CRUCIFIXION – A MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE

Crucifixion comes from the Latin word ‘crucifixio or crucifixus’, which means ‘fixed to a cross’. The Romans used this method to punish the worst criminals, captive armies, and traitors. Jesus was crucified in a T-shaped structure called the Crux Immissa. When we read Matthew 27 32 – 56, we understand the sufferings of Jesus on the cross.

Many researchers and theologians have studied and researched to understand Jesus’s sufferings from a medical perspective. With the advancement of medical technology, every physical, emotional, and psychological pain has been researched and given scientific names. Here are some conditions that medical experts give about the kind of suffering that Jesus suffered on the cross.

Blood as Sweat at Gethsemane

“And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” – Luke 22: 44

The Bible says that Jesus was praying in Gethsemane before He was arrested. Knowing the suffering and pain He had to endure in the next few hours was stressful. We read in Luke 22: 44 that His sweat came out as blood.

The medical term for this is called hematohidrosis, which occurs when a person is under extreme stress. When Jesus was arrested and brought in front of the high priest, Jesus did not answer the questions put forth by the high priest, and so they spat on His face and smote him with their palms.

“Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,” – Matthew 26: 67

Flogging

“So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged.” – John 19: 1

When the Pharisees and the crowd took Jesus to Pilate, he commanded his soldiers to flog Jesus. Flogging is also called flagellation, where a flog/whip hits the condemned person and creates wounds on the body. The flails used by the Roman soldiers have sharp-edged metal pieces and sheep bones. Flogging aims to cause deep wounds in the body. When Jesus was hit with the flogging and the flog was lifted away from the body, the sharp bones and metals were pulled off the skin and flesh from Jesus’ back. Jesus was flogged 39 times. After that, Jesus was dragged out of the flogging area. His back resembled a ploughed field with blood and pieces of flesh hanging from his body.

Crown of Thorns

After that, the Roman soldiers put a crown made of thorns on Jesus’ head and a purple rope on his torn flesh, mocking Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.”

“And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him with their hands.”

-John 19: 2,3

The thorns were about 2 inches long, and when it was pressed on Jesus’ head, the thorns pierced deep into His head, which has a vast supply of blood vessels, and caused severe blood loss. This is equal to a head injury that could cause death immediately.

Carrying the Cross

“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

-John 19: 16, 17

The soldiers tied Jesus to the crossbar, also called the Patibulum, which weighed about 110 pounds, and made Jesus walk barefoot up to the skull mountain, “Golgotha”. When they reached, they tore the robe on Jesus’ body. This would have caused traumatic pain as torn flesh sticking to the cloth with blood would have peeled off.

The uneven wooden cross must have pricked Jesus’ open wounds at the back.

Nails

The Roman soldiers used nails to crucify the criminals by nailing the hands and feet of the criminals to the crossbar. Jesus was also nailed to the cross. It has been explained that the nails must have been driven through the wrists and not the palms. If the palms were nailed to the cross the weight of the body would have ripped the flesh apart and the body would have come away from the cross.

The median nerve is an important nerve in the hands that connects directly to the brain. Each time Jesus took a breath, the pain will be excruciating as the nerves are pinched each time by the nails. Jesus spoke the 7 lines on the cross before giving up his last breath. You can read the 7th saying on Jesus in Luke 23.

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

-Luke 23: 46

No human can survive this kind of excruciating pain and continuous bleeding. With severe blood loss, the heart muscles weaken and can lead to heart arrest. Many researchers say that the death of Jesus was due to cardiac arrest.

What does His Suffering Mean to You?