The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his086/godlove3.lzh/GODLOVE3.TXT

Text File | 1991-06-30 | 8KB | 141 lines

DEV:GOD'S GREATEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE (A Medical description)

   "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends." (John 15:13)

   If you are to truly love and make each member of your family
successful, you must be willing to lay down your life on a daily basis
and "die" for them. This means putting the needs of your family first,
above your rights, personal ambitions, and schedule.

   The greatest example of one laying down his life for his friends is
Christ. We can never fully comprehend the spiritual aspect of Christ's
suffering and shame, but medical studies shed glimpses of light on the
physical agony and all the horror that Jesus endured on the cross.

   "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." (Hebrews 12:3)

   The physical trauma of Christ begins in Gethsemane with one of the
initial aspects of his suffering - the bloody sweat. It is interesting
that the physician of the group, Luke, is the only one to mention this.
He says, "And being in agony, He prayed the longer. And His sweat
became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground."

   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.

   After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought
before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. A soldier struck
Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas.
The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him, spat
on Him, and struck Him in the face as they each passed by.

   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 Antonia. It was there, in response to the
cries of the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released, and condemned
Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.

   Preparations for the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is
stripped of His clothing and His hands are tied to a post above His
head. The Roman legionaire steps forward with the flagrum 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 heavy 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. The Roman soldiers see a great
joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe
across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a scepter. A
small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed
into His scalp.

   Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most
vascular areas of the body). 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 into His scalp. Finally,
they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from His back.
This had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the
wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical
bandage, causes excruciating pain - almost as though He were again
being whipped, and the wounds again begin to bleed.

   The heavy beam of the cross is then tied across His shoulders, and
the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves and the execution
detail, begins its slow journey. The weight of the heavy wooden beam,
together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He
stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the
lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but
human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.

   At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is quickly
thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood. The legionaire
feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy,
square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood.
Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being
careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and
movement. The beam is then lifted in place at the top of the posts and
the titulus reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" is nailed in
place.

   The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with
both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of
each. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, He
places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the
searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the
metatarsal bones of the feet.

   As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles,
knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps
comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the
pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable
to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus
fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally,
carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the
cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself
upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.

   There are hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting,
joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain
as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down
against the rough timber. Then, another agony begins. A deep crushing
pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and
begins to compress the heart.

   The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish
blood into the tissues - the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort
to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send
their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps, "I thirst."

   He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. With
one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against
the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His
seventh and last cry, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit."

   Apparently, to make double sure of death, the legionaire drove his
lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through the
pericardium and into the heart. Immediately there came out blood and
water. We, therefore, have rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that
our Lord died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of
heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in
the pericardium.

   Excerpted from "The Crucifixion of Jesus" by: C. Truman Davis,
M.D.,M.S. (March, 1965)