Metropolitan Hierophey (Vlachos)

Two thousand years have already passed, and man is still guessing: how, for what and why He was crucified. Some say: out of envy, others - due to a fatal coincidence, others generally believe that He Himself is to blame for everything: if he had come down from the cross, there would have been no torment. Or maybe it's all - the fruit of someone's imagination, so to speak, a sick imagination?
Dear friend! This is not an invention. This is a fact confirmed by scientists, historians, archaeologists, and even, as we shall see, physicians. This is the bitter, cruel truth, the fulfillment of God's prophecies about us. For we have all sinned. And for this reason, they had to die a cruel death. Christ saved us by protecting us with His body.
People with a conscience will be horrified to read this study; shameless - laugh. But they, too, will probably have something in their hearts, and will respond with pain when they find the strength and courage to read the truth about how He died...

In this article, I want to consider some of the physical aspects of the Passion of the Lord - the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. We will follow Him from the Garden of Gethsemane, through judgment and scourging, along the way of the cross to Golgotha, to the last torment...
For this work, I first had to study the history of crucifixion - the torture and execution of a person nailed to a cross. Obviously, the Persians were the first to practice crucifixion. Alexander the Great and his commanders brought this execution to the Mediterranean regions - to Egypt and Carthage. The Romans apparently adopted the practice of crucifixion from the Carthaginians and (like almost everything the Romans did) quickly "brought it to perfection". The sophistication of the crucifixion is evidenced by various ancient Roman authors (Titus Livy, Cicero, Tacitus). A number of innovations and improvements to the Roman crucifixion are described in ancient literature; I will focus only on those that are important for the topic of this study. The vertical part of the cross (staipes) had a crossbar (patibulum) located half a meter below the top. This is what we perceive today as the classical form of the cross (the one that was later called the Latin cross). However, in the days of our Lord, the cross in the form of the Greek letter "tau" or our "T" was more common. In this cross, the crossbar was attached almost at the very top of the vertical part. Numerous archaeological finds suggest that it was on such a cross that Jesus was crucified.
The staipes, the vertical part of the cross, was, as a rule, dug into the ground, and the condemned was forced to carry a crossbar weighing about 50 kg - patibulum - from the place of imprisonment to the place of execution. (On the canvases of artists of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Christ bears the entire cross on Himself. There is neither historical nor biblical evidence for this image.) Most modern painters and sculptors depicting the pains of the cross believe that nails were driven into the palms. However, both ancient Roman sources and the data of modern research show that in fact, not the palms, but the wrists were pierced with nails - the palms would not have been able to withstand the sagging body. The error is most likely caused by a misunderstanding of Jesus' words to Thomas: "... put your finger here and see my hands" (John 20:27). Anatomists, both ancient and modern, have always considered the wrist as part of the hand.
The title (a tablet telling what kind of crime the unfortunate person had committed) was usually carried at the front of the procession and then nailed to the cross above the victim's head. This tablet, located in the upper part of the cross, partly gave it the characteristic shape of a Latin cross.
The physical suffering of Christ begins in the Garden of Gethsemane. We will consider only that aspect of His torment that is important for us from the point of view of physiology: bloody sweat. Note that the only one of the evangelists who mentioned this is the doctor, the apostle Luke. He says: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly; And his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44).
Modern theologians offer a wide variety of figurative interpretations of this phrase, each time proceeding from the fact that this simply could not be. In fact, it was not worth so much work - it was enough to simply turn to the medical literature. Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is an extremely rare phenomenon, but it has been repeatedly documented. Under severe emotional stress, the tiny capillaries of the sweat glands can burst, and then the blood mixes with sweat. This process causes severe weakness, and sometimes shock.
It will probably upset you that we will not focus on betrayal and arrest. We are forced to omit this integral and extremely important part of the story in order to focus on the purely physical aspects of the crucifixion. At night, Jesus was seized and dragged to the high priest Caiaphas, where He appeared before the Sanhedrin. It was there that He suffered the first physical injury: a soldier hit Jesus in the face because He was silent in response to Caiaphas' questions. Then the guards blindfolded Him and began to sneer, demanding that He blindly recognize each of them; they spat on him, hit him in the face...
In the morning, Jesus, beaten, bruised, tormented by thirst and sleepless at night, is led through Jerusalem to the fortress of Anthony, where the praetorium was located - the palace of the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate.
You, of course, know the act of Pilate, who tried to shift the responsibility to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Without apparently undergoing any physical abuse at the hands of Herod, Jesus was returned to Pilate.
It was then that, indulging the angry crowd, Pilate ordered the release of Barabbas and sentenced Jesus to scourging and crucifixion. Scholars disagree about whether the crucifixion was always preceded by scourging. Ancient Roman authors for the most part did not connect one with the other. Many theologians believe that Pilate initially sentenced Jesus to scourging, and nothing else. But the crowd began to taunt the procurator, saying that he was not able to protect the Caesar from the impostor, who calls himself the King of the Jews; It was then that Pilate sentenced Him to death by crucifixion.
Preparations for the scourging begin. The prisoner's clothes are torn off and his hands are tied to a pole above his head. It is doubtful that the Romans followed the Jewish rules regarding scourging. Ancient Jewish law forbade more than forty lashes from being whipped. The Pharisees, who always monitored the steady observance of the laws, insisted that there should be no more than thirty-nine blows (in this case, even if you lost count, you can be sure that the law was not violated). The Roman legionnaire takes a step forward. In his hands is a scourge - a flagrum (flagellum). This is a short whip, consisting of several heavy leather lashes, to the end of each of which are attached two small balls, either lead or bone.
The whistle of the whip - and fierce blows fall on the shoulders, back, legs of Jesus. At first, the whips cut only the skin, then they penetrate deeper into the subcutaneous tissues. Blood oozes from the capillaries and veins, then begins to spurt from the muscular arteries. Lead (bone) balls form extensive bruises, which quickly turn into open wounds. Very soon, the back turns into a continuous bloody mess, from which long strips of skin hang down. Seeing that the one being beaten is close to death, the centurion orders an end to the scourging.
Jesus, almost unconscious, is untied, and He falls on the stone slabs, bleeding. Roman soldiers make fun of a Jew from a provincial town who imagines himself to be the King! They throw a purple robe over His shoulders and thrust a reed into His hand; for complete fun, only the crown is missing. The soldiers construct a kind of wreath of thorny branches, which are usually used for kindling, and put on His head, pressing the thorns deep into the skin. There are especially many vessels on the head, and therefore Jesus begins to bleed again. The soldiers taunt Him, hitting Him in the face, then snatching the cane from His hands and striking His head, causing the thorns to dig even deeper. Having scoffed enough and tired, finally, from their bloody amusements, they tear off the purple robe from Him, which has already managed to soak in blood and stick to the back. This causes Jesus unspeakable pain—as if the scourging had resumed; and the wounds begin to bleed again...
Unlike the Jewish custom, the Romans return Jesus to His clothes. Then a heavy bar of the cross, the patibulum, is placed on His shoulders, and the procession, consisting of Christ sentenced to crucifixion, two criminals and executioners, Roman soldiers with a centurion at the head, slowly moves to Golgotha. No matter how hard Jesus tries to walk straight, after the shock caused by blood loss, the weight of the cross is unbearable for Him. He stumbles and falls; rough wood cuts into open wounds on his shoulders ... He tries to get up - but there is no strength left. Then the centurion, anxious that the execution take place on time, chooses a hefty Simon of Cyrene from the passers-by and orders him to carry the cross. Jesus follows him, drenched in a cold, clammy sweat, the aftermath of shock. Finally, the path of 600 meters from the fortress of Anthony to Golgotha ​​is completed. Jesus' clothes are again torn off, leaving only the bandage allowed for the Jews, covering the loins.

