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“I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history …”
E. M. Blaiklock – Professor of Classics, Auckland University
The Resurrection of Christ is the most powerful event in history. It has affected the last 2000 years of history and politics, from peasants to kings to nations. Christianity has spread across the entire world, into every country and into a vast number of ethnic groups and languages. Billions of people have experienced the life-giving, healing, forgiveness and freedom offered by God because Jesus Christ conquered death and rose again from the grave.
The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith is useless. “And if Christ be not raised,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
There are many skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth as a fable. However, the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is extremely strong, even to the point of converting some who sought to disprove it:
The Empty Tomb: Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus Christ, it was empty 3 days after Jesus’ death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold (Matt 12:40, Mark 8:31). The guards had fled (a death penalty offense). The massive stone had been rolled away, and the body was gone – and was never produced by the enemies of the Christians. The linen grave clothes in which the Jews bury their dead were still in the tomb, undisturbed. From the Jewish historian Josephus to a compilation of 5th-century Jewish writings called the “Toledoth Jeshu”, even Jewish sources and traditions admit that the tomb was empty. The body was never found.
Living Witnesses: There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus Christ alive after his death. The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus alive. Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds (John 20:26-27). He later spread the Gospel all the way to India. The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter (1 Cor 15:6). When several people testify in a courtroom that they witnessed an event, and their accounts are found consistent with each other, their testimony is considered factual information. Jesus Christ was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).
The Disciples: Christ’s followers, who had been fearful and who had run away when Jesus was arrested, were completely changed after the Resurrection and became courageous witnesses. Peter, who had denied knowing Christ when recognized by a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive, speaking to the thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot – Pentecost. A person may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie. But people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie they themselves invented. The fact that the disciples willingly suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they had actually witnessed the resurrection they refused to stop telling people about.
Saul of Tarsus: A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the Church and had Christ’s followers thrown in prison, Paul had his life absolutely changed by his encounter with Christ. He became a devoted follower of Christ himself, spreading the Gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in the face of beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonment and, finally, execution.
“If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.” – F. F. Bruce, Manchester University
Skeptics’ Arguments Against the Resurrection:
The Hallucination Theory claims that the witnesses who met the resurrected Jesus were all ”seeing things” – they were hallucinating. However, this goes against common sense as well as psychological principles. Five hundred people do not all hallucinate the same thing. Jesus appeared to many people at many different times. Also, the body was never produced.
The Swoon Theory argues that Jesus did not die – that he simply fainted from loss of blood and exhaustion. However, this also goes against common sense. The Romans were professionals who severely whipped Jesus, hung him on a cross, and then stabbed him in the side with a spear to make sure he was dead. He was in the grave for three days, wrapped head to foot in a burial cloth, without food or water or medical treatment. When he appeared to his disciples he was completely whole and healthy and his appearance inspired awe and worship that lasted throughout the rest of the disciples’ lives.
The Disciples Faked the Resurrection: Discouraged, fearful fishermen and former tax collectors, whose teacher had been viciously murdered, were in little position to take on a detachment of trained Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. They would have had to create a fantastic plan in order to fight off or bribe the professional soldiers, raid the tomb, unbind the grave clothes from Christ’s body, take the body away, and hide it where nobody would ever find it. The Roman soldiers faced death if they failed in their guard duty, and the disciples had little money for bribing anybody. Many people would have had to be involved in the conspiracy, and all those involved would not only have known the truth, but would know that they were risking meeting the same fate as their recently crucified leader. And what purpose could it possibly serve, if Jesus were dead? They would have had nothing to gain. Their leader was gone and they would have only faced persecution and death for their invented resurrection story.
And again, the disciples’ attitudes completely changed after the Resurrection and especially after Pentecost. They became bold and courageous in spreading their message, fearless of beatings or imprisonment. They never sought to fight Rome or to establish any position or kingdom or authority for themselves. They had nothing to gain, physically speaking. They simply went about the known world, telling their story in spite of persecution and suffering, poverty and ridicule. Their message quickly spread across the Middle East and Europe and even into Asia without any military conquest or political support involved - and in spite of strong opposition. Only belief and hope based in the reality of their experiences would have produced such dedication in the lives of Christ’s followers.
Perhaps the greatest evidence today of Christ’s resurrection is the work that he is still doing in the lives of every day people. In the name of Jesus, people are still being healed emotionally and physically and spiritually by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Sinners are being freed from the burden and pain and shame of sin – sometimes immediately, sometimes after long years of steady work by the Holy Spirit in their lives. Hearts are being mended and lives are being turned around. The best evidence today is the faithful follower of Christ who can say, “He saved me, and I am not the person I used to be” just as the apostles testified 2000 years ago.
[For more in-depth coverage of the above arguments, as well as many further evidences and related information, please see the links below.]
Dame Isabel Piczek—a Hungarian trained particle physicist and internationally renowned monumental artist—has apparently uncovered hard, scientific evidence that Jesus Christ did, in fact, rise from the dead.
The object of her study is a simple piece of ancient fabric known as the Shroud of Turin.
The Most Studied Artifact in History
The Shroud of Turin is arguably the single most studied artifact in human history. It is a piece of ancient linen measuring 14 feet 3 inches long by 3 feet 7 inches wide. The bloodstained surface of the Shroud is marked with a negative image of the undistorted front and back sides of a naked man who appears to have been severely beaten and crucified—an ancient Roman form of torture and execution.
