Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): We’ll bring you a vivid picture of what happened in 33 AD at the cross next on Light on the Hill.

Many have attempted to portray what Jesus went through before and while on the cross through movies or books, but they often fall short of accurately describing what actually happened. It was far worse than you might imagine. Today on Light on the Hill, Pastor James Kaddis will share the real story of Jesus and his death as we continue our series on the prophecies that changed the world forever. It’s not an easy listen and may not be suitable for young children. Here he is now with his message based in Isaiah 52 and 53.

James Kaddis: I have read this to you guys before. I do want to say this: if there are kids in the room, this is very violent. What I'm about to read is not what I would consider to be appropriate for somebody at a younger age. I think that it's at your discretion, parents, for your children to listen to this. I think we oftentimes share with our children more vivid details about Christ's death because we want them to appreciate it, but some of this stuff is very, very difficult to hear.

If your stomach is not very strong, I just want to prepare you because some of the details you're going to hear are difficult. In this particular case, I'm actually going to read the full account and no longer the condensed account because there are some details that I want you to hear specifically regarding the medical issues that surrounded the crucifixion of Jesus. They are important and I spent a lot of time digging into it to better understand how it all works so that I can explain some of this to you guys in deeper detail.

By the way, if you ever want to know who it was that wrote this, this is probably the most prominent version of a medical account of Jesus that you're going to find anywhere. It was written by C. Truman Davis in 1965. It was peer-reviewed by a whole bunch of people and it still stands, even with what we understand in modern-day medical science. What he wrote here is strikingly accurate. There are some things that he did include that I omitted only because there were certain things that I just couldn't completely verify. If I can't verify it, then I'm not going to spew it out as though it's fact.

Davis says, "I shall discuss some of the physical aspects of the passion or suffering of Jesus Christ. We shall follow him from Gethsemane through his trial, his scourging, his path along the Via Dolorosa to his last dying hours on the cross. I suddenly realized that I had taken the crucifixion more or less for granted all these years. I had grown callous to its horror by a too-easy familiarity with the grim details and a too-distant friendship with him."

"It finally occurred to me that as a physician, I didn't even know the actual immediate cause of death. The gospel writers don't help us very much on this point because crucifixion and scourging were so common during their lifetime that they undoubtedly considered a detailed description totally superfluous. So we have the concise words of the evangelists: 'Pilate having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified and they crucified him.'"

We understand some of the details basically and Davis is right concerning this. Because we know the different accounts from the different gospel writers and because we also have very good historical accounts from historians that lived during that time, we can develop a very conclusive idea as to what happened to him. So many of the facts that we read about concerning Jesus in the Bible are stipulated to. Historically speaking, the historicity of it all is all there. We know it. It's not even a question.

Davis goes on to say, "The infinite psychic and spiritual suffering of the incarnate God in atonement for the sins of fallen man, I have no competence to discuss. However, the physiological and anatomical aspects of our Lord's passion we can examine in some detail. What did the body of Jesus of Nazareth actually endure during these hours of torture? This led me first to study of the practice of crucifixion itself, that is, the torture and execution of a person by fixation to a cross."

"Apparently, the first known practice of crucifixion was by the Persians. Alexander and his generals brought it back to the Mediterranean world to Egypt and to Carthage. The Romans apparently learned of the practice from the Carthaginians and, as with almost everything the Romans did, rapidly developed a high degree of efficiency and skill in carrying it out. A number of Roman authors—Livy, Cicero, Tacitus—commented on it. Several innovations and modifications are described in the ancient literature."

Davis mentions the upright position of the cross or stipes would have the cross arm or patibulum attached two or three feet below its top. This is what we commonly think of today as a classical form of the cross. The one which later was known as the Latin cross, which was our T. That's the normal cross that everybody thinks of. Believe it or not, that wouldn't have been the type of cross that Jesus was hung on. Jesus would have been hung on a cross that looked a little bit different.

In this cross, the patibulum or cross arm was placed in a notch at the top of the stipes. There is fairly overwhelming archaeological evidence that it was on this type of cross that Jesus was crucified. In other words, the cross that Jesus would have been crucified on would have been a cross where the post came up and then Jesus would have carried the beam or what was oftentimes referred to as the patibulum. He didn't carry the long part of the cross.

In many of the movies that you see, you'll see this whole cross being carried on Jesus' shoulders. It wouldn't have been that way. As a matter of fact, that long portion of the cross would have already been pre-dug into the ground and then the beam would be hung where there's notches on top of it. Oftentimes it looked like the cross that we know about because they had to put a sign above it that would tell everybody what crime they were convicted of. In the case of Jesus, they put up a sign that said, "Jesus, King of the Jews."