Before the execution begins, Jesus is offered wine with myrrh, a mild painkiller, but He refuses to drink. Simon is ordered to put the crossbar on the ground. Jesus is pressed to her and spread His hands to the sides. The legionary fumbles for an indentation in his wrist and quickly pierces it with a huge iron nail, driving it deeper into the wood, then quickly moves to the other side and does the same with the second wrist. At the same time, the arms sag slightly, and they can be moved. The crossbar with Jesus hanging on it is placed on the base of the cross and the title is nailed over it. The inscription reads: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37).
Then His legs are crossed, leaving them slightly bent at the knees, and, stretching down the feet, they pierce the instep of each with a long nail. Now the victim is crucified. Due to the fact that He slowly settles, transferring the weight to the nails in His hands, an excruciating fiery pain pierces the fingers, then the hands, and bursts in the brain - the nails in the wrists press on the median nerves. He pulls himself up to relieve the growing pain and transfers His entire weight to His pierced legs. There is a new attack of burning pain from the rupture of the nerves between the bones of the tarsus of the leg.
Further, the arms weaken, and the muscles are fettered by severe cramps, accompanied by continuous throbbing pain. Now He can no longer pull himself up: the muscles of the chest are paralyzed, because of this, the intercostal muscles are also unable to act. He can inhale air, but he cannot exhale. Jesus is trying with all his strength to rise to take at least one short breath. Eventually, carbon dioxide accumulates in the lungs and bloodstream, and the convulsions partially subside. From time to time, at the cost of incredible effort, He manages to pull himself up and breathe in life-giving oxygen. Undoubtedly, it was at such moments that He spoke those seven short sentences that are recorded in the Gospels.
The first was addressed to the Roman soldiers who divided His garments by casting lots: “Father! forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing"(Luke 23:34).
The second - to the repentant villain: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”(Luke 23:43).
The third is to John, the beloved apostle, seized with horror and grief: "Behold, your mother!" and to Mary, His Mother: “Woman! behold, thy son"(John 19:26-27).
The fourth is a cry of despair, the beginning of the 21st Psalm: “My God, My God! why did you leave me?"(Matthew 27:46).
Long hours of this unceasing torment, cramps from which the joints are about to burst, influxes of suffocation, burning pain in the slashed back when moving up and down the rough wooden cross ... But that's not all. A new torment begins: crushing pain in the chest, increasing as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and compresses the heart. Let us turn again to the 21st Psalm: “I have poured out like water; all my bones crumbled; my heart has become like wax; it has melted in the midst of my inward parts” (Psalms 21:15). Everything is almost over - the loss of fluid in the tissues has reached a critical level: the squeezed heart sends thick slow blood into the tissues with the last heavy shocks, the tormented lungs are desperately trying to grab a breath of air; dehydrated tissue sends a flood of signals to the brain...
“After that, Jesus, knowing that everything had already been finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.”(John 19:28). This is the fifth thing He spoke on the cross.
And again, let us recall the prophetic 21st Psalm: “My strength has dried up like a shard; my tongue clung to my throat, and you reduced me to the dust of death.” (Psalms 21:16).
A sponge dipped in cheap sour wine, the drink of the Roman legionnaires, is brought to His lips. But He, apparently, can no longer drink; His body is about to say goodbye to life. Feeling the cold of death, He says: "Done"(John 19:30). Yes, the Atonement has happened. Now He can let His body die.
With a final, unthinkable effort, He straightens His legs, takes a deep breath, and speaks His last words: “Father! into your hands I commend my spirit"(Luke 23:46).
You know the rest. The Jews asked to remove the bodies of those crucified from the crosses so that their appearance would not desecrate the Sabbath. Usually the crucifixion ended with the victims breaking their shins. After that, the person could no longer pull himself up on the cross, the whole weight fell on the pectoral muscles, and therefore suffocation quickly set in. The soldiers did the same with both robbers, but, having approached Jesus, they saw that this could no longer be done...
Apparently, in order to make sure of His death, one of the legionnaires jabbed a spear into the fifth gap between the ribs, right in the heart, piercing the pericardium. According to John, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). "Water" here refers to the fluid from the pericardial sac; blood flowed from the very heart. Thus we have very convincing post-mortem evidence that our Lord died not of the usual crucifixion death of asphyxiation, but of acute heart failure caused by shock and pressure on the heart by fluid from the pericardium.
This report is just a glimpse of the evil that man is capable of doing to man... and to God. What we saw left us dejected and depressed. But how happy and grateful we are for what followed after this — for the infinite mercy of God to man, for the miracle of redemption, for the expectation of the bright morning of the Resurrection!

