The Physical and Medical Aspects of our Lord's Passion and Death - Part 5: The Crucifixion of Jesus, Deposition from the Cross, and Burial in the Holy Sepulchre

Continuing from where I left off during the previous post in this blog series, the next scene during our LORD’s Passion to discuss is the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus, the Deposition from the Cross, and the Burial in the Holy Sepulchre. Heading back to the narrative of our LORD’s Passion and Death, it is about 12:00 p.m. on Good Friday, and it is around this time according to the Gospel of John (and maintained by pious tradition) that Jesus was crucified on Golgotha by the Roman soldiers. The Roman practice of crucifixion was perfected to prolong the pain and agony of the victim as long as possible in order to serve as a behavioral deterrent to passers-by. The historical record maintained that crucifixion victims could remain on the cross between twelve hours and three days before dying, and, depending on the particular circumstances of a crucifixion, the dying process was sometimes hastened, as the Gospels show with the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus. Both the historical record and the Shroud of Turin show that the nails used to pierce Jesus’ hands on the crossbeam would have been driven through His wrists and not through the center of the palm as is commonly depicted in artwork. The nails used in the Crucifixion, if they can properly be called “nails,” were estimated to have been nine inches in length. The Roman soldiers would have placed Jesus on His back on the ground near the vertical shaft of the Cross (which would have already been placed before the Passion since Golgotha was a known execution spot) and stretched out His arms ninety degrees to lay flat on the crossbeam. It has been suggested that the palms of Jesus’ hands were touching the wood of the crossbeam in order for the Roman soldiers to locate the areas of the wrist known as “Destot’s Point” for the nailing. To ensure the execution process could be done quickly and efficiently, the crossbeam would already have pre-drilled holes in which to hammer the nails. The Roman soldiers placed the first arm of Jesus into position and nailed His wrist into the pre-drilled hole. Now all that remains is for them to get his other wrist nailed into the other hole. However, here is where there might be a problem. Sometimes, the second arm could not be stretched all the way to reach the second hole. But, that is okay for the Roman soldiers, because one way or another, they would ensure that the second wrist gets nailed into the other hole, even if it means they tie said arm with a rope and forcefully pull until the victim’s shoulder is dislocated in the process. Both the Shroud of Turin and certain private revelations given to particular Christian mystics indicate that this particular dislocation was inflicted upon Jesus in order for His second wrist to get nailed onto the crossbeam. As a reference back to the venerated Shoulder Wound of Christ, the Shroud reveals that our LORD’s right shoulder was pulled so far out of its socket that, as His Body was later prepared for burial in the Holy Sepulchre, His right hand stretched out four inches lower than His left hand. On the other hand, our LORD’s right shoulder being dislocated also could have occurred during the Via Crucis while He was carrying the crossbeam to Golgotha, and this injury might have contributed to the Roman soldiers being forced to impose the Cross upon St. Simon of Cyrene. My private speculation is that both scenarios could have occurred during Christ’s Passion. The pain Jesus received from His wrists being nailed onto the crossbeam truly would have been excruciating in the true and original sense of the word. The nails passed through both the Ulnar Nerve and the Median Nerve; an injury to the Ulnar Nerve at the wrist causes loss of flexation of the pinky and ring fingers and loss of ability to cross one’s fingers (this can lead to the “claw hand” deformity when the hand is at rest) as well as weakness of adduction of the thumb; an injury to the Median Nerve at the wrist causes weakness in flexation in the index finger, middle finger, and thumb (which can lead to the thumb’s loss of abduction and opposition.) As a result, our LORD’s hands would have been effectively paralyzed, and the excruciating pain it inflicted would have travelled down His arms and metaphorically “exploded” in His brain. To give an idea on how much pain this caused, it has been reported that soldiers during World War II who had suffered an exposed Median Nerve expressed the desire to commit suicide rather than continue suffering from the pain it inflicted upon them. 

The next step for the Roman soldiers to perform is to raise the crossbeam off the ground (with Jesus’ wrists nailed onto them) to connect with the vertical shaft and complete the shape of the Cross. This would force Jesus’ Body to have all its weight hanging off of His nailed wrists, and forensic scientists studying the Shroud of Turin estimate that Jesus might have weighed around 175 pounds (of course, in the absence of a Body, estimation is the best they can give.) Jesus is now forced to have 175 pounds of muscle developed from decades of hard labor hang from His wrists (which He cannot move) until the Roman soldiers nail His feet onto the vertical shaft of the Cross. Such a position also would have made it difficult for Jesus to breathe, not that this aspect of His suffering will get better once the crucifixion is completed. According to the historical record, the Roman soldiers would have hoisted Jesus off the ground with ropes and left His Body hanging on said ropes while the crossbeam was being fastened to the vertical shaft. The Roman soldiers than grabbed Jesus’ legs and bent them by the knees at a forty-five degree angle, rotated His left leg so that His right foot be under His left foot, and brutally hammered a nail through His feet in order to attach them to the vertical shaft of the Cross. As seen on the Shroud of Turin, the nail seems to have gone through the center of Jesus’ left foot and exited through the heel of His right foot. Now that the crucifixion process is complete, the support for Jesus’ Body now rests entirely on His legs as opposed to His wrists. Jesus would still have difficulty breathing on the Cross. If He wanted to speak (and the Gospels show Him speaking from the Cross) and allow His Body to exhale, He would need to force His legs to push His Body as close to an upright position as the crucified pose allowed. However, His legs would tire and cramp, and His Body would force itself down from exhaustion...but then the issue of breathing would immediately make itself known to His Body. Thus, despite how tiring the process was and regardless of whether His legs wished to cooperate with Him, Jesus would have been forced to repeat this cycle over and over again during the three hours He was nailed to the Cross. Natural dehydration from not consuming anything since 6:00 p.m. on Holy Thursday and the blood loss that led to Him experiencing hypovolemic shock would have made Jesus’ throat parched and given Him an extreme desire for thirst, and this is seen in the Gospels. The difficulty in speaking likely contributed to the bystanders on Golgotha mistaking Jesus was calling for St. Elijah the Prophet when in reality He was repeating the refrain for Psalm 22 as a form of prayer (see Mt 27:46-49 and Mk 15:34-36). This leads us to Jesus’ Death on the Cross. 