For centuries, based on the Gospel accounts, many Christians have believed that Christ’s body was wrapped in the Shroud when He was placed in a borrowed tomb in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
In 2004, Dame Piczek became fascinated by the total absence of distortion of the Shroud image, a physical impossibility if the body had been lying on solid rock. Piczek’s work strongly suggests that the image of Jesus was projected as a quantum hologram onto the cloth as His body underwent the process of Resurrection.
“The entire Resurrection process is akin to the Big Bang creation of the universe when something was created from nothing,” explains Piczek. “You can read the science of the Shroud, such as total lack of gravity, lack of entropy (without gravitational collapse), no time, no space—it conforms to no known law of physics.”
Dame Piczek created a one-fourth size sculpture of the man in the Shroud. When viewed from the side, it appears as if the man is suspended in mid air (see graphic, below), indicating that the image defies previously accepted science. The phenomenon of the image brings us to a true event horizon, a moment when all of the laws of physics change drastically.
Dame Piczek contends that the image was created in an infinitesimally small fraction of a second and its formation was absent of the effects of gravity.
The Physics Behind the Holographic Image
Dame Piczek explains the complicated physics behind the image on the Shroud: “As quantum time collapses to absolute zero (time stopped moving) in the tomb of Christ, the two event horizons (one stopping events from above and the other stop-ping the events from below at the moment of the zero time col-lapse) going through the body get infinitely close to each other and eliminate each other (causing the image to print itself on the two sides of the Shroud).
In general relativity, an event horizon is a boundary in space-time, most often an area surrounding a black hole, beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. Light emitted from beyond the horizon can never reach the observer, and anything that passes through the horizon from the ob-server’s side appears to freeze in place.
Attempting to make an object approaching the horizon re-main stationary with respect to an observer requires applying a force whose magnitude becomes unbounded (becoming infinite) the closer it gets.
The description of black holes given by general relativity is known to be only an approximation, and it is expected that quantum gravity effects become significant near the vicinity of the event horizon.1 It is this apparent suspension of gravity that underlies Dame Piczek’s analysis.
“According to the nature of event horizons the dead body must have left its image on the two surfaces of the event horizons. At the time of the explosion (when time stopped) of the event horizons these images were ejected onto both sides of the Shroud, with the body hovering parallel to the event horizons. This explains why the image shows a dead man, not the risen body, and also explains why the image is negative (went from a positive body image to the negative image like a camera film negative). This indicates how the image got onto the cloth.”
If confirmed, this discovery is expected to yield a totally new perspective on the very “singularity” attributed to the Creation of the universe in the first place. Piczek’s discovery—and those of other scientists and re-searchers who have studied the Shroud—is presented in The Fabric of Time, a television documentary and DVD from Grizzly Adams® Productions.
Three-Dimensional Hologram
Also featured in the film, The Fabric of Time, is a three-dimensional, anatomically accurate hologram of a crucified man. Working independently of Piczek, a team of Dutch scientists led by Dr. Petrus Soons used laser technology to convert two-dimensional photographic negatives of the image on the Shroud.
Among the several discoveries from the holographic image was the identification of the two coins placed over the eyes. These appear to be “widow’s mites,” minted in 29 A.D. in the reign of Tiberius (and which, due to their diminutive value, were not circulated outside of Israel.)
This documentary film is based in part on the following books: The Shroud of Turin by Ian Wilson (Doubleday); The Blood and the Shroud by Ian Wilson (Orion Publishing Group); and, the Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery by Mary and Alan Whanger, M.D. (Providence House).
This DVD is certain to stimulate a great deal of discussion as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ during this coming Passover season!
**FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH STUDY**
The Fabric of Time – DVD – VariousHave scientist discovered a Quantum Hologram that gives us a message of Hope? Have scientists actually been able to produce a full three dimensional image of Christ?
1.A more complete description of event horizons would require a background of quantum gravity, such as M-theory, a new limit of supersymmetric string theory in which 11 dimensions of space-time may be identified.
The observances of Good Friday and Easter Sunday have perpetuated the traditional chronology that the crucifixion took place on a Friday, and that the Lord’s body was buried on that day at about 6:00 p.m., and that he rose from the dead early on the following Sunday morning.
There are some, however, that feel this tradition is at variance with the Scriptural record. The traditional view seems to conflict with certain prophetic and legal facts.
“Three Days”
One of the problems is reckoning “three days” between Friday evening and Sunday morning. I was once co-hosting a national TV show which had the famed apologist John Warwick Montgomery as a guest. This issue came up, and John rendered the traditional rationalization, pointing out that the Jews reckoned a partial day as a whole day.
I turned to my co-host and explained, “You must remember that John is an attorney, and that’s the way they bill!”
(John almost fell out of his chair laughing – he hadn’t realized that I was well aware of his distinguished legal background.)
But the difficulty remains. Our Lord’s definitive statement is one of the problems:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. -Matthew 12:40
The mention of nights, as well as the number of days, makes it hard to render this as simply an idiomatic rhetorical device rather than a statement of fact.