S. Truman Davis,
M.D,
Master of Science

Based on the materials of the newspaper "Eternal Call"

Glory to your passion, Lord,
Glory to Thee!

Father Oleg Molenko

REFLECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST

†

God, strengthen me the passions of Christ's words!

The culmination of Christ's suffering was the day of His crucifixion on the Cross - Friday.

On the night after the Last Supper, the Lord took Peter and the sons of Zebedee with him to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He strengthened Himself through prayer and prepared Himself for the coming tortures and death on the cross.

Man always needs God. Man needs a connection with God. This connection is best established during a person's prayer to God. This is especially important and necessary for a person on the day of the approach of sorrows and the death of his physical nature.

Christ was God - the Son of God - and a perfect sinless Man. He took upon Himself all human nature, except for its fall and sin. Christ was a sinless Man, not because he could sin, but did not sin, but because he could not sin in any way. He did not descend to that level of resistance to God, to which Adam descended, from which sin begins. Christ was an amazing, God-loving, whole and perfect Man. He had not even a shadow or a hint of self or pride. He was the embodiment of humility and meekness! What a marvelous and flawless obedience - an obedience out of boundless love - He showed to His Father. It was Christ the Man who said of the Father that He is greater than Him. Christ God said that He and the Father are one and they are equal.

In his readiness to become an innocent victim, Christ became like a lamb and began to be called the Lamb of God.

That is how he was first called by the blessed Forerunner John, moved by the Holy Spirit. Then another blessed John, the Theologian, wrote down his wondrous revelation, in which Jesus Christ is called the Lamb more than once. How much the sacrificial humility and wondrous meekness of our Lord Jesus is manifested in Him, that the image of this meekness and sacrificial humility - the Lamb - has become one of His glorious names! On Good Friday, Christ the Lamb showed His sacrifice, meekness and humility in all its fullness and beauty!

