Pilate ordered Jesus brutally beaten, probably believing
that such punishment would satisfy the ugly mob, but it demanded more and
Jesus was delivered up to be crucified.
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 passion at 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.
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 the, 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 wrists 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 fort
hey 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, searing 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 melted 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
Ophthalmologist, 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.
This work is © copyrighted by The Review of
the NEWS, April 14, 1976
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