Further, when Paul declares the resurrection of Christ to be “according to the Scriptures” in 1 Corinthians 15:4, if this isn’t an allusion to Jonah 1:17, then where else? (Perhaps, in Genesis 22, the three days between the “death” of Isaac – when the commandment came – and his “return” to Abraham may have been the macrocode, or typological allusion, that Paul might have had in mind.1)
Intensifying this controversy was the “three days” issue at the trial of Jesus.
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, [yet] found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This [fellow] said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. -Matthew 26:59-61
What did Jesus really say?
Destroy this temple, [of His body] and in three days I will raise it up. -John 2:19
The same phrase reoccurs in the gospels a dozen times.2 It also seems to frequently reoccur in prophetic patterns.3
The Sabbaths
Nowhere in the Gospels does it assert that Christ was crucified on a Friday. In Mark 15:42, it refers to “…the day before the sabbath.” This may be the root of the misunderstanding.
The Jews had other sabbaths in addition to the weekly shabbat (Saturday). In addition to the weekly sabbaths, there were seven “high sabbaths” each year, and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Nisan, was one of them.4
Further, Matthew 28:1 should read, “At the end of the sabbaths ,”5 (which is plural in the Greek), implying there was a plurality of sabbaths that week.
If Passover, the 14th of Nisan, fell earlier in the week, the 15th could have been any day prior to Saturday, the weekly sabbath. “When the sabbaths were past” would, of course, be Sunday (actually, Saturday after sundown), in accordance to the Feast of First Fruits. (Some hold to a Thursday crucifixion on a similar basis.)
The 17th of Nisan
Jesus had declared that He would be in the grave three days, and yet was to be resurrected “on the morrow after the sabbath,” on the day of the Feast of First Fruits.6
It is interesting that the authorities, anxious to get the body off the cross before sundown, unknowingly were fulfilling God’s predetermined plan, “according to the Scriptures.”7
Noah’s flood ended on the 17th day of the 7th month.8 This month becomes the 1st month at the institution of the Passover.9 Our new beginning in Christ was on the anniversary of the Earth’s “new beginning” under Noah!
Israel’s new beginning, the crossing of the Red Sea, is believed to have been on the 17th of Nisan. Also, in their flight after Passover, Israel retrieved the body of Joseph from his tomb. After Passover, Jesus was retrieved from another Joseph’s tomb on this date.
The Jericho Journey
Another problem with a Friday crucifixion is John 12:1: “Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany…” (from Jericho). If the Friday view can be accepted, then six days earlier was the weekly shabbat , and on this day such a journey was legally out of the question for a devout Jew.
Summary
As for the Friday or Wednesday issue, there are many good scholars on each side of this controversy. I personally have become rather cynical toward any tradition that is not supported by Scripture.
Good Friday is the “traditional” view. The Wednesday crucifixion is known as the “reconstructed view.” This article is intended to stimulate study and constructive conversation during this precious season. One attempt to reconcile the chronology of the entire week is shown in the inset boxes [Friday-Tuesday] and [Wednesday-Sunday].
The important thing is that the tomb was empty . The authorities made sure that this was indisputable. Indeed, He is risen!
The most important chapter in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 15. We encourage you to study it very carefully. (Also, note our special briefing packages, Agony of Loveand From Here to Eternity.)
* * *
Next month we’ll explore the issue of “The Seventh Day.” Anyone who thinks that it’s simple to resolve the “Sunday Sabbath” hasn’t studied it.
**FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH STUDY**
The Easter Story – DVD – Chuck MisslerMost reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible.
Hebrews 11:17-19; Genesis 22:2-4, 8, 14. See Cosmic Codes , Chapter 12 for a exposition of this astonishing “Macrocode.”
Matthew 27:40; 27:63; 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 14:58; 15:29; Luke 9:22; 18:33.
The deliverance of Isaac after three days at Abraham’s offering, Genesis 22; the crossing of Israel after Passover, etc. Also prominent in Joseph’s prophecies (also introducing the bread and wine!) Genesis 40:12-19; (Cf. 42:17!); Moses’ darkness upon Egypt three days, Exodus 10:22, 23; three days without water in the wilderness, Exodus 15:22; Paul was without sight for three days, Acts 9:9.
Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:5-7; Numbers 28:17.
Jay P. Green, The Interlinear Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA 1985, p.766. Also, C. I. Scofield, Scofield Study Bible , notes on Matthew 28:1: The term is plural in the Greek.
Leviticus 23:10-11.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4. See our briefing package, The Feasts of Israel, to explore the prophetic implications of these amazing elements of God’s plan for mankind.
After Jesus’ resurrection, why did people always seem to have difficulty recognizing Him? We can’t help but notice something strange about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances.
Sunday Morning
That early Sunday morning, even Mary fails to recognize Jesus at first.1 She mistakes Him for the gardener-until she hears His voice. She was no casual acquaintance: a few days earlier she washed His feet with her tears! Why didn’t she know who He was until she heard His voice? It seems that “Mary!” prompted her recognition.2
Sunday Afternoon
Later that afternoon, Jesus joined two disciples on the Emmaus Road, and for seven miles He gives them an Old Testament Bible study.3
Although “their eyes were holden that they should not know Him,” the Bible doesn’t really explain what this means.4 In any case, they did recognize Him when He broke the bread at dinner. (This itself is odd, since it was the role of the host-not the guest-to break the bread.) Their tip-off was in viewing the nail prints in His hands. (They confirmed this later that evening.)