Nobody saw it then! The outer outline of His sufferings - arrest, trial, interrogations, beatings, execution - attracted all the attention of people, and no one then saw or appreciated the spiritual beauty revealed by Christ in His sufferings and death on the Cross. For the crowd it was an outlandish spectacle, for the enemies it was the fulfillment of their evil dreams and desires, revenge that satisfied their malice, envy and fierce hatred of Christ. For the disciples, the sufferings of Christ were a collapse and bewilderment. They fled in fear, leaving their Master alone with His suffering and death. Only John the Theologian remained with Christ until His end. He, like the Most Pure Mother of Christ, was spiritually crucified with Him, and therefore both of them are rightly called Christ's companions. The Most Pure Mother of Christ saw only His torments and sufferings, which were unbearable for Her. Experiencing them, she suffered terrible pain - as if a weapon had passed through Her soul! Thus, the prophecy of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, which he said to Her on the day of the Churching of the Infant Jesus, came true. For thirty-three years the Blessed Virgin waited for this mournful prophecy to come true - and now this mournful day for Her has come. Suppressed by the weight of incredible grief, She also could not then see the beauty of the sacrificial feat of Her Divine Son.

And all around life went on as usual. The Jews were preparing for their Passover. There was an intense struggle for Christ. The chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and Jewish elders did not initially accept Christ. He, with His otherworldliness, meekness and humility, did not fit into their ideas and aspirations. They looked forward to a completely different Messiah.

Alas, it happens even among the faithful people that long centuries of expectations lead people to distort their religious concepts, aspirations and feelings. The Babylonian captivity and exposure to the demonic beliefs of the Chaldeans greatly influenced the Jews. After this captivity, there was a strong distortion in their faith. Formally, it remained under the veil of the Mosaic law, but in the minds and hearts of the Jews, especially the top ones, the influence of the Chaldean teachings was noticeably affected. Some Jews from the top and the nobility experienced a terrible substitution of the main object of faith - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was secretly replaced by Satan. The Sadducees especially suffered from this, who did not believe in an afterlife, in angels, and for whom God was only some kind of Supreme Power that favored the Jews and protected them. The formalism of faith and internal division corrupted the Jews, nurturing terrible hypocrisy. This was especially true of the Pharisees and scribes, who believed in an afterlife and boasted of knowledge of the law and continuity from Moses. It was a paradox that the Sadducees seized the High Priestly Throne. That is why the High Priests Anna and Caiaphas, the Pharisees and scribes fiercely hated Christ, who not only drew the attention of the people to Himself by His Divine teachings, with power and authority, not only by the charm of His extraordinary and Divine Personality, but also by the evidence of His Divine origin, revealed in the form amazing and supernatural miracles!

By His miracles, Christ greatly frightened the ruling Jewish elite and thus signed His own death sentence. They could not forgive Him for His superiority so clearly manifested over them. A simple Galilean every day attracted more and more people to Himself. The influence of the High Priests, Pharisees and scribes among the people began to decrease. That is why, saving their position, this Jewish elite decided on the most heinous crime in the history of mankind - the murder of their Messiah and God, along with the murder of an innocent Man in the Person of Jesus Christ alone. They decided to kill Him after the miraculous resurrection by Christ of His friend Lazarus: John 11:"53 From that day on they decided to kill him".

If we look at the situation in the religious sphere in our day, we can see an amazing similarity between modern Christians and the Jews of that time. For two thousand years, Christianity on the human side has changed beyond recognition. What kind of delusions, heresies and even absurdities can not be found among those who today call themselves Christians. Such terrible hypocrisy, damage in faith, in concepts, in expectations and aspirations! Spiritual life is perverted, the Spirit of salvation has withdrawn from contemporary Christians, leaving them to the mercy of demons and sinful passions. Ritualism, pompous and feigned piety, unction, pretense, terrible hypocrisy, cunning, groundedness, false belief, false love of love, demonic charm have corroded the church environment like a cancerous tumor! It is not surprising that the ancient Apostolic Church of Christ was lost and diminished to the extreme among the many heresies, schisms, self-organized gatherings, currents, interpretations, accords, parties and other groups that shook her, united only by the Christian name. In fact, they all apostatized from Christ and the right faith in Him and instead of His Church created that same satanic ecumenical gathering, covered for greater deception by the name of Christ and traditional church attributes, which is written in the book of Revelation of John the Theologian. It is no coincidence that God calls Christians Jews in this book: Rev.2:"9 who say of themselves that they are Jews, but they are not, but are a congregation of Satan".

