And they crucified Him...

Introduction

“And they crucified him…”

- Matt. 27: 35; Mark 15: 25; Luke 23: 33, John 19:18

Undoubtedly, Crucifixtion was one of the cruellest and most humiliating forms of capital punishment for slaves in the ancient world. None of the four gospels describe Crucifixion in length. Not even the physician Luke, who was always fascinated by medical events, elaborated Crucifixion. One of the main reasons is that Crucifixion was a common event in those days and everyone knew about it. But for us, after 2,000 years, we are unaware of the gruesome nature of Crucifixtion, which are described here concisely.

History
Crucifixion was practiced only at a particular time in history and this time ranges between 519 B.C. and 341 A.D.,(about 860 years only) when Constantine banned crucifixion. Britannica reports that the Persians were the first to use crucifixion about 519 BC. Two centuries later, Alexander, the Great also used crucifixion in his conquests. At the end of the first century B.C., the Romans adopted crucifixion as an official punishment for non-Romans.

Gethsemane
The physical passion of the Christ begins in Gethsemane. It is interesting that the physician of the group, St. Luke, is the only one to mention this:
“Being in an agony (of mind), he prayed more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground”

- Luke 22:44. Though very rare, the phenomenon of Hematidrosis or Bloody sweat is well documented. Hematidrosis is an extremely rare clinical phenomenon with only few instances reported to have occurred within the twentieth century. Acute fear and intense mental contemplation were found to be the most frequent inciting causes. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat.
“Surely, He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…” – Isa. 53: 4. Jesus, truly bore our sins and sicknesses at Gethsemane and hence He was under extreme emotional pressure which manifested in His body as drops of blood oozing out of His skin. This process alone could have produced marked weakness due to loss of blood.

Scourging
Scourging was actually the legal preliminary to every crucifixion because it weakened the victim through shock and blood loss. Without scourging, the condemned victim might live on the cross for several days until exposure to wild animals, which finally finish them off. Even with a scourging, a robust criminal might linger as long as 36 hours.

Preparations for the scourging were carried out. His hands were tied to a post above his head. He was scourged with the flagrum (or flagellum), the ends of which were braided with hard pieces of sheep bone or small iron balls. (The flagrum is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each). Generally, two soldiers took turns flogging the back, and legs of Jesus. The heavy whip was brought down with full force again and again across Jesus shoulders, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continued, they were 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 produced large, deep bruises which were broken open by subsequent blows. Finally the skin of the back was hanging in long ribbons and the entire area was an unrecognizable mass of torn bleeding tissue. The beating was finally stopped, after 39 lashes. The half-fainting Jesus was then revived and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood.

Crown of Thorn
They still needed a crown to make his travesty complete. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used for firewood) were plaited into the shape of a crown and this was pressed into his scalp. Again there was copious bleeding (the scalp has very rich blood supply and so wound in the scalp bleeds profusely and for a long time). After mocking him and striking him across the face, the soldiers took the stick from his hand and struck him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into his scalp. Finally, the robe was torn from his back. This had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, causeed excruciating pain, which was almost as though he were again being whipped - and the wounds again begin to bleed.

Carrying the Cross to Golgotha
The heavy patibulum (apparently weighing about 50Kgs) of the cross was tied across his shoulders. In spite of his efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden cross together with the shock produced by copious blood loss was too much. He stumbled and fell. The rough wood of the beam gouged into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tried to rise, but human muscles had been pushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, selected an onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. The 650 yard journey from the fortress Antonia to Golgotha was finally completed.

Crucifixion
When he was thrown to the ground on his back, in preparation for nailing of his hands, his scourging wounds on his back most likely would become torn open again and contaminated with dirt.

With arms outstretched, his wrists were nailed to the patibulum. In fact, nails driven through the palms will strip out between the fingers when they support the weight of a human body. Instead, the nails were driven through the hollows of his wrists. Accordingly, the iron nails were probably driven either between the radius (thumb side of the lower end of forearm) and the carpals (bones of the wrist) or between the two rows of carpal bones. In addition, driving nails through the wrists injured the media nerve and caused bolts of fiery pain in both arms.

His legs were then, slightly bent and His feet nailed. The nails were usually driven through the fore foot (between 2nd and 3rd metatarsals - bones of the arch of the foot - as shown in the figure). If the legs were nailed straight, death would have occurred within minutes. By leaving the legs bent, the victim used his feet as a fulcrum, pushing upward on the nails when he exhaled. So, on the cross, he had to push up against the nail in the foot to breath out. Eventually, even the hardest victim would begin to suffer from leg cramps and progressive muscular weakness. The common method of ending a crucifixion was by crurifracture, which means 'breaking of the bones of the legs'. If the legs were broken, the victim would not be able to push himself upward to breath out. In such case, the tension inside the lungs could raise, trapping more and more air inside the lungs. This could lead to rapid suffocation due to excess air trapped inside the lungs (a condition called 'Tension pneumo-thorax') and death within minutes. In fact, breaking the legs of the victim is 'an act of mercy', as it limits long hours of intense agony and causes death quickly. Death on a cross almost never occurred due to blood loss. The wounds in the wrists and feet, while agonizing, did not sever any major blood vessels. Bleeding from the scourging on his back might have been sufficient to cause death, but generally crucifixion victims died of suffocation (asphyxiation- unable to breath).

The weight of His body hanging by His arms impaired the proper expansion / functioning of His lungs. He could inhale air (breathe-in), but not exhale it (breathe-out). Spasmodically, He was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. This meant the greatest agony of crucifixion occurred from the almost constant sensation of suffocation. When Christ spoke from His cross, it took an enormous toll because it required him to push up against the nails in his feet and hold that position for as long as it took to complete the words.It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the seven short sentences recorded.

With almost 6 hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial suffocation and searing pain where tissue were torn from His lacerated back as He moved up and down against the rough timber, a terminal agony began. A terrible crushing pain deep inside his chest fired up, as his pericardium (a sac around his heart) slowly filled with fluid (serum), which commenced to compress his heart. With one last surge of strength, he once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry, "Father! Into thy hands I commit my spirit" - Luke 23: 46. "When He had said this, He breathed His last". Apparently to make sure of His death, one of the soldiers drove his spear through his ribs, upward through the pericardium and into his heart. "And immediately there came out blood and water."- John 19:34. There was an escape of fluid from the sac surrounding the heart (pericardium) and blood from His heart. Thus, Christ endured the most agonizing form of death, ever known to the human beings !

Reference
1. J Med. 1996; 27(3-4):115-33. Blood, sweat and fear: “A Classification of hematidrosis” Holoubek JE, Holoubek AB. Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport, USA. PMID: 8982961.
2. Edwards, W.D., W.J. Gabel, and F.E. Hosmer. 1986. “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ”. JAMA 255:1455-1463. 1986, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
3. “A Physician Testifies about the Crucifixion” by Dr. C. Truman Davis-is a nationally respected Ophthalmologist, vice president of the American Association of Ophthalmology.
4. “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, M Div; Floyd E. Hosmer, MS, AM.
5. Barbet Pierre: A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ as Described by a Surgeon.
6. Synoptic gospels and St.John’s gospel.