Sunday Evening
These two disciples join the gathering that evening in the upper room and confirm His appearance, emphasizing that it was in the breaking of the bread that they realized who He was.5 Why not during the seven-mile walk? What is going on here?
When Jesus ultimately emerges in their midst, we find them all terrified.6 Astonished, of course, but why frightened? For some reason they don’t recognize Him until they examine His wounds! Why?
The Galilean Breakfast
Perhaps the most puzzling thing occurs later at the Sea of Galilee.7 When they join Him for that early morning breakfast on the seashore, John makes the strangest remark: “And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.”8 What does that mean?
A Possible Clue
We should remember that the Bible is a single, integrated message — 66 books, penned by over 40 authors over thousands of years, but in which every detail is there by supernatural engineering. Thus, we also need to recognize that:
the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed;
the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.
There are many surprising insights and details in the Old Testament which amplify the New, including some astonishing physical descriptions.
A familiar example is Psalm 22, which reads as if it were dictated by Jesus Himself as He hung on the cross. He describes His pain, the piercing of His hands and feet;9 He quotes the taunts of the crowd10 and observes the parting of His clothes,11 etc. The Psalm even opens and closes with His first and final words from the cross.12
Another such passage is Isaiah 53.13 This passage, sometimes called “The Holy of Holies of the Old Testament,” highlights the implications of the cross as eloquently as any of Paul’s epistles. In Isaiah 52:14, however, it specifies that the extent of the abuse left Jesus hardly even looking human.
Yet another most disturbing detail appears a page earlier:
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. Isaiah 50:6
This seems to indicate that the Roman soldiers ripped off His beard! No wonder His friends had trouble recognizing Him!
I had an occasion some years ago to work with a software specialist who wore a very full beard. One day he came to work with it shaved off. I almost didn’t recognize him! It is surprising what a difference a single feature like that can make.
(And this didn’t involve any scar tissue or other evidences of abuse resulting from treatment received at the hands of vicious Roman soldiers.)
An Emblem of Love
I am reminded of a young mother whose face was badly disfigured. Her little girl was continually ridiculed by the children in school because of her mother’s appearance. (You know how cruel children can be.)
When the little girl was old enough, the mother explained to her that when she was a baby there was a dreadful fire in the apartment and, although the mother was able to save the little girl, the mother herself suffered very severe burns in the process. From that day on, the little girl was no longer embarrassed about her mother. Every time she looked into her mother’s face it was a reminder of just how much she was loved.
Is it possible that, in addition to the nail prints, there were additional scars-perhaps where His beard used to be-that caused their difficulty in recognizing Him? Are they still there? Does Jesus still bear the marks of His humiliation?
In the Book of Revelation, John is propelled forward in time some several thousand years and is granted a vision of the throne of God. In Revelation 5 we find “the lamb as it had been slain,” apparently still bearing the scars of the cross.14 They say that the only man-made things in heaven are His scars.
When Jesus returns to rule Israel, He proclaims, “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.”15
The marks of His humiliation are also the marks of His glory. Furthermore, I’m sure the most significant aspects of the cross were not the physical or physiological aspects. I believe it will take us an eternity to even begin to understand what it cost Him that we might be with Him.
He was born of a woman so that we could be born of God.
He humbled Himself so that we could be lifted up.
He became a servant so that we could be made co-heirs.
He suffered rejection so that we could become His friends.
How precious our Redeemer is! Have you really thanked Him lately?
Psalm 22:1: “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?” (The only time He didn’t call Him Father!) Cf. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34. Psalm 22:31: “He hath done this”; or, better, “It is complete,” “It is finished.” Tetelestai: “Paid in full.” John 19:30.
On the evening before His crucifixion Jesus was gathered with His disciples in the upper room, sharing with them some of the most intimate truths of His entire ministry. As He discussed the love of the Father and His love for His disciples he declared:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Though they did not realize it at the time, the disciples were only hours from the practical realization of this truth. One of the subtle evidences of the supernatural origin of the Biblical text is that astonishing events are often described in extremely brief narratives.
This is perhaps best illustrated in the matter-of-fact way in which the crucifixion of Jesus Christ-the most pivotal event in the history of the universe-is described in the Gospel accounts.
After Jesus was examined and declared to be without fault by the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate, he delivered Him to be judged by the assembled crowd. When the opportunity arose to decide the destiny of Jesus, the crowd and the Jewish leadership cried out saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” 1
The horrifying events of the next six hours were preceded by the simple words:
Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. John 19:16
“Great Drops of Blood”
The physical suffering of Jesus began in the Garden of Gethsemane on the evening before His crucifixion. While the disciples slept, the Gospel of Luke records that the LORD “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”2
The notion that someone could actually sweat blood seems contrived. However, there is a rare but recognized condition called hematohydrosis, in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to express blood. This usually occurs under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress. Jesus wasn’t sweating blood because he was afraid of the physical pain of the cross. Indeed, the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus looked forward to the cross:
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
The Trials
After Jesus’ arrest they led Him away to the High Priest Caiaphas, where the Scribes and elders were assembled. During this inquisition we are told that “some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, ‘Prophesy!’ And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.”3
Beatings about the face received by a blindfolded individual cause even worse trauma because the victim cannot “roll with the punches.” In the hours that followed Jesus received two additional beatings at the hands of Roman soldiers.4 Severe disfigurement of the face would certainly have resulted from the brutal treatment. It is likely that the eyelids were swollen shut as a result of such beatings. This was done in fulfillment of Isaiah 52:13-14:
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.