But let us return to the sufferings of our Lord and the Lamb. These sufferings began with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, whom the Lord sent from the Last Supper to carry out his villainous intention. The real misfortune for this unfortunate parricide and money-lover was the possession of Satan:

John 13:
26 Jesus answered, He to whom I will give after dipping a piece of bread. And, having dipped a piece, he gave it to Judas Simonov Iscariot.
27 And after this piece, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him: whatever you do, do it quickly.”

Satan, who fiercely hated Christ, closely watched Him, looking for a convenient moment for revenge for the defeat inflicted on him by Christ during the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. He not only expected, but turned against Christ the people subject to him, wielding them through their passions as his own tools to set a trap for Christ. Many of his attempts failed, because without the permission of God, nothing bad could happen to Christ. But being in deception, this ardent adversary and violent enemy of God - the head of deception and the father of lies - believed in his imaginary power and ability to catch God through the humanity of Christ. He not only believed in this himself, but also inspired this belief in the Jewish leaders. It also seemed to them that God, who had come to earth and so interfering with their earthly well-being, could be killed through the human nature of Christ. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They called the return of dead people to life by Christ the magical actions of the demonic prince Beelzebub. But Christ defeated Satan and these unfortunate blind men precisely by His Resurrection, and not by avoiding death.

The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees argued among themselves something like this: “If He really is God, He can protect Himself and escape our hands and death. And if he does not escape and is executed, then it will become clear to everyone that He is not God and not the Messiah.. And on the basis of such super-cunning, they decided on Deicide, which they carried out by the permission of God. God allowed His Son to be humiliated and killed on the Cross in the forms of His economy and providence, unknown to the Jews. The scribes, who knew Scripture by heart, did not understand the prophecies in it about the suffering and humiliation of the Messiah. Amazing blindness was revealed by them. So, when Judas offered to betray Christ, they, completely forgetting about the prophecy of Jeremiah, gave him the price of betrayal exactly in 30 pieces of silver, and when out of despair he threw the unrighteous pieces of silver in the temple, they unconsciously acted exactly according to the prophecy, having bought land for burial for them wanderers.

So, Satan entered Judas and from within controlled all his actions - evil deeds. He led him to the enemies of Christ and led him to make a criminal deal. Then he used it to extradite Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and even with the help of a vile and sophisticated mockery in the form of a hypocritical kiss of Christ. Pretend "their" to the very end, to the last moment, and to use this pretense to fulfill betrayal - this is the pinnacle of hypocritical art! This art is now fully mastered by representatives of the apostate clergy.

Let's look at the situation of betrayal and bandit custom-made capture of Christ. The enemies chose night time. Under the cover of night and darkness, the greatest atrocity in the history of mankind was committed! Oh, how active were these enemies of Christ. They did not sleep all night and tried to solve their evil deed as soon as possible until morning.

Having endured the incomprehensible mental torment in the Gethsemane struggle and prayer to the Father, Christ nobly and steadfastly met the attack of His enemies. His every action, every word and even glance led to the necessary consequences for Him. We see how an angry mob of armed people set on by the High Priests, led by the ill-fated Judas, entered the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord was expecting their coming and, showing this His knowledge in advance before His Apostles, He tells them about it:

Matthew 26:
45 Then he comes to his disciples and says to them, Do you still sleep and rest? behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners;
46 Get up, let's go: behold, he who betrays me has come near.

See how gracefully our Lord leads His enemies and people drawn into His humiliation and suffering!

The Lord gives Judas a chance for repentance by His question, in which he deliberately calls the traitor a friend: Matthew 26: 50 And Jesus said to him, Friend, why have you come?

Then He addresses the high priestly messengers:

John 18:
4 But Jesus, knowing all that would be with him, went out and said to them, Whom are you looking for?
5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them: It is I. And Judas, his betrayer, also stood with them.
6 And when I said to them, It is I, they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them: whom are you looking for? They said: Jesus of Nazareth.
8 Jesus answered: I told you that it was I; so if you are looking for me, leave them, let them go,
9 May the word which He spoke be fulfilled: Of those whom You have given Me, I have not destroyed any.”

He did this in order to show everyone that He voluntarily gives himself into the hands of sinners and villains, and also in order to save His disciples in fulfillment of prophecy. But even these people, dependent on their superiors, involved in their evil deed, the Lord gave a chance for conversion, saying: Matthew 26:“55 In that hour Jesus said to the people, You have come out as if against a robber with swords and clubs to take me; every day I sat with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take Me.”.

