The Passion of JESUS CHRIST

The Medical Perspective on the sufferings & demise of our Lord, Jesus.

That a Jewish man named Jesus Christ lived, taught and led a group of disciples and followers about 2000 years ago in Israel is an irrefutable historical fact. The death of Jesus Christ by Roman Crucifixion when He was in His early 30s at about 30-35 A.D. is an even more important and undeniable account in history.

Critics, skeptics and unbelievers alike have questioned the validity of His death as recorded in the Gospels. Yet, evidence for His resurrection after His crucifixion is so overwhelming that, in order to deny it, many critics could only resort to presuming that Jesus did not even die in the first place.

Other arguments contend that Jesus fainted, or only seemed to die on the cross. They claim that He was taken down after the crowds dispersed, and was subsequently resuscitated and nursed back to good health before reappearing to His disciples in a faked "resurrection" and carefully-crafted deception.

Did the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ truly take place? A look into the history provides the following evidence that proves Jesus' resurrection without the shadow of a doubt:
1) Eyewitness Evidence
2) Extra-Biblical Evidence
3) The Empty Tomb
4) Sunday Worship
5) Water Baptism
6) Holy Communion
7) Disciples' Dramatically-Changed Lives

It is significant to note that in the scene where a soldier hammers the nails through Jesus' hands, the soldier's face is not shown. This is because the hands filmed holding the hammer and nails are actually Mel-Gibson's own - a reflection of his deep belief that it was his own personal sins that caused Jesus to be crucified. It is the sincere belief of Christians that Jesus willingly died on the cross because of ALL our sins and failures, to save us from eternal despair.

Crucifixion in History
Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of torture and capital punishment designed to produce slow death with maximum pain and suffering. Cicero the Roman called it "the most cruel and hideous form of torture."

It is recorded that many ordinary Roman citizens often pitied the victims, and could not watch the actual procedure without experiencing nausea and fainting.

The Crucifixion Process
1st, SCOURGING
Horrendous as crucifixion was, it was usually preceded by scourging or whipping. The victim would be stripped and tied to a wooden post during the whipping, and the instrument used was a whip known as the flagrum, with several single or braided long leather thongs. Small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were woven into the thongs at intervals. Occasionally, staves, or thin slats of wood, were also used.

The punished man would be stripped of his clothing, and his hands tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by 2 strong soldiers, or by 1 who moved from 1 side to of the man to the other as the process continued.

Eusebius, the 3rd century historian, wrote that at the end of the procedure, "the sufferer's veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews and bowels of the victim were laid open to exposure."

Dr. C Truman Davis, a medical doc, studied the effects of this scourging: "The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across the shoulder, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. The iron balls would cause deep bruising of the underlying tissue. Then as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissue, producing first and oozing of the blood from the skin, and later spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small lead balls first produce large deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows. Finally the back is hanging in long ribbons of flesh and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn bleeding tissue. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. When it is determined by the Roman centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped.

The bible tells us that before enduring the scourging, Jesus had gone through a long period of many hours without food, water or sleep. In fact, He was in such great mental anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest, that His sweat became blood.

This is a very rare medical condition called "Hematohidrosis." It occurs in people who are under such extreme emotional stress that the small blood vessels in their skin rupture into their sweat glands.

After Jesus underwent the excruciating punishment of scourging, His tormentors hit Him hard several times on the head with a stick, and placed a crown of thorns on Him, further compounding His injuries and blood loss (Matt. 27:27-30). Most doctors would know from experience that the scalp on a person's head is the most vascular part of the skin covering the human body. Cuts and injuries here, even shallow ones, can cause a copious amount of blood loss. If Jesus had not been a fit, strong and healthy young man- a result of His many years of work as a carpenter builder and laborer- He would have been dead by now.

The Burden Of The Cross
The cross on which crucifixions occurred consisted of 2 parts: a horizontal bar called the patibulum, which weighed about 50kgs, and a vertical post called the stipes, which was about 80kgs.

After the harsh process of scourging, the condemned prisoner had to carry his own cross to the crucifixion area. Definitely no small feat for a man who was more than half dead by now. The Bible tells us that Jesus was so weak by this time that He collapsed thrice while carrying the cross up to Golgotha. In fact, a man called Simon from Cyrene had to help Jesus carry His cross, for He was already too weak from all the punishments endured so far.

At the site of the execution, the prisoner's wrists or palms would be nailed to the patibulum, and his feet to the stipes. The archaeological remains of a crucified body dating from the time of Christ, found in an ossuary near Jerusalem in 1970, were examined. Studies indicate that the nails were huge tapered iron spikes about 13-18 cm long, with a square shaft about 1 cm across.

After the victim was transfixed to the cross, it would then be raised up so that the victim would literally hang from it by his own body weight. Frequently, insects would land upon and burrow into the open wounds, eyes, ears and nostrils of the helpless victims. Birds of prey would also tear at these areas relentlessly.

In addition to the excruciating pain which he suffered, the victim would be virtually suffocated to death- the weight of the body pulling down on the outstretched arms and shoulders would tend to fix the respiratory muscles (the intercostals) into an inhalational state, and passive exhalation.

That means that the prisoner could breathe in, but could not breathe not breathe out normally. To allow exhalation, he would have to pull himself up on his nailed hands, and push himself up from nailed feet to relax the tension on his chest wall. When one considers that his hands and feets were nailed to the cross, each breathe would actually cause repeated unbelievably pain, as the nails tore again and again through the skin, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, tendons and the small bones of the hands and feet. In addition, the painful raw back wounds inflicted by the scourging would be scraped repeatedly, against the rough splintered wood of the stipes, inducing even more pain and blood loss.

As the pain grew too much for the increasingly exhausted prisoner, his breathing would become progressively labored and inadequate. To hasten the death, the Roman soldiers would often break the legs of the victim to cause him to use only his arms for support, and thus asphyxiate sooner. This was seen in the skeletal remains examined, in which the shins were found internationally broken.

The bible records that when the guards came in to break Jesus' legs, they did not proceed, for they found that He had already died.

The cause of death in crucifixion was usually brought about by several factors. It was a combination of:
1) Hypo-volaemic shock from the severe blood loss sustained from the scourging.
2) The exhaustion asphyxia, lack of oxygen and severe carbon dioxide buildup from hanging on the cross for a long period of time.
3) Dehydration
4) Heart failure
5) Accumulation of pericardinal and pleural effusions (fluid in the heart sac and lungs due to breakdown of the normal barriers). It was probably this fluid that caused the bible writers to describe the gush of both blood and water from Jesus when the Roman guard pierced His side with a spear after His death. It was likely that the spear penetrated both His lungs and heart.

Even after this, His body was left to hang on the cross for a few more hours until it was almost sundown.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
When one considers how executions were performed in recent centuries - by hanging, beheading, or in front of a firing squad - or how they are performed today - usually by electrocution, lethal chemical injections or in a poison gas chamber - they all seem so mercifully quick, humane and painless compared to what Jesus had to endure.

There was absolutely no doubt in the minds of the eyewitnesses that Jesus had died in the most horrifying way. All theories claiming that He did not, and was later resuscitated and nursed back to health are contrary to what historical accounts described, especially when they are further interpreted in the light of modern medical knowledge.

Only the witness of such a terrible death, followed by a miraculous and glorious resurrection, can account for how the lives of Jesus' disciples were so profoundly changed after His crucifixion.

Jesus endured such cruel torture and suffered death only for one reason: To give us the hope of eternal life through His love and sacrifice.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

I Love U Jesus. Thank U For EVERYTHING.