The Scourging
After His trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus was scourged (flogged) by the Roman guards. This process typically involved a whip with numerous leather thongs, 18-24 inches long, with bits of metal, bone or glass embedded in the leather. At times they would use an iron rod to beat the prisoner. According to Jewish custom, a prisoner was usually flogged 39 times (Forty minus one was a sign of Jewish mercy!)
Scourging was an extreme form of punishment. The skin on the victim’s back was usually shredded, thus exposing the underlying muscle and skeletal structures. Severe blood loss and dehydration were the rule. Many victims died from such scourging.
After the scourging of Jesus, the Roman soldiers beat Him a second time with their hands and with a reed. Then they put on him a “crown of thorns.”
Jesus had not drunk since the night before, so the combination of the beatings, the crown of thorns, and the scourging would have set into motion an irreversible process of severe dehydration and cardiorespiratory failure. All of this was done so that the prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled:
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 50:6
And:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Crucifixion
Crucifixion was invented by the Persians between 300-400 b.c. It was “perfected” by the Romans in the first century b.c. It is arguably the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term “excruciating.” It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of criminals.
The most common device used for crucifixion was a wooden cross, which consisted of an upright pole permanently fixed in the ground with a removable crossbar, usually weighing between 75-100 lbs. Victims of crucifixion were typically stripped naked and their clothing divided by the Roman guards. In Jesus’ case this was done in fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”
As a gesture of “Roman kindness” the prisoner was offered a mixture of vinegar (gall) and wine as a mild anesthetic. This anesthetic was refused by Jesus.5 Consequently, He bore it all! The Apostle Peter stated of Jesus:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
The victim was then placed on his back, arms stretched out and nailed to the cross bar. The nails, which were generally about 7-9 inches long, were placed between the bones of the forearm (the radius and ulna) and the small bones of the hands (the carpal bones). (Figure 1.)
The placement of the nail at this point had several effects. First it ensured that the victim would indeed hang there until dead. Secondly, a nail placed at this point would sever the largest nerve in the hand called the median nerve.
The severing of this nerve is a medical catastrophe. In addition to severe burning pain the destruction of this nerve causes permanent paralysis of the hand. Furthermore, by nailing the victim at this point in the wrist, there would be minimal bleeding and there would be no bones broken! Thus scriptures were fulfilled:
I can count all my bones: they look and stare upon me. Psalm 22:17He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Psalm 34:20
The positioning of the feet is probably the most critical part of the mechanics of crucifixion. First the knees were flexed about 45 degrees and the feet were flexed (bent downward) an additional 45 degrees until they were parallel the vertical pole. An iron nail about 7-9 inches long was driven through the feet between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones. In this position the nail would sever the dorsal pedal artery of the foot, but the resultant bleeding would be insufficient to cause death.
The Catastrophic Result
The resulting position on the cross sets up a horrific sequence of events which results in a slow, painful death. Having been pinned to the cross, the victim now has an impossible position to maintain. (Figure 2)
With the knees flexed at about 45 degrees, the victim must bear his weight with the muscles of the thigh. However, this is an almost impossible task-try to stand with your knees flexed at 45 degrees for 5 minutes. As the strength of the legs gives out, the weight of the body must now be borne by the arms and shoulders. The result is that within a few minutes of being placed on the cross, the shoulders will become dislocated. Minutes later the elbows and wrists become dislocated. The result of these dislocations is that the arms are as much as 6-9 inches longer than normal.
With the arms dislocated, considerable body weight is transferred to the chest, causing the rib cage to be elevated in a state of perpetual inhalation. Consequently, in order to exhale the victim must push down on his feet to allow the rib muscles to relax. The problem is that the victim cannot push very long because the legs are extremely fatigued. As time goes on, the victim is less and less able to bear weight on the legs, causing further dislocation of the arms and further raising of the chest wall, making breathing more and more difficult.
The result of this process is a series of catastrophic physiological effects. Because the victim cannot maintain adequate ventilation of the lungs, the blood oxygen level begins to diminish and the blood carbon dioxide (CO2) level begins to rise. This rising CO2 level stimulates the heart to beat faster in order to increase the delivery of oxygen and the removal of CO2.
However, due to the pinning of the victim and the limitations of oxygen delivery, the victim cannot deliver more oxygen and the rising heart rate only increases oxygen demand. So this process sets up a vicious cycle of increasing oxygen demand-which cannot be met-followed by an ever increasing heart rate. After several hours the heart begins to fail, the lungs collapse and fill up with fluid, which further decreases oxygen delivery to the tissues. The blood loss and hyperventilation combines to cause severe dehydration. That’s why Jesus said, “I thirst.”6
Over a period of several hours the combination of collapsing lungs, a failing heart, dehydration, and the inability to get adequate oxygen supplies to the tissues cause the eventual death of the victim. The victim, in effect, cannot breath properly and slowly suffocates to death. In cases of severe cardiac stress, such as crucifixion, a victim’s heart can even burst. This process is called “Cardiac Rupture.” Therefore it could be said that Jesus died of a “broken heart!”