Then we see how the Lord heals the ear cut off by Peter at the bishop's servant Malchus. He humbles Peter, stopping him from rash actions and unconscious opposition to God's providence. By these actions, the Lord once again confirms him and us that He voluntarily takes upon Himself all subsequent torments, although He could protect Himself by begging the Father to send more than 12 legions of Angels! Convinced of the safety of His disciples, Jesus allowed the messengers to seize Himself and take Him to the bishops.

How wonderfully our Lord behaved when He appeared before the High Priests who hated Him! He, philanthropic, gave these rabid people a chance for conversion and repentance. For this He said to them:

John 18:
19 And the high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
20 Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always converge, and secretly did not say anything.
21 What are you asking me? ask those who heard what I said to them; Behold, they know what I have said."

When one of the servants of the bishop, out of his false jealousy, slapped Jesus on the cheek for allegedly disrespecting the bishop, our Lord humbly but authoritatively answered him: John 18:“23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, show me that it is evil; and if it's good that you beat me?" And with this word the Lord healed this unfortunate servant, giving him a chance for repentance!

Then the Lord completes the healing of the Apostle Peter with His one glance, who, according to His word, denied Him three times before the cock crowed. Peter, knowing his weakness, leaves to indulge in repentance and bitter lamentation.

Bishops use false witnesses to the fullest, but they cannot find a suitable one for their purpose. And these non-humans had one goal - to kill Christ under the guise of legal condemnation and execution. For this purpose, they played a whole night performance, in which each participant was assigned his own role, but things did not go well with the accusers, and the morning was drawing near. Then Bishop Caiaphas assumed the role of chief accuser. He found a crafty move to achieve his insidious goal - he directly asked Christ if He was the Son of God. This crafty servant of Satan knew that Christ is God, and will certainly testify to this truth. Christ testified to the truth, and the crafty bishop immediately used this testimony against Christ, turning it into "blasphemy."

Now there was at last some reason to put Christ to death. The bishop so entered into his role that he artistically tore his robes, showing the alleged indignation that had seized him at the “blasphemy” he had heard from Christ. The performance with the trial of Christ ended with a verdict: guilty of death. Now it was up to the enforcement of this sentence, for this the bishops and others like them used the Romans and, in particular, the procurator in Palestine, Pontius Pilate.

Pilate was not hostile to Christ and generally did not want to get into the religious disassembly of the Jews, but the Jewish elite forced him to do this.

The more Pilate delved into this matter, the more he became convinced of the innocence of Christ. He realized that the Jews were looking to kill Christ out of envy, and therefore he tried in spite of them to free Christ. This desire of his increased after he learned from the Jews that Christ is the Son of God. And then his wife came and testified that she suffered a lot in a dream for Christ and asked Pilate not to do Him any harm. Pilate tried to free Christ, using the custom of releasing one criminal on the Jewish Passover. By this, he was forced to put Christ on the same level with the real criminal - the robber Barabbas. He suggested that the Jews let go of one of the two - Christ or Barabbas, believing that they would let Christ go. But the cunning Jews clung to this proposal from the other side - they incited the people to ask to release the robber Barabbas, and Pilate had to yield to them. Then, in his search for the deliverance of Christ, Pilate makes another mistake. He betrays an innocent Man to be beaten by his soldiers, believing that this will quench the thirst for His blood of the bishops and His other enemies from among the Jews.

But Pilate miscalculated in this too, underestimating the malice and hatred of the Jewish elite towards Christ. He failed to free Christ, but he only caused Him additional humiliation and torment on the part of his rude soldiers. The Roman soldiers in the Person of Christ saw only the opportunity that presented itself for them to unwind with mockery of a Jew who was alien to them in their boring service in a distant and alien province. That is why they not only fulfilled the order of their boss Pilate, but played a whole performance, subjecting Christ to terrible physical tortures, beatings and mockeries. They were especially fed up with the news of the royal origin of Christ, over which they deliberately mocked, dressing Christ in purple, crowning Him instead of a crown with a crown woven from thorny thorns, pretending to bow to Him and saying: John 19:"3 Hail King of the Jews".

Pilate then tried to take advantage of the presence of King Herod in Jerusalem. By sending Christ to him, he thought by doing so to shift the burden of responsibility from himself onto Herod, but here, too, nothing came of it. Having mocked Christ, Herod sent Him back to Pilate. Then Pilate began to directly declare to the bishops that he did not see any guilt in Christ, but they insisted on the crucifixion. They really wanted not only to kill Christ, but to humiliate Him by betraying the shameful execution - crucifixion - used for slaves and criminals not from among the Romans. Pilate tried to escape the execution by telling the Jews to execute Him themselves. But the Jews slyly reminded Pilate that supposedly they had no right to kill anyone (which was a lie), but only him, as a representative of the legitimate authority. Seeing Pilate's intractability and resistance, the Jews took their last cunning step. They got hooked on the fact that Christ is the king and began to blackmail Pilate with a denunciation to the Roman emperor.

