Was Jesus really crucified and does it even matter?

Good Friday is almost upon us and Christians would be remembering the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. But is it true that Jesus was crucified at all, as Christians claim? Are the facts on the side of Christianity or against it? And even if Jesus was crucified, what significance does the death of a Jewish cult leader have for the rest of the world?

The horror of crucifixion If you have any knowledge of the details of the ancient Roman execution method called crucifixion, you will admit that it is one of the cruelest and most horrific forms of killing ever invented by man. Some scholars suggest that crucifixion likely originated with the Assyrians and Babylonians. Apparently, it was also later used by the Persians in the 6th century BC and Alexander the Great transported the idea from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC.

Later on, the Phoenicians also introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC and the Romans perfected the art for 500 years until it was ended during the time of Emperor Constantine. Interestingly, even the Romans themselves were so horrified by it that it seems it was against Roman law to crucify a Roman citizen, except probably in the case of treason.

For instance, during his prosecution of Gaius Verres, the governor of Sicily, for crucifying a runaway prisoner (who was a roman citizen) in 70 BC, the Roman lawyer, Marcus Tullius Cicero made the following statement during his address which, I think, captures how crucifixion was viewed in the empire: “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, (for a magistrate) to slay him is almost an act of murder, to crucify him is … WHAT? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.” [Emphasis mine]

Somewhere around AD 30, a century after this case, Jesus, according to the gospel accounts, stood before his staunchest disciples and told them that he was going to be killed. His most outspoken disciple, Peter, was so horrified by this that he rebuked Jesus saying, “God forbid it, Lord! That must never happen to you!” (Matt. 16:22 GNB). Just the mention of his death alone was enough horror for his disciples. Imagine the trauma they would have experienced to see their revered Rabbi not only dying, but dying shamefully by crucifixion. Cicero’s exclamation of “What!” is perhaps the word that would best capture the horror.

Dr. Alexander Metherell, a prominent physician who has extensively studied the historical, archaeological, and medical data concerning the Roman crucifixion notes that the Romans would usually give a flogging of least thirty-nine lashes to the person about to be crucified. And typically a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them would be used. When this whip struck the flesh, the balls would cause deep bruises which could break open with further blows. But as if this was not enough, the whip had pieces of sharp bone which would cut the flesh severely.

According to a research done by Dr. F. P. Retief and Dr. L. Cilliers on “The history and pathology of Crucifixion,” death resulting from crucifixion usually occurred anywhere between 6 hours to 4 days, and this would be due to the multi-factorial after-effects of compulsory scourging, haemorrhage and dehydration causing hypovolaemic shock (i.e. the loss of large amounts of blood) and pain.

A person in a crucified position found it progressively difficult to breath and the lack of oxygen eventually led to death by cardiac arrest. Also noteworthy is the fact that the attending Roman soldiers could only leave the crucifixion site after they could establish that the victim had died. The soldiers were known to use a number of ways to hasten the death of the victim which included the deliberate fracturing of the legs, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross, which would reduce the amount of oxygen available to the victim for breathing.

From the above description, is it any surprise that many non-Christians are incredulous that Christians can preach and also believe that Jesus Christ, their Lord, was actually crucified? The interesting thing is that Christians are themselves horrified by this event. The difference, however, is that for the Christian, the issue of Christ’s crucifixion shows the depth of God’s love for mankind and this draws the Christian into a deep devotion to God, while the non-Christian may find it utterly disgusting or completely mythical at best.

Was Jesus really crucified? The Roman orator and historian, Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus, in his record of Roman history (Annals xv. 44, written around AD 111) made a comment about the attempt of Emperor Nero to blame his crime of the burning of Rome on the Christians, who were then a despised sect in the empire. In this comment he made a passing reference to Christ thus: “Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.

Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstitution, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.”

The eyewitness reports that we find in the Christian Bible support this information given by Tacitus. In fact the gospel writers give more detailed coverage of the fate suffered by Christ under the authority of Pontius Pilate. What Tacitus describes as “extreme penalty,” the gospel writers explain as the crucifixion of Christ between two criminals. The gospel writers not only tell of the crucifixion but they also describe the arrest, trial and torture of Christ before his execution.

The gospels tell us that when Jesus was arrested, his disciples dispersed. And when he was crucified his followers were so distraught and filled with fear that they kept a low profile. This corroborates Tacitus’ observation that “…a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment …” The disciples were no longer going about with Jesus teaching and doing miracles that would draw crowds and incur the wrath of the Jewish leaders. They became quiet.

Also, the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, writing around 93-94AD, commented on Jesus in his “Testimonium Flavianum”: “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by the men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. ”

These observations tie in very well with the reports that we find in the gospel accounts which tell us that Jesus was not liked by the Jewish leaders and was condemned to death upon their accusations (John 18:28-19:18). The scientific evidence above for how crucified victims died bears striking resemblance to Jesus’ case. He was dehydrated on the cross and felt thirsty (John 19:28).

A spear was plunged into his side (John 19:34) to insure his death. According to Dr. Metherel, as a victim’s breathing slows down, he goes into what is called respiratory acidosis – where the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity of the blood to increase which eventually leads to an irregular heartbeat. Dr. Metherel suggests that, with Jesus’ heart beating erratically at this stage, he would have known that he was at the moment of death. This would explain why Jesus was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit’ and then gave up the ghost after that. Cardiac arrest had kicked in.

Further, a scholar by the name Paul Maier has noted that a Greek author from Caria called Phelgon, in a historical account that he wrote after the year 137 AD, reported that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (held around 33 AD) there was “the greatest eclipse of the sun” and that “it became night in the sixth hour of the day so that stars even appeared in the skies.” Phelgon also stated that during this event, “There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.”

This piece of history also confirms the eyewitness accounts found in the gospels. Luke 23:44-45 says, “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two” ESV. Matthew’s account of the same story notes that, “The earth shook, the rocks split apart, the graves broke open …” Matt. 27:51-52 GNB. What we have in the Bible about the crucifixion of Jesus fits the historical and scientific facts available.

In fact, the American distinguished scholar, Gary Habermas, after surveying over 3,400 critical scholars of various persuasions – Atheists, Agnostics, Jews and Christians with different theological views – concluded that more than ninety percent of scholars agree that Jesus’ death by the process of crucifixion is one of the three minimal (i.e. uncontested) facts in Jesus’ biography.

Alright Jesus died. So what? In BBC’s December 2010 poll of about 13.000 people in 26 nations, one question asked people to rate which issues they saw as most serious. Corruption was ranked as the second most important issue behind poverty. It is interesting to note that several years before this poll, the British journalist, Malcom Muggeridge (1903-1990), had insightfully observed that, “The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.”

Yet even centuries before Mr. Muggeridge, Jesus diagnosed the problem of man with frightening accuracy saying, “For from the inside, from a person’s heart, come the evil ideas which lead him to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly – all these evil things come from inside a person and make him unclean.”Mark 7:21-23 GNB. If man’s depravity is to be addressed adequately, his heart must be healed.

The problem must be dealt with at its roots. Jesus’ death on the cross deals with man’s depravity head-on; it inspires repentance, pays the penalty (i.e. eternal separation from God) for sins and reveals in clearest terms God’s love for man (John 3:16). At the cross of Christ we see in physical terms, the heinousness of sin – man’s unhindered assault on a loving God. Yet at this same cross, God calls everyone to repent and accept his once-for-all sacrifice for sins, through faith in his Son – Jesus.

R. G. Coleman E-mail: boabs2010@gmail.com Blog: www.rgcoleman.wordpress.com