It seems today that Christians have grown callous to the horror of Jesus' crucifixion. Have Christians taken for granted the physical and emotional pain that Jesus endured for us that great day? For anyone to even begin to understand the torture our Lord took upon Himself, we have to examine the practice of crucifixions during those times. Crucifixion by definition is torture and execution by fixation to a cross. It is believed that the first known practice of crucifixion was done by the Persians. Alexander learned the practice and brought it to Carthage. It was from Carthage that the Romans developed crucifixion and perfected it. The Romans made several modifications to the upright portion of the cross(stipes) to having a cross-arm(patibulum) that was located two feet below the top. This is what most people commonly refer to as the Latin Cross, but the most common form used during Jesus' time was the Tau Cross, which was shaped like a T. Most Christians agree it was the Tau Cross that Jesus was crucified on. The innovations and modifications the Romans used in a crucifixion was perfected in such a way that it deterred any would-be criminal. Anyone unlucky enough to witness a crucifixion seen a gruesome, degrading, and painful death.
Bloody Sweat
Luke is the only one to record this. Luke 22:44, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." This phenomenon is called Hematohidrosis. Though it is very rare, it has been well documented in medical literature. Someone has to be under a great deal of stress and anxiety, such as our Lord, to have tiny capillaries in the sweat glands suddenly break, mixing blood with sweat and also causing severe weakness and shock.
John 18:22-23
After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and high priest, "one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand." It was during the times Jesus was being passed around by soldiers, He was being repeatedly harmed physically. From the high priest of the Sanhedrin, to the Tetrarch of Judea(Herod Antipas), Jesus was being struck, spit on, and mocked. Isaiah prophesied, "so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men."
One of the most humiliating things most theologians agree on is Jesus being passed over to be set free for a murderer. Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner" and had been part of a rebellion against Roman authorities. **Interesting, in Hebrew the name Barabbas can be split into two words: Bar, meaning "son of" and abbas meaning, "father". The name Barabbas literally means, son of the father.
The Scourging
When scourging a victim, a soldier used a whip called a flagrum that was leather and was embedded with sharp pieces of glass and bone. So, imagine this soldier using this flagrum and coming down with his full force on Jesus' back. The whip would be pulled back ripping the skin from His back and exposing muscle and bone. This torture would be repeated over and over again until near death. Jesus' back was reduced to a mass of mutilated flesh that was horrifying. It wasn't only His back, but also shoulders and legs. His skin was hanging in long ribbons and the concentrated areas were unrecognizable.
Matthew 27:32-50
"They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall." This drink was customarily given to prisoners to take away the pain. Jesus refused any mitigation of His suffering on our behalf! Jesus' efforts to walk erect was failing because of the shock produced by the amount of blood loss and the weight of the heavy beam He was carrying. "They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross." Imagine, this rough wooden beam gouging into an already mangled skin. After Jesus had walked a good 600 yards to a place called "Golgotha", they stripped Him of His garments. Because His clothing was stuck to the clotting blood, its removal from the skin was just as excruciating as the lashes He received from the flagrum. "Set up over His head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." The humiliation of the way they mocked Jesus was evil and cruel. They made a great joke out of Him claiming to be king, cursing Him and "wagging their heads", and saying, "save thyself if thou be the son of God." They placed a crown of thorns on His head and every time the Romans struck Jesus on the head it drove the sharp penetrating thorns deeper into Him. There is copious bleeding because the scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body.
The Crucifixion
When a person is crucified, they are thrown down upon the cross beam and a nail is driven into the wrist. By placing the nail in the wrist it severs the median nerve resulting in a burning pain as well as paralysis in the hand. The left foot of Jesus is placed behind the right foot and with both feet extended(toes down), square , wrought-iron nails are driven through the arch of each foot. The knees are slightly extended out. The Son of God was now crucified as excruciating pain shoots along the fingers, up the arms, and explodes in the brain.
Once Jesus was stood up on the cross, the force of gravity brings the weight of the body down and the shoulders and elbows would pop out of socket. At this position, breathing would be extremely difficult. In order to breathe, Jesus would of had to push Himself up on the nails, which meant scraping His raw-beaten back against the wooden cross. This whole process for breathing increased in intensity as time passed. Jesus gets to the point where the heart either ruptures or He dies from asphyxiation. Losing His ability to push Himself upward to breathe is truly torture and agony. It was during this torturous time of trying to breathe that Jesus managed to speak 7 short sentences:
1.) "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
2.) To the thief He said, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
3.) Looking down from the cross at John He said, "Behold thy mother." and looking to His mother Mary, "Behold thy Son."
4.) "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?"
5.) "I thirst"
6.) "It is finished"
7.) "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit."
Psalm 22
As Christians we cannot read this Psalm without reflecting on the use of the first verse by Jesus on the cross, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" Many of the details in Psalm 22 reflects Christ's crucifixion. This Psalm of David, describes the awful predicament he finds himself in. David feels forsaken by God while in the midst of his enemies. But make no mistake, the details in this Psalm point clearly to Calvary! "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." Jesus experienced hours of torturing pain. Joint cramps intermittent with partial asphyxiation and more crushing pain deep in His chest as the membrane that encloses the heart fills with serum and begins squeezing it. His tissues throughout His body became dried up and dehydrated.
The common method of ending a crucifixion was by breaking the legs. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but the Roman soldiers saw this unnecessary for Jesus as He was already dead. So one of the soldiers drove a spear upward into Jesus' ribs, piercing the heart. John 19:34, "And forthwith came there out blood and water." **This could be evidence that our Savior died of heart failure, due to the escape of water surrounding the heart.
