Jesus Christ
There is much confusion and discussion over what really happened when Jesus Christ was crucified. Some believe that Christ was simply a man who was punished in the usual way that executions were done back then. Others believe that Jesus Christ punishment was much worse because he was the true son of God. No matter what an individual’s belief about Christ, God or religion in general may be, it is a historic fact that the individual known as Jesus Christ was crucified. While the actual facts of the day, and what followed may be unknown the act of crucifying someone would be performed the same way for Jesus Christ or anyone else. There are some differences though. According to the bible, Christ was punished much more severely than others who were executed in this way. While it is prevalent in the bible that Christ died on the cross so that mankind could be forgiven their sins, others also died on the cross. Medically, the execution of Jesus Christ would have done a number on Him before the actual crucifixion took place.
•The bible says that the execution of Jesus Christ began before the actual crucifixion. First, Christ was whipped repeatedly with a tool called the cat-of-nine tails. This ancient torture tool would have gouged chunks of flesh from Christ body. Again, according to the bible and Roman Law it appears that Jesus Christ was whipped around 40 times. The blood loss likely would have put Christ into shock. Although His body would have gone into shock, the next part of Christ execution still took place. The cross that He would later be crucified on was tied to His back. Christ was supposed to be forced to walk to Calvary from Jerusalem. Historically, Jesus Christ would have been made to walk behind his captors and soldiers, but ahead of the crowd that wanted to witness His crucifixion. Due to the blood loss, Jesus Christ was unable to carry His cross the distance required. A man named Simon from the crowd was told to carry it instead.
•When Jesus Christ finally got to the site of His crucifixion, the cross that was tied to Him would have been laid down. Christ then would have then been laid on it with either arm extending for the length of the crossbar itself. While many religious trappings and pictures show Jesus Christ with both hands nailed to the cross, this would have been physically impossible. The hands were too weak to be nailed to the cross because they could not support the weight of the entire body. This was true of any person that was crucified, not just Jesus Christ. Instead, His wrists would have been nailed to the cross. The cross would have been lifted up, planted in to the ground and put in place. The cross would not have been very tall. Jesus Christ was probably no more than a foot and a half in the air, as the cross would have been about seven feet high.
•After the cross had been put into place, Christ would have had his feet nailed one the cross. After Jesus Christ feet were firmly in place, a small slab of wood was attached farther down the cross as a seat. This way, Jesus Christ would die a slower and more agonizing death. The nails in Christ feet along with the seat he sat on would allow a blood flow to his legs. This would ensure that His pain would continue for longer, although His death would not be stopped. As Jesus Christ hung on the cross, it would have become harder for Him to breathe. Christ would be losing breath as His arms were stretched out and His throat constricted in an effort to take in air. The only way for Christ to be able to breathe would be by lifting himself higher on the cross. This would cause the pain in Christ wrists to become unbearable as the nails dug at the surrounding flesh.
•The pressure in Jesus Christ chest would have continued to build long after His strength waned. For six long hours, Christ hung on the cross as a reminder to the people of what could happen to them if they committed a crime deemed unspeakable, like declaring oneself to be the son of God. Considering the fact that Jesus Christ would have went into shock hours before, it is unsurprising that He would have lived six hours. For that six hours, Christ would struggle to breathe, lift himself up to suck in air and experience excruciating pain for every breath He took. After the six hours were over, Christ succumbed to death.
•The actual causes of Jesus Christ death could have been one of several. One of the two most likely causes of Christ death were asphyxiation, or suffocation. The other likely cause of Jesus Christ death was the extremely high amount of blood loss that He had experienced over the day, from the beating to the crucifying. Other possible causes of Christ death could have been many types of stress related differences, such as dehydration. He had not been allowed to receive any nourishment, even after His blood loss and long walk. Another possibility was heart failure, which would have been natural due to the severe nature of His torture. It could also have been a combination of all of these things. Even if Christ had been taken down from the cross before He died, the trauma to His body would have been too severe and final. Jesus Christ would have died anyway.
No matter what an individual feels about the actual nature of Jesus Christ, it is disturbing to think about the facts of that day. Crucifixion was not a common means of execution even then, and it is only well know because of the fact that Christ died on the cross. Today, Christian religious symbols everywhere show Jesus Christ nailed to the cross, dying for peoples sins so that they could one day be forgiven by God.
