File photo: Jesus crucified on the cross
A theory known as the Swoon Hypothesis suggests that Christ did not die on the cross, but simply fainted. Biblical scholar Karl Friedrich Bahrdt first established the theory in 1790, when he claimed that Jesus potentially faked his own death. In a blog titled Review of Religions, which was further published by Sean Martin as an article in the Daily Express Prof, Dr Muhammad Masudul Hasan Nuri, of the Tahir Heart Institute, Pakistan explains how it is possible that Jesus survived the crucifixion.
Dr Nuri first points to the average length of stay on the crucifix before death, which was three days some 2,000 years ago. Jesus, however, only reportedly lasted six hours. Dr Nuri said: “At Golgotha, the crucifixion site, after twelve noon that Friday, Jesus Christ cried out in a loud voice, bowed his head, and swooned. “The soldiers broke the leg of the two thieves, but not that of Jesus Christ, as they mistook his being in a state of swoon for being dead. “Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his chest, with an infantry spear, most probably into the pericardial cavity, producing a sudden flow of blood and water.” According to Dr Nuri, the flow of blood and water was helpful to respiration and beneficial in the renewing of life". He supported his argument by explaining that it is a well-known practice in patients with cardiac tamponade (bleeding within the pericardial cavity) where after aspiration with a wide bore needle the blood is allowed to drain to avoid recollection.”
He concluded that “Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus Christ did not die on the Cross but was delivered alive and then treated.” This proposition is quite interesting when compared with the overwhelming bible evidence and including medical science proof that the autopsy report of Jesus’ body revealed that he died.
First of all, a man under great emotional stress of the kind our Lord suffered having spent the evening in prayer whilst his acquaintances slept and immediately before midnight he was arrested without any official charge. After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was next brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiphas, the High Priest; it is here that the first physical trauma was inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiphas. The palace guards then blind-folded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat upon Him, and struck Him in the face. In the early morning, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, Jesus is taken across to the seat of government of the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate later sent him to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea and was sent back to Pilate again. The man Jesus was already weak physically especially when biblical evidence is conclusive on the fact that his accusers denied him food and water until when the soldiers offered vinegar when he requested for water. Pontus Pilate handed Jesus to be scourged as his full punishment in accordance with the Jewish ancient law which prohibit more than forty lashes. The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagellum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, 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 thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from 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 mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood.
Flexible branches covered with long thorns commonly used in bundles for firewood are plaited into the shape of a crown and this is pressed into His scalp causing profuse bleeding. The heavy wooden cross is tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution detail of Roman soldiers headed by a centurion begins its slow journey along the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha.
In his book “The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry,” Frederick T. Zugibe noted “the repeated blows would cause broken ribs, lacerated and collapsed lungs, and damaged the muscles in the torso, which would make it difficult and painful to breathe. He then would be dragged to his feet and forced to carry part of the cross to the place of execution, which weakened his body even more”.
At Golgotha the roman soldiers nailed Jesus’ arm and legs to the cross and the cross beam was put in its place. Jeremy Ward, a physiologist at King’s College London explained to the Guardian newspaper in 2004 that "The weight of the body pulling down on the arms makes breathing extremely difficult." In his book how did Crucifixion Kill a Person? Patrick J. Kiger explained that “As the prisoner struggled to get air, the lack of oxygen in the blood would damage his body’s tissues and blood vessels. That, in turn, would allow fluid to diffuse out of the blood into the tissues, including the lungs and heart sac. The lungs would stiffen, and the pressure around the heart would make it more difficult to pump. The decreased oxygen also would damage the heart muscle, which could cause cardiac arrest. Either way, an agonizing death eventually would result. Sometimes, the executioners would speed the process by breaking the condemner’s legs, which would hasten suffocation”.
The legs of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers came to Jesus they saw that this was unnecessary because he was already dead. The soldier to be double sure of His death, drove his spear through the side of Jesus between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. The Gospel of St. John Chapter 19vs 34 reports that: “And immediately there came out blood and water.”
In his article published by CBN “A Physician's View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ” Dr. C. Truman Davis concluded that “There was an escape of water fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, giving post-mortem evidence that Our Lord died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium. The body of Jesus was placed in tomb and a great stone was placed against the entry of the tomb. The tomb was secured by the roman seal and guarded by a detachment of soldiers.
From the analysis of the crucifixion outlined in supra Jesus could not have survive because the Roman procedures were very careful to eliminate that possibility. Roman law even laid the death penalty on any soldier who let a capital prisoner escape in any way, including bungling a crucifixion. It was never done.
The big questions the skeptics have failed to answer are;
How could a swooning half-dead man be able to move the great stone at the door of the tomb? Who moved the stone if not an angel? No one has ever answered that question. Neither the Jews nor the Romans would move it, for it was in both their interests to keep the tomb sealed: the Jews had the stone put there in the first place, and the Roman guards would be killed if they let the body "escape."
Finally, If Jesus awoke from a swoon, where did he go? Think this through: you have a living body to deal with now, not a dead one. Why did it disappear? There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus' life after his crucifixion, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late. A man like that, with a past like that, would have left traces.
My dear reader CHRIST died to save and reconcile the sinner to God the Father. Make Jesus your focus this Easter. God loves you. Shalom!!!.
