The Cruelty of the Cross: HIS Sacrifice Our Salvation
In the 1990’s, I wrote and directed an Easter drama. One of the most powerful and chilling moments of the play – accompanied by interval beats in the background music that transported the audience to the Middle East – was the off-stage sound of metal striking wood. I believed the Resurrection story with those sound effects reenacted Jesus’ sacrifice.
Not even close.
In 2004, The Passion of Christ stunned the world with its depiction of the gruesome brutality of crucifixion. Inside the theatre, I sat between my husband and our youngest daughter; tears streaming down our faces. Nerves strung tight, teeth grinding, our daughter’s hand crushing mine, I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to bear the most barbaric scenes as my Savior was slowly and viciously tortured to death. By now, surely, I would understand.
Not completely.
My medical background taught me what happens to the human body during acute injury. As I began my research, I started to grasp the enormity of Jesus’ inhumane treatment.
My heart broke.
I learned that crucifixion is “possibly the most painful death ever invented by humankind. The English language derives the word ‘excruciating’ from crucifixion…” Scripture and science confirm each other in what the Son of God suffered.
Luke 22:44 reveals Jesus’ torment began in the Garden of Gethsemane. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” This rare clinical condition – hematohidrosis – is the breakdown of blood vessels that feed the sweat glands. It is caused by extreme stress or mental anguish which is con- firmed in Matthew 26:38: “…my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.” Jesus’ skin
reacted with sweat, blood, and extreme tenderness due to knowledge of what was to come.
History suggests that with His occupation as a carpenter, young age, then during His ministry and walking many miles, Jesus likely would have been in excellent physical condition; however, by the time he was taken from Pilate to Herod and back again (about two and a half miles), His once-strong body was weakening. The night before, He had not slept and had been beaten by the men guarding Him. (Luke 22:63-65).
As required by Roman law, Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged before His crucifixion. The type of whip is unclear, but it is speculated to be horrifically created of leather strips with sharp bone and/or metal knotted in each strip – all meant to injure and maim. The leather bruised; the bone/metal tore open His flesh, again and again. By now, Jesus had lost so much blood that his blood pressure fell (hypotension) and He was on the verge of shock.
When Roman soldiers roughly shoved the crown of thorns on His head, (Matthew 27:28-29) the hematohidrosis exponentially intensified the pain. Even worse, as they struck Him, large thorns pushed into His scalp, causing profuse bleeding while damaging facial nerves that shock-waved agony down His face and neck. Due to the severe blood loss, Jesus was now fully in shock. His condition was so critical, it was nearly impossible for Him to carry the patibulum (the horizontal bar of the cross) that weighed about 100 lbs.
At Golgotha, Jesus was thrown to the ground, likely reopening His many wounds, and grinding dirt into them. Then seven-to-nine-inch spikes were driven into His wrists that, upon impact, would have caused lightning-strike torture through both arms as they damaged the median nerve (major nerve to the hand). Despite numerous works of art that show Jesus with nails through His hands, anatomy indicates that soft tissue could not support His weight.
Once the soldiers had completed their horrible tasks, they lifted the cross and rammed it into the ground. Jesus’ nailed wrists took on His full weight; His shoulders and elbows dislocated. Psalm 22:14 reads: “My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of
joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me.”
Historians mostly agree that Jesus’ feet were nailed to the cross. In that savage
process, the dorsal pedal artery of the foot was likely severed and caused more anguish.
While crucifixion was doing its awful job of slowly suffocating Him, carbon dioxide was building up in His blood. His body frantically signaled its need for air. To take every breath, Jesus pushed himself up on those violently-injured feet. His heart beat faster and faster to circulate little oxygen. Even then, He beseeched the Father to forgive us. Less oxygen resulted in the capillaries (tiny blood vessels) leaking watery fluid into His soft tissue, which caused fluid around the heart (pericardial effusion) and lungs (pleural effusion). When the soldiers pierced His side (John 19:34) “blood and water came out”; this captures the clinical indicators of pericardial and pleural effusions. At least one researcher opined that Jesus likely died of a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Other opinions are that His death on the cross, that took about three hours, was from a combination of asphyxiation, shock, and blood loss.
In Jesus’ day, crucifixion was reserved for pirates, revolutionaries, and worst-of-the-worst criminals, not a Man Who was and is all that is pure and holy. Yet in His humanity, the Savior took every lash of the whip, every pierce of thorns, every nail that shredded nerves, tendons, and sinews; all of this undeserved punishment to prove His vast, everlasting love.
It is my hope you never again, sing a song with the word “cross” or take communion symbolizing His Body and His Blood, without profound appreciation of Jesus’ true sacrifice – to His last breath – of seeking forgiveness and thus salvation for you. And for me.
RESOURCES:
Crucifixion: Wikipedia
Horrors of Crucifixion – Billy Powell/Columnist – The Houston Home Journal: August 20, 2022
The History and Pathology of Crucifixion – L. Cilliers; F. P. Retief –National Library of Medicine, December, 2003
The Science of Crucifixion – Cahleen Shrier, Ph. D — Azusa-Pacific University, March 1, 2002
By Elaine Hall
The Conversation
Truly this man was the Son of God! Thank you for sharing Elaine.
He suffered unbelievably for us. And as you said, STILL asked for our forgiveness. “For God so loved us He gave His only son that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16).
“Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends “. John 15:13
I wish everyone would watch “The Passion of Christ”. As with you, the tears flowed from my eyes. But your description was very explicit, and reminded me of what he suffered for us in order that we could be saved by His grace.
A very moving lesson. Thank you, Elaine.