THE LAST DAYS OF JESUS CHRIST (part Two)

The whipping and cructifications of Jesus  

Pontius Pilate could find no cause to have Jesus executed, Further Pilates’ wife had a dream that Jesus shouldn’t be executed and told her husband about her dream. 

Pilate was aware that there was a valid way to pass that decision onto someone else. It was a custom in Judaea that the governor of the land could ask the populous to make that decision by choosing one of two persons who are condemned to death to be set free.

There has been a persistent belief advocated by non-Jews for centuries that it was the Jews who voted to crucify Jesus instead of the robber, Barabbas. That erroneous belief has been promulgated ever since Jesus died on the cross.    

Before Pilate made that offer to the crowd, he told Caiaphas what he was going to do. Pilate then said to the crowd, “This man is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews or Barabbas, a robber and rebel?”

As Mark's version of this event emphasizes, the crowd was driven to cry for Barabbas by the chief priests who were at the root of the push to have Jesus killed. 

The biggest factor, of course in the mind of the chief priest was  that Jesus was a problem for him and his fellow priests  since  he spoke against them  repeatedly, criticized their teachings and their ways, and taught many things to Jesus’ followers that contradicted what the priests taught to their followers. Further, the priests knew that anyone who caused trouble with the Romans could bring reprisals that would hurt everyone including the priests.

Caiaphas had previously ordered his guards to block the entry of those Jews who were in favor of Jesus being set free and to permit only those who would vote in favor of Barabbas being set free.

Why did the Jews standing before Pilate choose Barabbas instead of Jesus mere days after they welcomed Jesus so strongly? Many of them didn’t need any plodding because the prophecy in  Zechariah 9:9, forecasted a Messiah  to rescue the Jews from the Romans and was what the Jews expected was a Messiah riding  horse into Jerusalem that would drive out their oppressors and what they got was  simply another preacher riding donkey.  With those selected d by Caiaphas’ minions, the outcome of who was set free was a foregone conclusion.

As fate would have it. Jesus wasn't a civil rebel like Barabbas. He was more of a spiritual rebel. Did Pilate suspect that he might later be a much more of a problem that Barabbas ever was?

There were a great many Jews in the Holy Land in that era who would never have voted in favor for Barabbas to be set free over Jesus so it is in unfair to say that the Jews of the Holy land killed Jesus on  that particular day.

During the Second World War, Adolph Hitler ordered the deaths of six million Jews. Several thousand Germans participated in that slaughter of Jews. Does that mean that over the many millions of Germans as a nation in those years killed six million Jews?  Such an allegation would be scandalous. It was the Roman prefect who ordered Jesus to be executed.  Would that justify saying that the Italians killed Jesus?” That would also be scandalous.   

The scourging of Jesus

I don’t know why Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged first before he was to be crucified, but that turned out to be Jesus’ fate.

                                                                                                               

         The Roman flagellation or scourging was one of the most feared of all punishments. It was a form of brutal, inhumane punishment generally executed by Roman soldiers using the most dreaded instrument of the time, called a flagrum. The whip used in scourging was a whip consisting of three or more leather tails that had plumbatae, that were small metal balls or sheep bones at the end of each tail of the whip which would cut into the flesh of the  victim and when the whip was drawn from the flesh, it would bring back pieces of flesh with it.   

        

        In Mosaic Law, scourging could not exceed forty lashes, but often the number of lashes was dependent upon the cruelty of the executioners. Some of them would go beyond the forty lashes. In Jesus case, the lashing ended after the fortieth lash.  

