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There are those who would submit that Jesus never died on the cross. Several theories have been developed to show this. One theory, posits that Jesus fainted on the cross and only appeared to be dead. Jesus then awoke and recuperated in the damp coolness of the tomb and subsequently fully recovered. This ‘Swoon’ theory does not hold up against the facts concerning Jesus’ crucifixion.

Here are seven reasons why Jesus actually died on the cross.

1 – The Scourging:

Before being crucified, Pontius Pilate ordered that Jesus be scourged. A Roman scourging was done with a whip called a Part of An Ancient Roman Scourgeflagrum or a flagellum that was comprised of a handle about 8 inches long with 12-inch to 24-inch-long leather straps attached to one end. At the other end the straps were tied to lead balls (that looked something like barbells), sharp pieces of metal, bone shards, broken glass, or sharp rock. Whatever was on the end of the whip quickly broke the skin, allowing the flagrum to deeply penetrate the tissue and pull away the flesh, often exposing the bowels, ribs, or spine.

Eusebius, writing in the fourth century, preserves this description of a scourging from the second century:

Those standing around were struck with amazement, at seeing them lacerated with scourges, to their very blood and arteries, so that no flesh concealed in the very inmost parts of the body, and the bowels themselves were exposed to view.

 

2 – Blood Loss:

So vicious was this torture that victims often did not survive a scourging. Victims lost so much blood that they went into hypovolemic shock. This means that the heart would speed up trying to compensate for the loss of blood; the blood pressure would drop, making the victim faint or collapse; the kidneys would shut down to keep as much blood volume as possible; and because the body needs fluids so badly to replace

 

3 – The First-century Roman nail:

Following this was Jesus’ crucifixion, miscellaneous beatings aside. In crucifixion the victim was laid down with his arms perpendicular to the torso. Nails five to nine inches long would then be driven through both wrists, crushing the median nerve (the largest nerve going to the hand) and creating extraordinary pain. Nails would also be driven through the ankles with the legs in a bent position. When the victim was raised to a vertical position, his shoulders (and sometimes elbows and wrists) would become dislocated from the weight, making them useless to alleviate the pressure on his chest.

 

4 – Pressure on the Chest:

At this point the nailing of the wrists kept the position of the body so that the pressure on the chest was relentless and kept the victim from flopping forward. With the pressure on the chest, the victim could not exhale. In order to lessen the pressure, the victim had to straighten his legs, using the nail through his ankles as leverage. Having exhaled, the victim then sunk back down to his original position.

 

5 – The Cross itself:

The wood from which the cross was made was rough,

making the sliding of the victim’s back, whose flesh was exposed from scourging, very painful. As the victim’s strength was slowly worn down, breathing would become less frequent, increasing the acidity in the blood.

 

6 – Acidity in the Blood:

This acidity would cause an irregular heartbeat that was already rapid because of the hypovolemic shock. This would have caused fluid to build up in the membranes surrounding the heart and lungs. Death would ultimately come in the form of asphyxiation or heart failure. Depending on a victim’s condition upon being put on the cross, death could sometimes take days. If the executioner wanted to speed up the process, he would break the legs of the crucified man with a club; death would come within minutes.

 

In the case of Jesus, the executioner was preparing to do just that, break His legs, but Jesus appeared to already be dead.12 To make sure, the executioner took his spear and thrust it into Jesus’ side, piercing His heart and a lung.

 

7 – The Spear:

If Jesus had not already died, He surely would have as a result of the wound caused by the spear. There was no question whatsoever in the mind of the professional executioner that Jesus was dead.

 

 

 

 

Adapted from the Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics.

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