What good is Jesus anyway?

The Reality of the Cost of Your Salvation:

The Anatomical and Physiological Details of Death by Crucifixion

 

I’ve spent the past few weeks studying the actualities of Christ’s death. If you can make it through this post with me, you will fall deeper in love with Christ than you ever thought you could… It will definitely be worth your time. This is one of the most heart-changing studies I’ve ever conducted. I didn’t do as much “writing”, but the Holy Spirit has something He wants to make known.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300 BC, and was perfected by the Romans in 100 BC. It has been scientifically and mathematically perfected to be the most painful torture ever invented. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ wasn’t just an event that was “thrown together”. It was an event that had hundreds of years of perfecting. Every nail that was placed, the precise angles that his legs were bent, everything was down to a science to make sure that it was as painful as possible.

I’ve realized that I have taken the crucifixion more or less for granted – that I’ve grown callous to its horror by a familiarity with the details. The gospel writers weren’t exactly descriptive on the actual immediate cause of Christ’s death. Since crucifixion and scourging were so well-known in their lifetimes, they undoubtedly considered a detailed description to be unnecessary. Today, even the most detailed movies about the crucifixion don’t tell the true horror of what happened to my Jesus.

Here are a few medical facts that I’ve listed that actually take place when someone is crucified. Some are very disturbing, but we need to pay attention to each one in order to fully appreciate what took place for us over 2,000 years ago. 

1.       It is the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term “excruciating.”

2.       It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of male criminals.

3.       Jesus refused the anesthetic wine which was offered to Him by the Roman soldiers because of His promise in Matthew 26:29, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (NIV)

4.       Jesus was stripped naked and His clothing was divided by the Roman guards. This was in fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, “They divide My garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” (NIV)

5.       The Crucifixion of Jesus guaranteed a horrific, slow, painful death. Appreciate those adjectives.

Having been nailed to the Cross, Jesus now had an impossible anatomical position to maintain.

6.       Jesus’ knees were flexed at about a 45 degree angle. He was forced to bear His weight with the muscles of His thighs which is an anatomical position that is impossible to maintain for more than a few minutes without severe cramp in the muscles of the thigh and calf.

7.       Jesus’ weight was held up by His feet, with nails driven through them. 

As the strength of the muscles of Jesus’ lower limbs drained, the weight of His body had to be transferred to His wrists, arms, and shoulders.

8.       Within a few minutes of being placed on the Cross, Jesus’ shoulders were dislocated. Minutes later Jesus’ elbows and wrists became dislocated.

9.       The result of these upper limb dislocations is that His arms were 9 inches longer than normal.

10.   In addition, prophecy was fulfilled in Psalm 22:14, “I am poured out like water and all My bones are out of joint.” (NIV)

11.   After Jesus’ wrists, elbows, and shoulders were dislocated, the weight of His body on his upper limbs caused traction forces on the Pectoralis Major muscles of His chest wall.

12.   The pectoral muscles, the large muscles of the chest, were paralyzed and the intercostal muscles, the small muscles between the ribs, were unable to act. Air was constantly being drawn into the lungs, but could not be exhaled.

13.   These traction forces caused His rib cage to be pulled upwards and outwards, in a most unnatural state. In order to exhale, Jesus was physiologically required to force His body.

14.   In order to breathe out, Jesus had to push down on the nails in His feet to raise His body, and allow His rib cage to move downwards and inwards to exhale air from His lungs.

 

 

Crucifixion is a medical catastrophe.

15.   The problem was that Jesus could not easily push down on the nails in His feet because the muscles of His legs, bent at 45 degrees, were extremely fatigued, in severe cramp, and in an anatomically compromised position.

16.   Unlike all Hollywood movies about the Crucifixion, the victim was extremely active. The crucified victim was physiologically forced to move up and down the cross, a distance of about 12 inches, in order to breathe.

17.   The process of respiration caused excruciating pain, mixed with the absolute terror of asphyxiation (Choking, suffocation, complete lack of oxygen).

18.   As the six hours of the Crucifixion wore on, Jesus was less and less able to bear His weight on His legs, as His thigh and calf muscles became completely exhausted.

19.   There was increasing dislocation of His wrists, elbows and shoulders, and further elevation of His chest wall, making His breathing more and more difficult. Within minutes of the Crucifixion, Jesus became severely dyspnoeic (severe shortness of breath).

20.   His movements up and down the Cross to breathe caused excruciating pain in His wrists, His feet, and His dislocated elbows and shoulders.

21.   The movements became less frequent as Jesus became increasingly exhausted, but the terror of imminent death by asphyxiation forced Him to continue in His efforts to breathe.

22.   Jesus’ lower limb muscles developed excruciating cramps from pushing down on His legs, to raise His body, so that He could breathe out, in the anatomically compromised position.

23.   The pain from His two shattered median nerves in His wrists exploded with every movement.

24.   Jesus was covered in blood, sweat, spit, snot, and any other bodily excretions that happened during those long hours.

25.   The majority of the blood was a result of the Scourging that nearly killed Him, and the sweat as a result of His violent, involuntary attempts to try to exhale air from His lungs.