To slow the process of death the executioners put a small wooden seat on the cross, which would allow the victim the privilege of bearing his weight on his buttocks. The effect of this was that it could take up to nine days to die on a cross.
When the Romans wanted to expedite death they would simply break the legs of the victim, causing him to suffocate in a matter of minutes. At three o’clock in the afternoon Jesus said, “Tetelastai,” meaning “it is finished.” Then He gave up the ghost. When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. Not a bone of Him was broken!
How Should We Then Live?
I realize that it is difficult to read of the details of Jesus’ physical sufferings. And yet, when we realize that He looked forward, on our behalf, to the cross, we are overwhelmed with His practical demonstration of love and, hopefully, a personal realization of our unworthiness. How should we then live? I believe that the Apostle Paul said it best:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
The Agony of Love – Chuck Missler What really happened at the crucifixion? How can one who is immortal die? How can eternity be compressed into six hours? What really held Jesus’ body to the cross?
From Here to Eternity – Chuck MisslerOur physical bodies are made up of about 17 elements – the same 17 that are found in the ground. Jesus’ resurrection body was transformed to transcend time and space.
Footprints of the Messiah – Chuck MisslerWhat Old Testament Bible Study is mentioned twelve times in one book of the Bible, is given by seven different people and is almost never given today?
The Feasts of Israel – Chuck Missler / Dan StolebargerThe Feasts of Israel, set by God, are not only commemorative in a historical context, but are also prophetic.
In considering the material and physical realms of the universe-the subject of our last two studies-we have not yet raised the issue of the nature of time and eternity. Let’s touch on this as we meditate on the meaning of Easter and the death of Jesus on the cross.
In the Garden
The night Jesus was betrayed closed a long, full day after his final Passover meal with his disciples. In the Garden of Gethsemane that same night, Jesus endured a terrible emotional and spiritual ordeal in prayer before His Father. The writer of Hebrews records this: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered….” (Hebrews 5:7,8)
“There-with only Peter, James and John nearby-Jesus experienced a protracted period of excruciating torment of spirit which found expression in groanings… and streaming tears, and ended in a terrible sweat, almost like blood. There is a great mystery here. Jesus seems to face the experience with puzzlement and deep unrest of heart. For the first time in his ministry, he appeals to his own disciples for help, asking them to watch and pray for him. He confesses being deeply troubled in his spirit. Each of his three prayers questions the necessity for this experience and each is addressed to the one who could save him from death.
“Luke tells us that before the third prayer, an angel was sent to strengthen him… His cry to the Father was one of such desperate need that the Father answered by strengthening him through an angel. But when the angel had finished, the third and most terrible experience began. The author implies that Jesus faced the emotional misery which sin produces: its shame, guilt and despair. He felt the iron bands of sin’s enslaving power. He was oppressed by a sense of hopelessness, total discouragement and utter defeat. He is anticipating the moment on the cross when he would be forsaken of the Father, since he would then be bearing the sin of the world as though it were his own.
“The very thought of it crushed his heart as in a winepress. No sinner on earth has ever felt the stain and shame of sin as he did. He understood exactly the same feeling we have (in much lesser degree) when we are angry with ourselves and so filled with shame and self-loathing that we cannot believe that God can do anything but hate us for our evil. Jesus knows what that is like. He went the whole way and took the full brunt. We will never pass through a Gethsemane as torturous as he did. He saw our sins as his own, and thus fulfilled beyond any other priest’s experience the ability to deal gently with others’ sins since he was so fully aware of the sense of personal defilement sin leaves.” (Ray C. Stedman, Commentary on Hebrews, http://www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/hebrews2/)
The Crucifixion
After the prayer in the Garden, Jesus was up the rest of that night, without sleep, enduring cross-examination, scourging, beating, cruel mockery and unspeakable brutality. He was already greatly weakened when he carried his cross, stumbling, early the next morning to the place of crucifixion alongside the main public highway-probably just outside the Damascus Gate.
Medical doctors and forensic experts have written books about the common Roman form of execution-death by crucifixion. Often the dying process took several days. The nailing of hands and feet forced the victim to push up against the weight of his own body to take a single breath.
In the hot sun, terrible thirst ensued and death came, in most cases, from suffocation amidst great pain. The victim was also naked and humiliated-death on the cross was reserved for the most wretched of all criminals.1
A superficial reading of the gospel narratives concerning the death of Jesus will show that He was nailed to the cross at 9 o’clock in the morning, and was dead by 3 in the afternoon. It would seem off hand that his ordeal, terrible as it was, was completed in a mere six hours. This, however, is not the full story. We must look behind the scenes.
What Happened on the Cross?
Paul in his letter to the Colossians tells us about invisible events taking place, beyond the physical realm and outside of our ordinary space-time continuum, during the dying of Jesus on the cross: “…in Christ all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him.” (Col 1:19-22)
When He died for us on the cross, Jesus met fully the onslaught of demons, fallen angels, and all the power of evil forces in the heavens, disarming all of them completely-because “in Christ God was reconciling all things to Himself.” Jesus’ victory over man’s greatest enemy – death – is boldly announced in the letter to the Hebrews: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.” (Heb 2:14,15)
It is for the final outworking in history of Satan’s defeat at the cross that we now eagerly await. What is the completed work of Christ on the cross in the eternal time frame will come to pass in human history at God’s appointed time on our earthly calendars. Time, you see, does not “flow” at the same rate nor has the same “content” in heaven as it does on earth.