           

Jesus would have been stripped naked and shackled by his wrists to a low column so that he would be in a bent-over position.  One or more soldiers would be assigned to deliver the blows from the flagrum. Standing beside Jesus, he would strike in an arc-like fashion across the exposed back. The weight of the metal or bone objects at the ends of the leather thongs would carry them to the front of jesus’ body as well as to the back and buttocks, the arms, the shoulders, arms, and legs down to and including the calves. The soldiers would change position periodically and deliver blows from the opposite side. The injuries sustained during scourging were extensive. Blows to the upper back and rib area caused rib fractures, severe bruising in the lungs, bleeding into the chest cavity and partial or complete pneumothorax (puncture wound to the lung causing it to collapse). As much as 125 millilitres of blood could be lost. Jesus would periodically vomit, experience tremors and seizures, and have bouts of fainting. Each excruciating strike would elicit shrieks of pain. Jesus  would be diaphoretic (profusely sweating) and exhausted. His flesh would be mangled and ripped, and jesus would crave water because of the loss of fluid from bleeding and diaphoresis. The steady loss of fluid would initiate hypovolemic shock while a slow, steady accumulation of fluid in the injured lungs (pleural effusion) would make breathing difficult. Fractured ribs would make breathing painful and jesus would only be able to take short, shallow breaths. The plumbatae at the end of the leather strips would lacerate the liver and maybe the spleen.

Jesus’ physical condition after the scourging was serious. The pain and brutality of the torture put him in early traumatic or injury shock. He was also in early hypovolemic shock because of pleural effusion, hematidrosis, (the excretion through the skin of blood) from his wounds, vomiting, and diaphoresis. ((excessive seating). Pilate had ordered that Jesus be scourged in an extreme manner in an attempt to appease the High Priest.

Placing a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head

One of the soldiers decided to create a crown of thorns. to be placed on Jesus’ head. The Syrian Thorn was available in Jerusalem as it was the plant most likely to be used for Jesus crown of thorns. The plants have sharp, closely spaced thorns.  The nerve supply for pain perception to the head region is distributed by branches of two major nerves such as the trigeminal nerve, which essentially supplies the front half of Jesus’ head, and the greater occipital branch, which supplies the back half of his head.” These two nerves enervate all areas of his head and face.

The trigeminal nerve, also known as the fifth cranial nerve, runs through the face, eyes, nose, mouth, and jaws. Irritation of this nerve by the crown of thorns would have caused a condition called trigeminal neuralgia or tic (twitching of his eyes) Irritation of this nerve by the crown of thorns would have caused a condition called trigeminal neuralgia - This condition causes severe facial pain that may be triggered by any light touch, swallowing, eating, talking, temperature changes, and exposure to wind. Stabbing pain radiates around the eyes, over the forehead, the upper lip, nose, cheek, the side of the tongue and the lower lip. Spasmodic episodes of stabbing by the thorns into the nerves causes explosive pain that are often more agonizing during times of fatigue or tension. It is said to be the worst pain that anyone can experience.

These pains would have been felt all the way to the hill outside the walls of the city here he was to be crucified and even when he was hanging on the cross.    

When he walked and fell when being pushed and shoved, the slightest movement and even when the breeze touched his face, new waves of intense pain would have been triggered. The thorns would have cut into the large supply of blood vessels in the head area. Jesus would have bled profusely, contributing to increasing hypovolemic shock. And don’t forget that he also suffered from the bloody slashes against his body caused by the scourging. And on top of that, he had to drag the T-shaped cross that weighed between 175 to 200 pounds part way   by himself to the hill where he would be crucified. 

Jesus carrying the cross to  the place  of his execution.

The cross used in Roman crucifixions consisted of two parts: “the upright or mortise, referred to as the stipes, or staticulum, and the tenon or crosspiece, which is called the patibulum or antenna.

Historic information shows that the upright posts were already at the Gothra hill. I am inclined to believe that because the two thieves were only carying  the cross pieces behind their necks so why wouldn’t Jesus be doing the same?  However, if the Romans wanted Jesus to really suffer more than the two thieves,  the cross piece would be already attached to the upright post prior to him pulling it to the place of his execution.

Did Jesus carry the crosspiece over one shoulder or over both shoulders? Investigators who studied the Shroud of Turin have interpreted two images on the back of the shroud as evidence that Jesus carried the cross over both shoulders while it was tied to both of his wrists.

It is a known fact that Jesus fell at least three times on the way to the hill as his physical condition was serious. Each time he fell, it would have been more difficult for him to get up. The soldiers needed to keep him alive until his crucifixion so they made Simon of Cyrene help Jesus carry the cross to the rocky hill called Golgotha (meaning  skull)  that was outside the  walls of Jerusalem.

