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What exactly do they mean when Christians teach that Jesus died on a cross? The answer requires a full understanding of Roman crucifixion. Modern scholarship and archaeology have brought to light much new information about this practice. Many traditional conceptions have proved to be inaccurate. We now know that Roman crucifixion was far more brutal and hideous than Christians of past centuries ever imagined. The victim suffered excruciating pain for hours, even days, before the rigors of the cross finally snuffed out his life.
In its most common form, the cross consisted of two pieces of wood. The upright, called the stipes, was permanently fixed in the ground (1). The crosspiece, called the patibulum, was carried to the site of execution by the condemned man (2). This task was in itself an ordeal, since the patibulum was a stout beam weighing more than a hundred pounds (3). After the crucifixion, the crosspiece was taken down and removed from the site, perhaps as a precaution against thievery (4). Literary sources suggest that the familiar picture of Jesus' cross is erroneous. It is likely that the crosspiece rested on the upright, instead of being fastened to it at some distance below the top. That is, the cross of Jesus probably had the shape of a capital "T" (5). How were the two pieces put together? It is likely that the upright was sharpened to a point at the top, and that a conical hole was cut into the bottom of the patibulum so that it fit perfectly over the top of the stipes (6).
In 1968, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Jew who had been crucified during the era of Christ (7). It was possible from the skeletal evidence to determine exactly how the man had been fastened to a cross. The new information, debunking many old guesses about the method of crucifixion, left no doubt that this form of punishment was cruelly efficient. A crude iron spike from five to seven inches long had been driven through each wrist (8). Also, after both feet with heels and toes together had been turned sideways against the cross, a third spike had been driven through a board and then through both heels (9). When the man hung on his cross, the lower part of his body must have been twisted to one side.
During crucifixion, the victim was provided with a partial seat, called a sedile, a simple board nailed to the cross (10). But he could use the sedile only by allowing his torso to slump, with painful results. The weight of his sinking body forced his knees to bend sharply and stretched out his upraised arms to an unnatural extent (11).
Why did the victim die? In the strangely contorted sitting position, he could breathe in, but he could not relax the muscles of the rib cage sufficiently to breathe out (12). Thus, to exhale, he had to push himself up, using mainly his legs (13). In time, overcome by weakness, he was not able to raise himself for another breath, and he died of suffocation (14). Some victims fought off death for two or more days (15). Others died sooner. Either way, the agonies of the victim, as he desperately struggled time after time to raise himself and continue breathing, were prolonged and ghastly.
The Gospels tell us that after Jesus arrived at the hill called Calvary, the soldiers "crucified him" (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 19:18). This expression specifically refers to the bloody work of fastening His body to a cross. First, after setting the patibulum on the ground, the soldiers laid Jesus on His back so that His head touched the center of the patibulum and His body was stretched out perpendicular to it. Next, they brought His arms out to the side and draped His wrists over the patibulum. Then they hammered a spike through each wrist into the wood. When the Bible says that the risen Jesus had nail prints in His hands and side (John 20:25), the Greek word for "hands" takes in the wrists as well (16). The purpose of the nails was to give the victim something to pull against as he sought to raise his body for another breath. Therefore, the nails had to be inserted below the carpals. Nails through the palms would not have supported the victim's weight (17). As he tried to pull up, the nails would have torn out the flesh between the fingers and come loose.
Modern medical authorities tell us that the nails through the wrists must have partially or fully cut the median nerve (18). The results were twofold. Continuous pain shot through the arm throughout the crucifixion. Also, the thumb and fingers would have contracted inward and formed a tight fist.
After fastening Jesus' arms to the cross, the soldiers hoisted the patibulum to the top of the stipes (19). The pain as the whole body was dragged upward by nails through the wrist must have been indescribable. After the patibulum settled into place, the soldiers must have pushed Jesus' torso upward until He was able to support Himself on the sedile. Then they turned both legs to one side, one on top of the other, and nailed His feet to the cross. It is likely that they placed one spike through both ankles, just below the bottom of the tibia and fibula, so that He had a secure base for pushing His body upward.
It is improbable, however, that suffocation was the cause of Jesus' death. The Gospel of Mark (Mark 15:25; 34-37) records that He was nailed to the cross at the ninth hour in the morning (about nine o'clock) and that He died the same day at the third hour in the afternoon (about three o'clock). Although He had suffered scourging, He undoubtedly possessed enough natural vigor to maintain His breathing on the cross for more than six hours. The malefactors crucified by His side were still alive at the end of the day, even though they probably had been scourged also (John 19:31-33). To hasten their deaths so that no executions would be in progress during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the soldiers in attendance broke their legs. Once they could no longer push themselves up, they died rapidly. But when the soldiers came to Jesus, they found that He was dead already. He could not have succumbed to suffocation so soon. What then was the cause of His death?
We gain some insight on Jesus' bodily state at the time of death by looking at the postmortem evidence. Shortly after He gave up His spirit, a Roman soldier made sure He was dead by dealing Him a wound that would have been fatal had He still been alive. The soldier thrust a spear upward into His side, undoubtedly into His heart cavity. John reports that from the wound emerged a mixture of blood and water (John 19:34). Ordinarily, having no blood pressure, a corpse does not bleed. What then caused the bloody seepage from the wound in Jesus' side? The most satisfactory explanation is that the fluid came from the punctured heart cavity, its presence there being a clear sign of a ruptured heart (20). In reviewing the results of autopsies performed on several victims of a ruptured heart, a medical authority stated, "The pericardial cavity was occupied by approximately 500 cc's of fluid and freshly clotted blood" (21). The water reported by John was the watery fluid normally present in the heart cavity. To this was added blood leaking from the torn wall of the heart.
The usual cause of a ruptured heart is heart disease, leading to an aneurysm in the heart (a place where the wall is thin and dilated). But it is unlikely that Jesus, a man of youth and good habits, suffered from heart disease. Anything that drastically raises the internal pressure of the heart can also produce rupturing. For example, a blood clot might lodge in a valve and block outflow, with the result that internal pressure builds to a magnitude sufficient to rupture tissue (22). In Jesus' case, it is possible, though unlikely, that a clot came to His heart from an internal wound incurred earlier.
Yet there is a more likely explanation of Jesus' broken heart. It is possible that violent contractions induced by severe emotional and physical stress so squeezed the blood inside the heart that internal pressure rose to bursting strength. Jesus' broken heart could, in fact, have been caused by His tremendous agony of soul, as He bore our sins and felt the infinite weight and coldness of the Father's wrath.
Jesus' death cannot be attributed to any physical cause, however. He taught His disciples,
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
John 10:17-18
In other words, He could live or die as He willed. Even when His body reached a condition that would have been fatal to other men, He had the power to go on living. The Gospel accounts show clearly that He died only when He chose to die. His next to last saying was, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Matthew declares that His death came when He "yielded up the ghost [that is, 'spirit']" (Matt. 27:50). John uses a similar expression, translated "gave up the ghost [that is, 'spirit']" (John 19:30). It was impossible that God Incarnate should die apart from His own consent. Yet when His body could no longer function without supernatural help, He did not cling to life. Instead, He willingly commended His spirit to the Father and breathed no more (Luke 23:46).
Footnotes