This is where we get this picture of the cross from. I think that this is important because what needs to be understood is the fact that when Jesus was crucified this way, it was excruciatingly painful. It was nothing like what you end up seeing in any of the movies, cartoons, posters, or art renditions. By the way, Jesus being crucified, if you could put it together in some artistic drawing, would not make good art. No one would hang that in their living room. It would be like hanging a crime scene of a severely mutilated person at your dinner table. It just wouldn't work. It wouldn't be a pretty picture.

Davis goes on to say the upright post or stipes was generally permanently fixed in the ground at the site of the execution and the condemned man was forced to carry the patibulum, apparently weighing about 110 pounds, from the prison to the place of execution. Without any historical or biblical proof, medieval and Renaissance painters have given us our picture of Christ carrying the entire cross. Many of these painters and most of the sculptures of crucifixes today show that the nails were driven through the palms.

This misconception may have come about through a misunderstanding of Jesus' words to Thomas when he said, "Observe my hands." Anatomists, both modern and ancient, have considered the wrist as a part of the hand. It is important to note this as Davis is talking about many of the misconceptions that existed. Jesus did not have a nail in his hand. Oftentimes we even sing it: "a nail in your hands." Everybody thinks of the nail being in the palm of Jesus' hand. If the nail was in the palm of Jesus' hand, the nail would have literally ripped out.

Some people will actually say that the nail went through the hand and then the wrist was actually secured by a rope. The problem with that is if you secured it by a rope, you could end up dislocating the hand from the remaining part of the bone. Jesus could easily have fallen off by the weight of that. Literally, his hand could fall off. What they did was they put the nail in between this area that actually supported him being able to carry his weight on it. We'll get into it in detail because it's a very painful picture that's being created here.

Davis says, "A titulus or a small sign stating the victim's crime was usually carried at the front of the procession and later nailed to the cross above the head. This sign with its staff nailed to the top of the cross would have given somewhat the character of the Latin cross. The physical passion of the Christ begins in Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of this initial suffering, I shall only discuss the one of physiological interest. The bloody sweat. It is interesting that the physician of the group, Luke, is the only one to mention this."

Luke, being the physician of the group, was also the historian of the group and he was also the Gentile of the group. Being a physician and a historian would provide for some of this intricate detail that we wouldn't have gotten in some of the other accounts, which I think is so incredibly priceless. Luke says, "And being in agony, he prayed the longer and his sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground." Modern scholars have made every attempt imaginable to explain away this phrase apparently under the mistaken impression that this just doesn't happen.

Consulting the medical literature could have saved a great deal of effort. Though very rare, the phenomenon of hematidrosis or bloody sweat is well-documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock. As a matter of fact, many people experiencing hematidrosis can actually die under those conditions. Some of the cases that we know of, people did experience death under those conditions.

It's really important to understand that Jesus experienced this because if you know the Bible and you understand what the Bible says, you will appreciate the condition of hematidrosis that Jesus experienced. Everybody tells us that Christ went to the cross willingly. That is not a biblically accurate statement. Christ did not go to the cross willingly. As a matter of fact, he was so unwilling to go to the cross that the stress that he experienced concerning what he was going to go through created the condition of hematidrosis and he didn't want to go.

What did he do instead? He went to the cross obediently. The hematidrosis that he experienced was as a result, very likely, of the stress and awareness of what he was going to experience very shortly, yet he knew he was going to do it whether or not he wanted to do it because he wanted to obey the Father. That's the only willfulness that you see in Christ: his desire to obey the Father. He didn't want to go to the cross, but he wanted to obey the Father. That's a very important detail to point out here.

Now we shall move rapidly through the betrayal and arrest. I must stress again that important portions of the passion story are missing from this account. This may be frustrating to you but in order to adhere to our purpose of discussing only the purely physical aspects of the passion, this is necessary. I chose to keep this portion of this paragraph in because I badly want to go through all the other details. But remember, we're only analyzing it from a physiological perspective right now. There's a reason why I'm going in this direction.

It says, "It is here that the first physical drama was inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded him and mockingly taunted him to identify them as they passed by. They spat on him and struck him in the face." By the way, if you've ever been to Beit Caiaphas—"Beit" means house, Caiaphas was the name of the high priest—it's kind of an eerie place. It's very gaudy looking and there are some features about that place that are sickening.

I've been in a few fistfights. I've grappled because I've been assaulted. I've been in some pretty ugly situations where I've been hit harder than I could possibly imagine and I have done relatively well in those fights. I have managed to keep myself safe, probably because of the advantage that I have with my size and my weight, but I've been hit extraordinarily hard. Here's a funny thing about getting hit hard: if you can brace yourself for it, it doesn't have near the effect as if you get sucker punched.

If you get sucker punched, it's completely different. If you don't brace for impact, even the smallest impact can break a bone. I wasn't paying attention when I was standing on top of a church stage and I stepped down a six-inch step and broke two bones in my foot because I wasn't paying attention. But then we see these parkour people who can jump 15 or 20 feet. If you can brace for it, it's no big deal. Imagine these Temple guards—at least six feet tall, heavy, strong people—just hitting Jesus while he's blindfolded. The pain would have been excruciating.