The Lamb of God
The greatest mystery of Christ’s passion concerns the transaction in eternity that took place between the sinless Son of God and His heavenly Father. Jesus was, for the first three hours on the cross, our Great High Priest. From noon till 3 P.M. (during which time a strange and terrible darkness came over the earth-Luke 23:44), the High Priest became the Sacrifice. In being made sin for us, in literally taking the sins of the world upon Himself, Jesus became a vile and loathsome thing, cut off from God and man-not just in time but also in eternity.2
The work of Jesus on the cross, as far as we are concerned, is completely finished. Jesus is not now hanging on a cross. He has been raised from the dead, and sits in heaven, fully in charge of the universe as a resurrected man. One man, one son of Adam, Jesus the Lord is now living in glory and He is presentlyin charge of the universe. But in another sense, if we could step into eternity and view an eternal being such as the Son of God experiencing all things – if we could see things from the vantage point of heaven-we would perceive that a part of the eternal God must suffer forever, outside of time, because of human sin.
All the obvious physical pain of Jesus, recorded by observers who wrote the Bible, was but the prelude to His real outside-of-time suffering, which involved being cut off forever from the Father’s love and presence. Jesus was consigned to carry our sins out of the universe; He had to go to hell on our behalf, as it were. Jesus was banished forever like the scapegoat of the Old Covenant Law (Lev 16:10).
We live in fallen and mortal bodies, able to die. Jesus was not like us-He had known no sin, his body was sinless and He need not die. Yet, by His own choice, He became sin by absorbing evil into his own person. It was no mere mortal who bore our sins, but the Son of God Himself, He whose basic existence is and always was to live in eternity. Jesus carried our sins out of time and into eternity.
A paradox concerning the nature of time and eternity is the possibility that neither heaven nor hell are yet populated-all believers reach heaven at the same “time.” The dying thief, Stephen the first martyr, the Apostle John-and all the rest of us-may arrive in heaven at precisely the same “instant.” When a person in our time frame dies, he or she leaves time and enters eternity and “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” that person “time travels” instantly ahead to the event called the Rapture. By the way, if heaven is still empty, except for Jesus, as seen from our vantage point in time, prayers to Mary or St. Jude or any of the saints are pointless. As far as eternity is concerned, we may all get to heaven at the same “time.”
To confuse you even further I might add that in another sense all believers are already in heaven in spirit and soul, though not in body (see Eph 2 and Heb 12:18-29). Without our new resurrection bodies, however, we cannot experience heaven in all its fullness. Yet, since heaven surrounds us on all sides, we are really already there in spirit. All that is lacking is the transformation of our perishing outer bodies!
The Eternal Aspects of the Cross
Paul the Apostle wrote in his Corinthian letters about the “fellowship of Christ’s sufferings” and of making up in his own body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body; that is, the church. He spoke of “always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be revealed in us….”
Paul said these things long after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven where He now rules, His work on the cross having been completed and finished. The Apostle understood that there is an aspect of the cross that is, indeed, eternal. The crucifixion was one of those important points in our one-dimensional time frame when eternity broke through the normal flow of history and changed everything forever, sending ripples backwards and forwards in time.
There are other hints about Jesus in eternity. He is spoken of in the book of Revelation as the “Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” Peter writes, “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.” (1 Pet 1:18-20)
Without in any way diminishing the work of Christ on the cross as finished, completed, and accomplished in space-time and in history, it is possible to say that a part of God suffers eternally for man’s sins. From Scripture we learn that a holy God must ultimately be just. He must ultimately remove evil in all its forms from His presence. Those persons who have permanently rebelled against His gracious mercy cannot cease to exist after death, but remain eternally conscious in a place of everlasting, endless punishment. And the loving God who created us surely suffers infinitely more than any human parent when a beloved child refuses the good and chooses a path leading to hurt, harm and self-destruction. Surely it must be grievously painful for God (who is love) to be denied the opportunity to give of Himself to the objects of His love.
And no man can suffer more than Christ has already suffered; nor are our sufferings, however great, something Christ has not already experienced.3 “God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance,” says Paul (Rom 2:4). “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:28, 29) The same fires which heal, purify and warm the righteous are the consuming, everlasting burnings of Gehenna-where beings who refused to become the human persons they were designed to be must finally endure the “backside” of God’s love-which is hell. C.S. Lewis gathers all this up very well in these words from Mere Christianity:
“God is going to invade this earth in force. But what is the good of saying you are on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else-something it never entered your head to conceive-comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us, and so terrible to others, that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back, to give us that chance. It will not last forever; we must take it or leave it.”
* * *
**FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH STUDY**
The Easter Story – DVD – Chuck MisslerMost reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible.