The Roman’s form of capital punishment, crucifixion was widespread prior to Jesus’ birth. It was later abolished by Emperor Constantine in 341 AD but it continued to be used against both Christians and non-Christians. Dring the war years in last century.  Jews were crucified in the Dachau Concentration Camp. In Sudan and Egypt, there are reports of Christians being crucified by Muslim extremists.                                                                                        

The crucifixion of Jesus

Teams of well-trained Roman soldiers carried out the crucifixions. Each team consisted of the exactor mortis or centurion, and four soldiers called the quaternio.

Crucifixions were carried out in full view of citizens who went outside of the city to watch them.  

TheRoman crosses probably stood about seven to seven-and-a-half feet in height because from a practical point of view, it was easier to lift the crosspiece and victim into position on a shorter cross. It was also easier to remove the victim from a short cross after death. Shorter crosses also made it easier for wild animals to finish off the victims if they were still alive which they normally would be since many 0f them hung on their cross for days.

There is something that I want to point out to you about the walls of Jerusalem. When my wife and I visited the Old City of Jerusalem in 1995, we entered into the Church of the Holy Sepulchure (also called the Church of the Resurrection), that is in the Christian Quarter of the Old City where the Church is considered the location where Jesus was crucified and buried in the small grotto at the foot of the Golgotha hill.

I was obviously confused because the Church was inside the walls of Jerusalem and it was considered the location where Jesus was crucified. I was under the impression that Jesus was actually crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem. A priest inside the church told me that Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem and that the Church is located where he was crucified. He explained to me the confusion. The walls that I saw a short distance away were not the walls that stood around the city in Jesus ‘time. When the Jews later revolted against the Romans. the Roman emperor, Tiberius ordered the original walls to be destroyed so that his soldiers could get into the city. Years later, new walls were built and those were the walls that were just a short distance from the Church. 

As soon as Jesus arrived at his place of his execution, he was first stripped of His garments.  Crucifixes and paintings of Jesus always show Jesus wearing a loin cloth, but in reality, Roman crucifixion was designed to not only be gruesome, it was also to be humiliating a death as possible.  The condemned were always stripped naked in order to die with as little dignity as possible. 

Iron spikes that averaged 5-7 inches in length were used to nail Jesus wrists to the crossbeam.  In paintings and in statutes of Jesus, the nails were shown as being driven through Jesus’ hands. To do that would result in Jesus ‘weight causing his hands to be pulled away from the muscles between his fingers.   

After the victims’ wrists were nailed to the crossbeam, it was raised up and attached to the vertical beam.  Then the victim’s feet were then nailed into the vertical beam.

         Death would surely come eventually and most often by a combination of blood loss (from the scourging only) and asphyxiation.  The victim would only be able to take shallow breaths, until his arms weakened.  At that point, he would have to push his body upwards with his feet in order to breathe.  This would be terribly painful on multiple levels such as putting pressure on the nail wounds in his feet and hands and rubbing the open wounds on his back up against beam of wood. Jesus had seven last words from the cross, all of which were probably labored and difficult to speak.  

I will explain why Jesus would chose to have to endure the agonizing pain of pulling himself upwards by his arms and using his feet in order to push his body upwards so that he can breathe. 

Our diaphragm is an organ at the lower part of our bellies and without it, we wouldn’t be able to breathe in or out. Our arm muscles are connected to muscles all the way down to our hips.  If we are hanging by our arm muscles, then the muscles next to our diaphragms will be pulled pull against that organ which results in us being unable to exhale. If we can’t exhale, we won’t be able to breath in air either and as such, we would suffocate to death.

This will explain why the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves   who were crucified on either side of Jesus. If they hadn’t done that, the two men would hang on their crosses for days.  Since they and Jesus were crucified on Friday, they had to be removed from their crosses before four in the afternoon since the Jewish holy day of the week begins at that particular hour on Friday afternoons. 

Jesus’ last seven statements

The first one was, "Father, “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He was probably referring to the soldiers who crucified him.

His second one was; “Today you will be with me in paradise." He said that to the thief who was on the left side of Jesus and who had recognized who Jesus was and expressed his faith in him.