What incredible evil man had exhibited toward God that day. Examining in detail the crucifixion of Jesus can leave us numb and even depressed to some extent. It was a horrible and ghastly death. A death that Jesus willingly gave for us all who will have Him. He was the ultimate sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice. God gave His only Son, because He loves us that much! The depths of God's love for us is unfathomable and reaches so far that we simply just can't comprehend. So Christians should Rejoice, that we who were once lost, now possess God's eternal life by faith in Christ!
Bloody Sweat
Luke is the only one to record this. Luke 22:44, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." This phenomenon is called Hematohidrosis. Though it is very rare, it has been well documented in medical literature. Someone has to be under a great deal of stress and anxiety, such as our Lord, to have tiny capillaries in the sweat glands suddenly break, mixing blood with sweat and also causing severe weakness and shock.
John 18:22-23
After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and high priest, "one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand." It was during the times Jesus was being passed around by soldiers, He was being repeatedly harmed physically. From the high priest of the Sanhedrin, to the Tetrarch of Judea(Herod Antipas), Jesus was being struck, spit on, and mocked. Isaiah prophesied, "so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men."
One of the most humiliating things most theologians agree on is Jesus being passed over to be set free for a murderer. Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner" and had been part of a rebellion against Roman authorities. **Interesting, in Hebrew the name Barabbas can be split into two words: Bar, meaning "son of" and abbas meaning, "father". The name Barabbas literally means, son of the father.
The Scourging
When scourging a victim, a soldier used a whip called a flagrum that was leather and was embedded with sharp pieces of glass and bone. So, imagine this soldier using this flagrum and coming down with his full force on Jesus' back. The whip would be pulled back ripping the skin from His back and exposing muscle and bone. This torture would be repeated over and over again until near death. Jesus' back was reduced to a mass of mutilated flesh that was horrifying. It wasn't only His back, but also shoulders and legs. His skin was hanging in long ribbons and the concentrated areas were unrecognizable.
Matthew 27:32-50
"They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall." This drink was customarily given to prisoners to take away the pain. Jesus refused any mitigation of His suffering on our behalf! Jesus' efforts to walk erect was failing because of the shock produced by the amount of blood loss and the weight of the heavy beam He was carrying. "They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross." Imagine, this rough wooden beam gouging into an already mangled skin. After Jesus had walked a good 600 yards to a place called "Golgotha", they stripped Him of His garments. Because His clothing was stuck to the clotting blood, its removal from the skin was just as excruciating as the lashes He received from the flagrum. "Set up over His head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." The humiliation of the way they mocked Jesus was evil and cruel. They made a great joke out of Him claiming to be king, cursing Him and "wagging their heads", and saying, "save thyself if thou be the son of God." They placed a crown of thorns on His head and every time the Romans struck Jesus on the head it drove the sharp penetrating thorns deeper into Him. There is copious bleeding because the scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body.
The Crucifixion
When a person is crucified, they are thrown down upon the cross beam and a nail is driven into the wrist. By placing the nail in the wrist it severs the median nerve resulting in a burning pain as well as paralysis in the hand. The left foot of Jesus is placed behind the right foot and with both feet extended(toes down), square , wrought-iron nails are driven through the arch of each foot. The knees are slightly extended out. The Son of God was now crucified as excruciating pain shoots along the fingers, up the arms, and explodes in the brain.
Once Jesus was stood up on the cross, the force of gravity brings the weight of the body down and the shoulders and elbows would pop out of socket. At this position, breathing would be extremely difficult. In order to breathe, Jesus would of had to push Himself up on the nails, which meant scraping His raw-beaten back against the wooden cross. This whole process for breathing increased in intensity as time passed. Jesus gets to the point where the heart either ruptures or He dies from asphyxiation. Losing His ability to push Himself upward to breathe is truly torture and agony. It was during this torturous time of trying to breathe that Jesus managed to speak 7 short sentences:
1.) "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
2.) To the thief He said, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
3.) Looking down from the cross at John He said, "Behold thy mother." and looking to His mother Mary, "Behold thy Son."
4.) "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?"
5.) "I thirst"
6.) "It is finished"
7.) "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit."
Psalm 22
As Christians we cannot read this Psalm without reflecting on the use of the first verse by Jesus on the cross, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" Many of the details in Psalm 22 reflects Christ's crucifixion. This Psalm of David, describes the awful predicament he finds himself in. David feels forsaken by God while in the midst of his enemies. But make no mistake, the details in this Psalm point clearly to Calvary! "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." Jesus experienced hours of torturing pain. Joint cramps intermittent with partial asphyxiation and more crushing pain deep in His chest as the membrane that encloses the heart fills with serum and begins squeezing it. His tissues throughout His body became dried up and dehydrated.
The common method of ending a crucifixion was by breaking the legs. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but the Roman soldiers saw this unnecessary for Jesus as He was already dead. So one of the soldiers drove a spear upward into Jesus' ribs, piercing the heart. John 19:34, "And forthwith came there out blood and water." **This could be evidence that our Savior died of heart failure, due to the escape of water surrounding the heart.
What incredible evil man had exhibited toward God that day. Examining in detail the crucifixion of Jesus can leave us numb and even depressed to some extent. It was a horrible and ghastly death. A death that Jesus willingly gave for us all who will have Him. He was the ultimate sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice. God gave His only Son, because He loves us that much! The depths of God's love for us is unfathomable and reaches so far that we simply just can't comprehend. So Christians should Rejoice, that we who were once lost, now possess God's eternal life by faith in Christ!
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