For descriptions of the crucifixion itself, see “A Physician Testifies About the Crucifixion,” C. Truman Davis, MD; “Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ,” David Terasaka, MD; and also, “The Crucifixion of Jesus.” Online links in my library, http://www.ldolphin.org/sixhours.html
The aspects of time and eternity as they enter into the sufferings of Christ on the cross are discussed in detail by Arthur Custance in his book, The Seed of the Woman, available online (http://www.ldolphin.org/custance). These paradoxical concepts of time and eternity are also explained by Ray Stedman in an article which can be found at http://www.ldolphin.org/time.html
Other Bible passages on this subject are Isaiah’s foreview of the Messiah and His sufferings given in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Psalm 22, written by King David, is also about the sufferings of Messiah on the cross, which did not occur in our time domain until a thousand years later.
**ADDITIONAL RELATED RESOURCES**
The Agony of Love – MP3 Download – Chuck Missler What really happened at the crucifixion? How can one who is immortal die? How can eternity be compressed into six hours? What really held Jesus’ body to the cross?
From Here to Eternity – MP3 Download – Chuck MisslerOur physical bodies are made up of about 17 elements – the same 17 that are found in the ground. Jesus’ resurrection body was transformed to transcend time and space.
Many of us who have enjoyed the creative writings of Michael Crichton over the years were also intrigued by his book (or the blockbuster movie) Jurassic Park, which explored the feasibility of cloning prehistoric animals from the DNA captured, in this case, by a prehistoric mosquito encapsulated in amber. Provocative entertainment, indeed!
Now, it seems, researchers appear to have isolated a bit of dinosaur DNA from some bony remains in an 1,800-foot-deep coal mine in Provo, Utah. Most dinosaur studies are based on bones that have been mineralized into hard stone, but this appears to be an actual bone that once supported a dinosaur. The genetic material matches no living mammal, bird, or reptile.
While some doubt that the bone is necessarily that of a dinosaur, it is regarded as the oldest DNA recovered from a vertebrate to date. However, it could be from another extinct prehistoric species such as a reptile, turtle, or whatever.
The discovery is only a small fragment of one gene, and Scott R. Woodward, lead microbiologist of the team from Brigham Young University, said he has no plans to follow the plot of Jurassic Park and to attempt to clone a living animal. But the very idea has interesting Biblical implications to the astute observer.
Resurrection Bodies?
The very idea that an ancient living animal can be recreated from its genetic history coded in a single DNA molecule should give us a provocative insight into the potential technology of immortality and the resurrection!
Where do our resurrection bodies come from? The specific atoms that make up our bodies are, of course, subject to decay after death. The proverbial dilemma of Christians eaten by cannibals are also a case in point. Obviously, all hydrogen, carbon and oxygen atoms are fungible: God doesn’t have to use any specific ones even if He had in mind a life cycle such as the one that presently sustains us.
Paul deals with some of these issues in the chapter that many consider to be the most important chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15. Believing in the resurrection is no more difficult than believing in a harvest. A seed is buried and subsequently brings forth new life–in fact, new life far more glorious than the homely seed that was buried!
Another familiar example is the lowly caterpillar, struggling in what to him is a two-dimensional universe until he is finally reconciled to a humble cocoon, only to re-emerge as a glorious butterfly, able to enjoy a truly three-dimensional existence!
The Physics of Immortality
The real you (soul, spirit) is software, not hardware. It is temporarily resident in your present hardware: your present body. But software has no mass. It can even be transmitted invisibly through the air waves. 1
We know from modern physics that time itself is a physical property, subject to mass, acceleration, and gravity. This is one of the most profound implications of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity (for more information see our Audio Book, Beyond Time and Space).
Since the real you is “software,” not hardware, it has no time dimension. The real you is eternal. The big question is: Where are you going to spend eternity–in the presence of God, or in eternal separation from Him?
Frank J. Tipler, an internationally prominent mathematical physicist, has recently concluded (using only the laws of physics and mathematics) not only that God exists but that all life is destined for resurrection!2 (While I personally disagree with much of his book, this turnabout for a professed atheist is interesting.)
Frank J. Tipler, “The Physics of Immortality,” Doubleday, New York, NY, 1994.
**ADDITIONAL RELATED RESOURCES**
The Creator Beyond Time & Space – Chuck Missler and Dr. Mark EastmanWhat are the implications of the current upheavals in traditional cosmology, astronomy, and physics?
Beyond Time and Space – Chuck Missler Are there more than four dimensions to physical reality? Is it possible to traverse time as well as space? Is there a reality beyond our traditional concepts of time and space?
From Here to Eternity – Chuck MisslerOur physical bodies are made up of about 17 elements – the same 17 that are found in the ground. Jesus’ resurrection body was transformed to transcend time and space.
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Dame Piczek explains the complicated physics behind the image on the Shroud: “As quantum time collapses to absolute zero (time stopped moving) in the tomb of Christ, the two event horizons (one stopping events from above and the other stop-ping the events from below at the moment of the zero time col-lapse) going through the body get infinitely close to each other and eliminate each other (causing the image to print itself on the two sides of the Shroud).
If confirmed, this discovery is expected to yield a totally new perspective on the very “singularity” attributed to the Creation of the universe in the first place. Piczek’s discovery—and those of other scientists and re-searchers who have studied the Shroud—is presented in The Fabric of Time, a television documentary and DVD from Grizzly Adams® Productions.
Three-Dimensional Hologram
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