Here’s your proof…did Jesus really die?

On with the study….

In the TV show CSI, forensic pathology and medical researchuncover the curcumstances of death.  These modern sciences can also tell us about Jesus’ death.  Some skeptics claim that Jesus’ crucifixion didn’t kill him, and if he didn’t die, he didn’t rise from the dead.  What does medical science say about crucifixion? Could Jesus have survived it?

Before he was crucified he was brutally beaten with a whip designed to inflict maximum damage.  It was made of leather thongs and pieces of bone and lead on the ends to rip the skin, exposing the muscles and organs.  Soldieres assigned to this duty sometimes continued until the backside was laid bare from shoulders to thighs.  Some victims died from it.  Survivors went into deep shocl from massive blood loss.

The victim’s arms were then stretched over the crossbeam for six-inch spikes to be driven through the wrists into the wood.  When the crossbar was attached to the vertical stake, the feet were nailed to it.  The weight of the body pulling against the spikes stretched the arms, dislocated the shoulders, and prevented breathing.  The victim had to pull up with his nailed hands and push up on nailed feet to relax the lungs enough to breathe.  The victim eventually grew too exhausted to continue and died of asphyxiation.

The release of "blood and water" as described by eyewitnesses (John 19:34) is exactly what medical science expects when a person dies under these conditions.  Severe shock accelerated the heart rate leading to heart failure, depositing fluid in the membrane around the heart and lungs.  So Jesus was probably already dead when the soldier speared him in the side, piercing his rib cage, lung, and heart.  If he was still alive, the spear thrust would have killed him.

Sometimes the Romans wanted to accelerate death, so they smashed the legs with a steel bar, ending the victim’s efforts to breath.  Asphyxiation quickly followed.  But Jesus had died by the time the soldiers came with the steel bar, so they didn’t need to break his legs (John 19:33).  These were professional executioners who knew when a person was dead or only looked dead.  They were highly motivated not to make mistakes because if the condemned person avoided death, they would pay with their own lives.  And Pilate double-checked with the execution squad to make sure Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44-45).

Even if they had erred, Jesus would have to survive and impossible ordead to fake a resurrection:  survive three days in a tomb without medical care (Matthew 27:60); survive despite being unable to breathe from the mummy-like burial wrappings that also prevented him from unwrapping himself (John 19:39-40); remove the huge stone; fight off the soldiers guarding the tomb; walk away on wounded feet; and then convince over five hundred people that he had come back from the dead and they should worship him as God.  Believing that scenario requires more faith than believing in his death and resurrection

Good passage the last paragraph inspired thought…but i’ll leave that to you guys 🙂