"In the early morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated and exhausted from a sleepless night, is taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the fortress of Antonia, the seat of the government of the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. You are of course familiar with Pilate's action in attempting to pass responsibility to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Judah. Jesus apparently suffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and was returned to Pilate. It was then in response to the cries of the mob that Pilate ordered Barabbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion."

There was much disagreement among authorities on scourging as a prelude to crucifixion. Most Roman writers from this period do not associate the two. Many scholars believe that Pilate originally ordered Jesus scourged as his full punishment and the death sentence by crucifixion came only in response to the taunt by the mob that the procurator was not properly defending Caesar against a pretender. I adhere to this view. I think the punishment initially given to him was the cat of nine tails and it transitioned into crucifixion because of political issues.

"Preparations for scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of his clothing and his hands tied to a position above the head. It is doubtful whether the Romans made any attempt to follow the Jewish law in this matter of scourging. The Jews had an ancient law prohibiting more than 40 lashes. The Pharisees, always making sure the law was strictly kept, insisted only 39 lashes be given in case of a miscount." Most people would die or go insane by nine of these scourgings. It depended on what type of scourging it was.

"The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus' shoulders, back, and legs. At first, the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurting arterial bleeding from the vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first produce large deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows."

"Finally, the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mess of torn bleeding tissue. When determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped." When I was in Beit Caiaphas, there's one cave area where they tie people over so their backs are openly exposed to scourging. I asked a guide about what look like little dog bowls that are very smooth and well-carved out on each side of this area.

The guide told me that there is a mild acid that they put in those bowls. They would take the whip, dip it in the acid, and then lay it on the back of the person they were whipping. Whether or not they did that to Jesus, we don't know for sure, but it's very likely they did. The purpose was to force coagulation of the blood much faster so that when it cut through the skin, it would recoagulate and then it would be like a new ripping all of a sudden. It was supposed to be a very painful thing.

Think of it as getting a cut, then having a laser that closes the cut back up, and then you rip the cut back open. It's designed to weaken the tissue and basically destroy the body's ability to heal itself. It's ferociously vicious. Still to this day, Roman crucifixion is the worst form of known torture. The cat of nine tails is lightweight compared to what they're about to put Jesus through. It's a very important point that we should probably know.

Davis continues, "The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood. The Roman soldiers saw a great joke in the provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They threw a robe across his shoulders and placed a stick in his hand for a scepter. They still needed a crown to make their travesty complete. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns commonly used for firewood are plaited into the shape of a crown and is pressed into his scalp."

Again, there is copious bleeding, the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body. If you go to Beit Caiaphas during the spring, you'll see these thorns. They are anywhere from a half inch to two inches long and they're so hard they can be pounded into soft wood. If these are getting pounded into his head, there's going to be insane amounts of bleeding. "After mocking him and striking him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from his hand and strike him across the head, driving the thorns deeper and deeper into his scalp."

Finally, they tired of their sadistic sport and the robe was torn from his back. This had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds and its removal, as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, caused excruciating pain almost as though he were again being whipped and the wounds again begin to bleed. You get a really bad cut as a kid, a nasty scab develops, and then somebody just pulls the scab right off. My brother did that to me every now and then. It was so painful.

The blood would coagulate in the bandage itself. It was before the days of non-stick bandages and it would just sit there. You'd just have to man up and then it would just bleed all over again. We would do that at least four or five times until we learned the lesson to just wait and let it fall off. Imagine that happening to the whole back of Jesus. One big scab that coagulated within the robe they put on him, and then them just ripping the robe off. It's like he's being scourged all over again.

Guest (Male): We hope all of this has given you a greater appreciation of what Jesus went through at the cross and even before. Spend some time thinking on it today and join us the rest of this week when we’ll talk about the resurrection of Christ. Light on the Hill is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

Post all our programs to LightontheHillRadio.com as well as OnePlace.com. You’ll also find Light on the Hill on most major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google. We also have an app that makes listening to messages easy to do on any of your mobile devices. Just search for Calvary Chapel Signal Hill in the App Store or Google Play.

We’re thankful to the Lord for the listeners that come alongside us with their prayers or financial support. It helps us do what we do every day. If you’d like to donate to the ministry today, please visit LightontheHillRadio.com. You can also give through the Light on the Hill app.

Start following James Kaddis on X, Instagram, and YouTube. Throughout the week, he shares biblical encouragement and videos that deal with current events and Bible prophecy. Pastor James is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Signal Hill, and we’d love to have you join us for our Good Friday and Easter services, either in person or online. For more information, visit CalvaryChapelSignalHill.com. Today on Light on the Hill, we’re sharing the real story of Jesus and his death on the cross. Join us next time for more from Pastor James Kaddis.