His third statement was given when he saw his mother standing next to his disciple John;   Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother.”

His fourth statement was given in the ninth hour he was on the cross. He said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

You remember that when he was in the field of olives. he prayed  to whom he thought was his father (God) and asked him to spare him the pain on the cross and send a host (army)of angels  to free him from the cross. By now, he realized that his  perceived Father (God) was not going to save him.

His fifth statement was given because he was thirsty He said, “I thirst.” However, Jesus refused the initial drink in which a sponge was dipped in vinegar and gall that was  placed at the end of a spear and pressed against his mouth.  

His sixth  statement was. “It is finished.”  He knew that he could end his suffering by simply by making no effort to ease the pressure against hisdiaphragm. But before that was to occur, he had one more statement to make.  

His seventh and final statement was, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  

I don’t know what made the soldiers come to the conclusion that he had died, but when it was obvious that he wasn’t breathing anymore, one of the solders grabbed a spear and pushed the tip of the spear onto the right side of his chest and shoved it in between two of his ribs. When he pulled it out, the tip was bloody and water oozed from the wound. Keep in mind that the average human adult male has approximately 70% of his weight as  water in his body.

It was then that one of the soldiers made a statement when he realized that Jesus was dead. He said, “This man is surely a son of God.”  He didn’t say that he was the son of God. To the Jews, a son of God is a man who is kind and thoughtful of others. The soldier must have come to that concision after listening to Jesus say, Father, “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."    

About this particular time, there was a violent earthquake occurring. It was so violent, the huge curtain in the temple had spilt  asunder from the bottom upwards.

This was the time for the soldiers to break the legs of the two thieves so that they couldn’t breathe anymore.

Jesus was removed from the cross by some of the men who were present and who loved Jesus.

Jesus’ burial

 

 

Generally, those persons who were crucified on that hill, their bodies would have been thrown into a common grave with the other criminals who couldn’t afford a proper tomb or burial in the ground.

 

 

However, a Jew whose name was Joseph of Arimathea donated his tomb to Jesus that was in a cemetery which was nearby.

Joseph of was a highly visible, distinguished member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council led by the high priests.

After Jesus crucifixion, he went to Pilate and boldly asked for Jesus' body. This generous man risked his reputation among the religious leaders to give Jesus a proper burial. Since Joseph Arimathea was a rich man, he could afford to make a new tomb for him and his family to lie in after their deaths. 

It was also important that Jesus’ body was not put with other dead bodies. If Jesus’s body had been laid among others who had died, some might have been claimed that it was not him that was later resurrected, but instead another body.

Nicodemus later brought a mixture myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds to the tomb according to (John 19:39). Nicodemus was a Pharisee who believed in Jesus’s teachings.

The women watched as the men laid the body of Jesus on a slab of rock inside the tomb and after the men left the tomb, the woman who previously prepared their own spices and ointments to be placed on the body of  Jesus after the Sabbath which  would end in the early hours of Sunday.hey then left the tomb and it was Joseph of Arimathea who rolled the heavy stone across the entrance of the tomb on that  Friday late afternoon.

Considering the size of the stone, it would have been similar in weight to a small car and we know how heavy small stones are, let alone a huge stone used to cover the entrance of that particular  tomb.

Most tombs in that era were dug out of the ground and lined with individual stones. Grave robbers could easily dig into those graves and steal any gold or other riches buried with the bodies.

If the tomb was hewn out of a solid rock, that would have been very expensive and as such, it would mean that it would have been a solid tomb with only one entrance and exit. 

The chief of the priests and the Pharisees together went to Pilate and asked him to provide a guard for the tomb. Pilate agreed and told them to take a guard with them an order to secure the tomb.

The guard placed upon the large heavy circular stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb, the “Roman Seal” which told the people that there was someone buried in the tomb and the that the  “power and authority of Rome stood behind the seal. If anyone was caught tampering with the entrance to the tomb that was marked with the Roman Seal, their punishment would be death.

End of Part Two

  I found  nothing as to what happened on the Saturday, the day after Jesus  was crucified. The next article about the Easter story will be published on Sunday.