Pilate could not allow this. Concern for personal well-being and career interest outweighed in him an honest executor of Roman laws, and he, having made an acquittal maneuver with washing his hands, betrays an innocent Man to a shameful execution. Satan and the Jews rejoice. Their long-awaited dream came true! Goal achieved! A "victory" over the "defenseless" God has been won! But their malice towards Christ remains unquenched, they continue to aggravate the fate of Christ unjustly condemned to death in every possible way. When the question arose about the material for the cross of Christ, the Jews immediately remembered the stained log that had been lying in the source for hundreds of years. They forced the Romans to build a cross for Christ from this stained wood, because. they knew the custom of the Romans, according to which the criminal himself must carry his cross to the place of execution, and therefore they offered stained wood, which is several times heavier than stained wood. Thus, the cross of Christ, which did not differ in appearance, was much heavier than the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified next to Christ.

That is why the Lord fell under the weight of the Cross he was carrying, and the Romans had to turn to the passerby peasant Simon to help Christ carry the Cross to Golgotha.

The Jews also insisted that Christ be nailed to the Cross with four huge nails. According to legend, they were made by one gypsy hired for this purpose. After that, the curse fell on the entire gypsy family, which still leads a nomadic lifestyle with theft, gambling, fortune-telling, cheating and other things like that.

But the bishops and elders did not leave Christ nailed to the Cross and hanging on it. They continued to revile Him, scold and mock Him. In these mocking mockery of Christ, they sought justification for themselves and their heinous lawless crime. That is why they reproached Christ for calling Himself the Savior of people, demanding from Him to come down from the cross by the power of God. According to their sick logic, it turned out that if He could come down from His Cross and save Himself from death by the power of God, then this would prove that He is from God, and then they would allegedly believe in Him.

They did not understand that Satan was using them, and God was allowing all this to happen for the sake of the redemption of all people. The Jews tried to put pressure on Pilate in the case of the tablet with the inscription. Here Pilate did not yield. He decided at least in this small way to take revenge on the Jews for his defeat in the battle for Christ. He himself chose the material for the tablet, sat down and wrote on it in beautiful clerical handwriting in three languages ​​- Roman, Greek and Jewish - John 19:"19 Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"! This inscription annoyed and angered the Jews, they began to demand from Pilate that he correct the inscription to "This is the one who called himself the King of the Jews." But Pilate was adamant, and they did not find any leverage to influence him. Thus, by the providence of God on the Cross of Christ there was a genuine inscription, clearly saying Who was crucified!

But the Jews, having heard rumors about the possible resurrection of Christ, thought in their cunning that the disciples of Christ would be cunning and, having stolen His Body from the tomb, they would spread a rumor about His resurrection. For the sake of this, they asked Pilate to prevent such a course of action. Pilate refused to intervene, saying that you have your own guard (custodia) - use it. The Jews diligently sealed the tomb with the Body of Christ with their seal and posted guards at the tomb. Thus, the providence of God arranged for Christians a convincing proof of the fact of the resurrection of Christ. After the resurrection of Christ, the Jews realized that they were mistaken and regretted that they unwittingly served the cause of proving the resurrection of Christ. They had to pay money to the guards so that they would lie against the fact of the resurrection of Christ - that, they say, His disciples stole His Body. But with such false evidence, the guards put themselves in the position of violators. The Jews had to fork out so that Pilate would not punish the guards. Thus began the spending of the Jews to support lies and fight against the resurrected Christ God.

Neither an unreasonable (not astronomical) eclipse of the sun and darkness in the middle of the day, nor a strong earthquake that occurred immediately after the death of Christ, nor the rupture of the Veil in their temple from this earthquake and the exposure of the Holy of Holies, nor the confession of Christ as the Son of God from a robber dying on the cross and a Roman centurion had no effect on the hard-nosed and malicious Jews. God left them and their temple, and they became part of Satan.

Our Lord, having redeemed the human race with His incredible suffering and death on the Cross, resurrected on the third day, defeating all His enemies with His glorious Resurrection! He descended from the Cross, but not in the way the Jews suggested, but through death, reclining in the tomb and Resurrection, with the manifestation of His human nature in an eternal new quality! He descended from His Cross as the Conqueror of death, hell, Satan and his demons, sin, and removed from humanity the curse of God that had hung on it since the day of the fall of people!

Glory to our Lord Lamb, Conqueror, Redeemer and Savior!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

How disgusting for the Lord was this kiss of a traitor! Kiss - a sign of love - Judas turned into a sign of the most heinous treachery. But the Lord did not turn His face away from the lips of Judas, but said to him: Friend, why have you come? (Matthew 26:50). The Lord wanted to awaken the conscience in the fallen disciple. He calls him a friend, that is, he says: “It’s not too late, you can still be saved, I will forgive you and make you my friend and apostle again!”

