It
is interesting that St. Luke, the physician, 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."
Every ruse (trick) imaginable
has been used by modern scholars to explain away this description, apparently
under the mistaken impression that this just doesn't happen. A great deal of
effort could have been saved had the doubters consulted the medical literature.
Though very rare, the phenomenon of Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well
documented. Under great emotional stress of the kind our Lord suffered, tiny
capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This
process might well have produced marked weakness and possible shock.
After the arrest in the
middle of the night, Jesus was next brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiphus,
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
Caiphus. The palace guards then blind-folded Him and mockingly taunted Him to
identify them as they each passed by, spat upon Him, and struck Him in the
face.
In the early morning,
battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, Jesus
is taken across 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 in response to the cries of
the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released and condemned Jesus to
scourging and crucifixion.
There is much disagreement
among authorities about the unusual scourging as a prelude to 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 allegedly claimed to be the King of the Jews. Preparations for the
scourging were carried out when the Prisoner was stripped of His clothing and
His hands tied to a post above His head. It is doubtful the Romans would have
made any attempt to follow the Jewish law in this matter, but the Jews had an
ancient law prohibiting more than forty lashes.
The Roman legionnaire steps
forward with the flagrum (or flagellum) 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 thongs
cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into
the subcutaneous 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
centurion 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 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. Flexible
branches covered with long thorns (commonly used in bundles for firewood) are
plaited into the 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. Already
having adhered to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, its removal
causes excruciating pain just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage,
and almost as though He were again being whipped the wounds once more begin to
bleed.
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 its slow journey along the Via Dolorosa. 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 lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to
rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.
The centurion, 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, until the 650 yard journey from the fortress
Antonia to Golgotha is finally completed.
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 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 to 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 now pressed
backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, 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 pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to
explode in the brain -- the nails in the writs 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 through His feet. Again there is the searing
agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of
the feet.
At this point, 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 paralyzed 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 uttered the seven short sentences 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 penitent
thief, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
The third, looking down at
the terrified, grief-stricken adolescent John -- the beloved Apostle -- he
said, "Behold thy mother." Then, looking to His mother Mary,
"Woman behold thy son."
The fourth cry is from the
beginning of the 22nd Psalm, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken
me?"
Hours of limitless pain,
cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation,
scaring pain where tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and
down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins...A terrible crushing
pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to
compress the heart. One remembers again the 22nd Psalm, the 14th verse: "I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like
wax; it is incited 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 tissue; 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."
One remembers another verse
from the prophetic 22nd Psalm: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd;
and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of
death."
A sponge soaked in posca, the
cheap, sour wine which is the staple drink of the Roman legionaries, is lifted
to His lips. He apparently doesn't take any of the liquid. The body of Jesus is
now in extremes, 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
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 crurifracture, the breaking of the bones of the legs. This
prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; thus the tension could not be
relieved from the muscles of the chest and rapid suffocation occurred. The legs
of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers 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 reports:
"And immediately there came out blood and water." That is, there was
an escape of water fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, giving postmortem
evidence that Our Lord died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but
of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by
fluid in the pericardium.
Thus we have had our glimpse
-- including the medical evidence -- of that epitome of evil which man has
exhibited toward Man and toward God. It has been a terrible sight, and more
than enough to leave us despondent and depressed. How grateful we can be that
we have the great sequel in the infinite mercy of God toward man -- at once the
miracle of the atonement (at- one- ment) and the expectation of the triumphant
Easter morning.
. .
Dr. C. Truman Davis is a
nationally respected Opthalmologist, vice president of the American Association
of Ophthalmology, and an active figure in the Christian schools movement. He is
founder and president of the excellent Trinity Christian School in Mesa
Arizona, and a trustee of Grove City College.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ here are three steps you need to take to be saved:
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. And Tell Someone What Christ Jesus Has Done For You (Rev 12:10)
May God through Christ bless you!
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