At times, I used to wonder what is so unique about the crucifixion of Jesus. Criminals and martyrs have had to suffer cruel deaths as well. But, after reading this description of Jesus’ crucifixion from Lee Strobel’s The Case For Christ, I am convinced that nobody else would have suffered so much – such is the intensity of sin! I thought of sharing this excerpt from the book. Since it is quite long, I will be sending it in 3 parts (one part in a day). Encourage you to read till the end.
Let me set the context (in case you haven’t read this book). The author of The Case For Christ is Lee Strobel, educated at Yale Law School, award-winning former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune – with a background of atheism. His project is to determine if there’s credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God. He interviews a dozen scholars, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other top-flight institutions, who are recognized authorities on Jesus. This one is an interview with Alexander Metherell. Metherell has a medical degree from the University of Miami in Florida and a doctorate in engineering from the University of Bristol in England.
He cleared his throat. “It began after the Last Supper” he said. “Jesus went with his disciples to the Mount of Olives – specifically, to the Garden of Gethsamane. And there, if you remember, he prayed all night. Now, during that process he was anticipating the coming events of the next day. Since he knew the amount of suffering he was going to have to endure, he was quite naturally experiencing a great deal of psychological stress.”
I raised my hand to stop him. “Whoa – here’s where sceptics have a field day,” I told him. “The gospels tell us he began to sweat blood at this point. Now, c’mon, isn’t that just a product of some overactive imaginations? Doesn’t that call into question the accuracy of the gospel writers?”
Unfazed, Metherell shook his head. “Not at all,” he replied. “This is a known medical condition called hematidrosis. It’s not very common, but it is associated with a high degree of psychological stress.
“What happens is that severe anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands. As a result, there’s a small amount of bleeding into these glands. As a result, comes out tinged with blood. We’re not talking about a lot of blood; it’s just a very, very small amount.”
Though a bit chastened, I pressed on. “Did this have any other effect on the body?”
“What this did was set up the skin to be extremely fragile so that when Jesus was flogged by the Roman soldier the next day, the skin would be very, very sensitive.”
Well, I thought, here we go. I braced myself for the grim images I knew were about to flood my mind. I had seen plenty of dead bodies as a journalist – casualties of car accidents, fires, and crime syndicate retribution – but there was something especially unnerving in hearing about someone being intentionally brutalized by executioners determined to extract maximum suffering.
“Tell me,” I said, “what was the flogging like?”
Metherell’s eyes never left me. “Roman floggings were known to be terribly brutal. They usually consisted of thirty-nine lashes but frequently were a lot more than that, depending on the mood of the soldier applying the blows.
“The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them. When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows. And the whip had pieces of sharp bone as well, which would cut the flesh severely.
The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep, deep cuts. The whipping would have gone all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs. It was just terrible.”
Metherell paused. “Go on,” I said.
“One physician who had studied Roman beatings said, ‘As the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.’ A third-century historian by the name of Eusebuis described a flogging by saying, ‘The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.’
“We know that many people would die from this kind of beating even before they could be crucified. At the least, the victim would experience tremendous pain and go into hypovolemic shock.”
Metherell had thrown in a medical term I didn’t know. “What does hypovolemic shock mean?” I asked.
“Hypo” means ‘low,’ vol refers to volume, and emic means ‘blood,’ so hypovolemic shock means the person is suffering the effects of losing a large amount of blood,” the doctor explained. “This does four things. First, the heart races to try to pump blood that isn’t there; second, the blood pressure drops, causing fainting or collapse; third, the kidneys stop producing urine to maintain what volume is left; and fourth, the person becomes very thirsty as the body craves fluids to replace the lost blood volume.”
“Do you see evidence of this in the gospel accounts?”
“Yes, most definitely,” he replied. “Jesus was in hypovolemic shock as he staggered up the road to the execution site at Calvary, carrying the horizontal beam of the cross. Finally Jesus collapsed, and the Roman soldier ordered Simon to carry the cross for him. Later we read that Jesus said, ‘I thirst,’ at which point a sip of vinegar was offered to him.
“Because of the terrible effects of this beating, there’s no question that Jesus was already in serious to critical condition even before the nails were driven through his hands and feet.”
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