The Gospels state that Jesus dies on the Cross after He drinks “common wine” given to Him through a soaked sponge on a sprig of hyssop (Jn 19:29). This “common wine” was most likely posca, an Ancient Roman drink made from mixing water and wine vinegar. My own taste buds tell me this would not be palatable, but, for Jesus, at least it was not another narcotic being offered to Him when He asked for drink right before His Death on the Cross. The exact cause of Jesus’ Death on the Cross seems at present to be a debate between asphyxiation and cardiovascular collapse, or a combination of both. Suffice it to say, at exactly 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday, our LORD died on the Cross to the witness of the two thieves, the Roman soldiers, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Presbyter, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mary the wife of Clopas, St. Salome the wife of Zebedee, and possibly Sts. Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and Simon of Cyrene (assuming the latter remained on Golgotha once the Crucifixion took place.) There are other things that happen to a human body upon death, but as those details are not important, I will not be covering them in this article. The Gospels and forensic analysis of the Shroud of Turin make it clear beyond a reasonable doubt that Jesus was dead before St. Longinus would deliver the venerated Side Wound with the Holy Lance. Since pious tradition counts the post mortem lance wound of Christ as one of the wounds of His Passion, this article will have one more section of discussion. 

The first thing I wish to mention in this section, as I could not find a proper place to do so in the previous section, was how high off the ground our LORD actually would have been when nailed to the Cross on Golgotha. Most would think that Jesus would have been at least five feet off the ground (if not more) thanks to artistic depictions imagining the Holy Cross as this towering structure. However, again, according to the historical record, such a height would not have been the case. In reality, Jesus would have only been suspended six inches off the ground while He was nailed to the Cross. A passer-by looking upon the crucified Christ would have beheld Him at eye level. A study of human anatomy shows that Jesus would have been dead between thirty minutes to one hour (which would put the time-frame between 3:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Good Friday) in order for St. Longinus to witness what he did when he stabbed Jesus’ Body with his spear to ensure Jesus was actually dead. The area where the Holy Lance injured our LORD’s Body would have been between the fifth and sixth ribs on Jesus’ right side. This also fits with the historical record of Roman soldiers wielding the spear in their left hand. The spear would be able to reach the heart through the fifth and sixth ribs, and the build-up of post mortem blood and plasma (referred to as “blood and water” in the Gospel of John) would have been released through the injury left by the spear. It was around 4:00 p.m. when Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus removed Jesus’ Body from the Cross after St. Joseph received permission to do so from Pilate. A face cloth used for burial seems to have been placed on Jesus while His Body was still hanging from the Cross after His Death, and His Body appeared to have been on the ground at the foot of the Cross between 4:00 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. before it was lifted and carried to the Holy Sepulchre for burial. During this forty-five-minute period, the nails and Crown of Thorns would have been removed from Jesus’ Body. 

The Holy Sepulchre was chosen for two reasons: 1) it was already purchased and owned by St. Joseph of Arimathea, and 2) it was close in distance to the Holy Cross (only eighty-nine feet) and the burial needed to happen before the Sabbath. The Shroud of Turin indicates that the Body of Jesus was washed as customary for Jewish burial before it was anointed with the seventy-five-pound mixture of myrrh and aloes provided by St. Nicodemus (see Jn 19:38b-42). This great weight provided by St. Nicodemus not only indicates both he and St. Joseph of Arimathea were wealthy in their Jewish society, but that their devotion to our LORD was so great that, despite being secret disciples during Christ’s Public Ministry, they nevertheless desired to give Him the best burial they could in what would have been a short notice. And contrary to certain objections to what the Gospels say of Jesus’ burial, I think a time-frame between 4:45 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. would be plenty of enough time for Jesus’ disciples to prepare His Body for burial and intern His Body in the Holy Sepulchre. A final note on our LORD’s burial from the Gospels is that Sts. Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Clopas made note of the tomb’s location, returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils, and then rested on the Sabbath according to the Law of Moses (see Mt 27:61, Mk 15:47, and Lk 23:55-56). 

I hope this series of articles has proven beneficial for any reader seeking to know more about our LORD’s Passion and Death. I also apologize if some of the details discussed made readers squeamish or wish to stop reading. As has been stated by many writers and presenters on this topic, I am not doing it out of a morbid fascination, making people feel guilty, or deriving pleasure from the uncomfortable feeling certain details may instill in readers. I wrote this article because these are the things our LORD Jesus Christ willingly endured and permitted to have happened to Him for our sake. The Church follows St. Paul the Apostle’s assertion of preaching Christ crucified to the world precisely because you cannot have the Resurrection of Christ without the Passion and Death of Christ. I hope these articles also help readers during Holy Week, a period of high importance in the Church’s liturgical calendar.