November 10, 2023
Horror Has Company
(Some information may be too graphic for small children)
“There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.” John 19:18 (NASB)
“There they crucified Him,” “Jesus was made to lie on the ground while His arms were stretched out and nailed to the horizontal beam that He carried. The beam was then hoisted up, along with the victim, and fastened to the vertical beam. His feet were nailed to the vertical beam to which sometimes was attached a piece of wood that served as a kind of seat that partially supported the weight of the body. The latter, however, was designed to prolong and increase the agony, not relieve it. Having been stripped naked and beaten, Jesus could hang in the hot sun for hours if not days. To breathe, it was necessary to push with the legs and pull down with the arms, creating excruciating pain. Terrible muscle spasms wracked the entire body; but since collapse meant asphyxiation, the struggle for life continued.”[1] I once heard a medical doctor some years ago explaining the process of the crucifixion. He explained when the nail (up to 7 inches long) penetrated the wrist area, it was between both large bones of the wrists. This nail pierced the median nerve. A nail through the hands would not support the weight of the body as the person raises themselves to breathe. When the arms were used to raise the body, it gave a sensation of the arms being physically on fire. The feet we pinned together (one on top of the other) with one large nail piercing the top of the ankle area where no bone was broken. This allowed the person to use the bone to help support their weight as they raised themselves to breathe. In raising the body, the legs would suffer further agony as they tore at the leg tissue. “At this point, another phenomenon occurred. As the arms fatigued, great waves of cramps swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by the arm, the pectoral muscles, the large muscles of the chest, were paralyzed and the intercostal muscles, the small muscles between the ribs, were unable to act. Air could be drawn into the lungs, but could not be exhaled. Jesus fought to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, the carbon dioxide level increased in the lungs and in the bloodstream, and the cramps partially subsided. Spasmodically, He was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.”[2] Crucifixion by its very design drains the life and energy out of the body. “…and with Him two other men, one on either side,” The two men on each side of Jesus were identified by Luke as “criminals” (Luke 23:33), and “robbers” by both Mark and Matthew (Mark 15:27; Matthew 27:38). It seems interesting Barabbas was a robber (John 18:40). Perhaps these two were part of his band of malefactors.
The lack of air would cause death. I recently heard a pastor explain the pronunciation of God’s proper name YHWH. He said the proper way to pronounce God’s proper name is the way we breathe. It is called vesicular breath. As we take a breath in, the YH is pronounced. As we exhale, the WH is pronounced. “The inspiration/ expiratory ratio is 3 to 1.”[3] This means we inhale 3 times longer than we exhale once. When life begins, the first breath is pronouncing God’s name. As we take our last breath, we pronounce God’s name. Jesus spoke to the Father as we do each day in our living and dying breaths whether we acknowledge it or not.
[1] (MacArthur, John, 1997). 1624.