Throughout all this He was completely naked, and the leaders of the Jews, the crowds, and the thief next to Him were mocking, swearing, and laughing at Him.

In addition, Jesus’ own mother was watching.

26.   Physiologically, Jesus’ body was undergoing a series of catastrophic and terminal events.

27.   Because Jesus could not maintain adequate ventilation of His lungs, He was now in a state of hypoventilation (lack of oxygen).

28.   His blood oxygen level began to fall, and He developed Hypoxia (low blood oxygen). Some of his limbs probably turned blue.

29.   Because of His restricted respiratory movements, His blood carbon dioxide (CO2) level began to raise, a condition known as Hypercapnia.

30.   This rising CO2 level stimulated His heart to beat faster in order to increase the delivery of oxygen, and the removal of CO2.

31.   The Respiratory Center in Jesus’ brain sent urgent messages to his lungs to breathe faster, and Jesus began to pant, violently.

32.   Jesus’ physiological reflexes demanded that He took deeper breaths, and He involuntarily moved up and down the Cross much faster, despite the excruciating pain. The agonizing movements spontaneously started several times a minute, which was a show for the delight of the crowd who taunted Him.

33.   However, due to the nailing of Jesus to the Cross and His increasing exhaustion, He was unable to provide enough oxygen to His oxygen starved body.

34.   The twin forces of Hypoxia (too little oxygen) and Hypercapnia (too much CO2) caused His heart to beat faster and faster, and Jesus developed Tachycardia.

35.   Jesus’ heart had to beat faster and faster, and His heart rate was probably about 220 beats per minute, the maximum normal sustainable heart rate. Normal resting heart rates are anywhere between 60-100 beats per minute.

36.   Jesus had drunk nothing for 15 hours, since 6:00 p.m. the previous evening.

Jesus had endured a scourging which nearly killed Him prior to being crucified.

37.   He was bleeding all over His body following the Scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails in His wrists and feet, and the lacerations following His beatings and falls.

38.   Jesus was already very dehydrated, and His blood pressure fell alarmingly.

39.   His blood pressure was probably about 80/50.

40.   He was in First Degree Shock, with Hypovolemia (low blood volume), Tachycardia (excessively fast Heart Rate), Tachypnea (excessively rapid breathing), and Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

41.   By about noon, Jesus’ heart probably began to fail.

42.   Jesus’ lungs developed Pulmonary Edema (fluid accumulation in the air spaces of the lungs).

43.   This only served to worsen His breathing which was already severely compromised.

44.   At this point, Jesus was in Heart Failure and Respiratory Failure.

45.   Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28) because His body was crying out for fluids.

46.   Jesus was in desperate need of an intravenous infusion of blood and plasma to save His life.

47.   Jesus could not breathe properly and was slowly suffocating to death.

48.   At this stage Jesus probably developed Hemopericardium (Plasma and blood gather in the space around the heart).

49.   This fluid around His heart caused Cardiac Tamponade (Pressure around the heart which prevents the heart from beating properly).

50.   Because of the increasing physiological demands on Jesus’ heart, and the advanced state of Hemopericardium, Jesus probably eventually sustained Cardiac Rupture. His heart literally burst. This was probably the cause of His death.

51.   To slow the process of death, the soldiers added a small wooden seat on the Cross after hours of struggle, which would allow Jesus the “privilege” of bearing His weight on his sacrum.

52.   The effect of this was that it could take up to nine days to die on a Cross.

53.   When the Romans wanted to accelerate death, they would simply break the legs of the victim, causing the victim to suffocate in a matter of minutes. This was called crurifracture.

54.   At three o’clock in the afternoon Jesus said, “Tetelastai,” meaning, “It is finished.”

At that moment, He gave up His Spirit, and He died.

55.   When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. Not a bone in His body was broken in fulfillment of prophecy.

“He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.” - Psalms 34:20 (NIV)

56.   Jesus died after six hours of the most excruciating and petrifying torture ever invented.

57.   Jesus died so that ordinary people like you and me could go to Heaven. 

We’ve dug a little deeper into the physical pain that Jesus endured, but we can’t forget that this wasn’t the worst part for Him. Picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and as He kneels before His Father, drops of sweat and blood fall together from His head. Why is He in such agony and pain? The answer is not because He was afraid of the crucifixion. He was not trembling because of what the Roman soldiers were about to do to Him. No, He was in fear because all of God’s holy wrath and hatred toward sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world, was about to be poured out on Him, and He was sweating blood at the thought of it. He was shaking because He knew that God was going to thrust wrath due to my sin and your sin upon his soul. God did that to his own son. This, my friends, this is the Gospel. We can’t overlook the fact that Jesus was dead for three days. Where do you think He went for those three days? Think about it. God put himself in human form, came down to our world, sacrificed himself for people who hate Him, and went to hell in our place.

Jesus did this not for man as a whole, but for each man himself. If you were the only person here that needed saving, He would’ve done no less. God is love. He’s done more than we deserve, and I think we are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His word, we might discover that He requests greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give Him.

 

 

Medical Studies made with the help of:

Dr. C. Truman Davis

From New Wine Magazine, April 1982.

March 1965, Arizona Medical Association.