However, Judas' heart was insensible and cold, like silver, which he squeezed in his hand under his clothes. The soldiers seized Christ as a criminal and at night brought him to the high priest Anna, the former high priest, who had been removed by the Romans, but, however, enjoyed great influence among the people. The high priest began to interrogate Jesus about His teachings, and the Lord replied that He spoke openly to the world<...>and secretly said nothing.<...>ask those who heard what I said to them; Behold, they know that I have spoken (John 18:20-21), said the Savior.

The servant of the high priest struck Christ in the face with a flourish, exclaiming: is this how you answer the high priest? (John 18:22). He struck with such force that the Lord fell to the ground, covered in blood, and the trace of this hand, chained in an iron glove, remained a dark spot on His face.

Church tradition says that the servant who hit the Savior was that relaxed and unfortunate patient who was once healed by Christ at the Siloam font. For many years he lay like a living corpse on his bed, unable to move. The Lord healed him, as if giving him a second life, saying: Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you (John 5:14). And this man immediately went to the chief priests and pointed to Jesus, reported that He performed healings on the Sabbath. The high priests appreciated his zeal and took him into their temple guards. And now the unfortunate one, healed by the Lord, repaid for the good deed - a blow to the face!

How often, brothers and sisters, we spiritually repeat the same thing, answering God with the same terrible and black ingratitude!

Then the Lord is led to the high priest Caiaphas. There begins the interrogation, false witnesses are confused in their testimony. Caiaphas rises and by the authority of the high priest asks: Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? The Lord answers him: I; and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of …… power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest, in a fit of false indignation, tears his clothes and shouts: what else do we need witnesses for? You have heard the blasphemy; what do you think? (Mark 14:61-64). And the whole Sanhedrin answers: guilty of death (Matthew 26:66). True, some say that among the members of the Sanhedrin there were those who defended Christ, but their voices were not heard.

There is also such a tradition: the Holy Fathers teach that when Caiaphas tore his clothes, it was a sign that grace had departed from the Old Testament priesthood.

Brothers and sisters! Caiaphas knew, the Pharisees and scribes knew that the Messiah-Savior was to come, they were waiting for Him. They even knew the time and place where Christ would be born. The Messiah stood before them, their eternal life stood before them, and they burned against Christ, against their Savior, with terrible satanic hatred. Why? Why do spiders, scorpions, when a ray of the sun falls on them, run again into the darkness, why do snakes hiss at the sight of light? Because they hate the light. So are these people. They could not love the One in whose light the baseness of their own lives was seen. Their pride could not be reconciled with the love that Christ preached, the falsity of their lives with the Truth. And so they doomed Christ to death as their personal and most bitter enemy. They knew: either they or Christ.

According to Jewish law, the death penalty was carried out by stoning, so that after a few blows a person usually lost consciousness. Among the Romans, the execution was more painful. The condemned was crucified on the cross. And so the enemies of Jesus Christ, not content with the fact that they condemned Him to death, wanted to choose the most terrible, most painful death for Him. Therefore, they brought Him to the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, for trial, saying that This Man called Himself the Son of God, and therefore He must die.

Pilate refused to judge Christ, he said: Take Him, and judge Him according to your law (John 18:31). Then the high priests began to say that Jesus Christ called Himself the King, which means He is the enemy of the Roman emperor, which means He is a rebel. And if Pilate does not condemn Christ to death, he will cease to be a friend of the emperor. It was a terrible threat, because at that time the cruel tyrant Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire, who, on the slightest suspicion, executed and exiled people close to him.

Pilate knew that Christ was innocent, however, fearing the wrath of Caesar, he condemned the Savior to death. He gave Him to the soldiers for scourging - there was such torture, fun for cruel and rude people. They wanted to tie Christ to a pole, but Christ Himself embraced the pole. The soldiers began to beat Him with whips, which were called "cats". In the belts of these whips, metal hooks were sewn up, which, upon impact, pierced the body, tore out pieces of it. The man was bleeding, and many died during this terrible torture. Then Christ was released, and He Himself, crawling on the ground, began to collect His clothes. The warriors laughingly threw an old crimson commander's cloak over Him and said: Hail, King of the Jews! (John 19:3). And having weaved Him a crown of thorny thorns, they put it on with a flourish several times and then removed this crown from the head of the Savior and beat with sticks on the head and on the crown of thorns so that the needles pierced deeply into the body and the whole face of Christ was stained with jets of blood.

Pilate brought Christ out to the people and said: Behold, Man! (John 19:5). He thought that the crowd, satisfied in their anger, would ask to let Christ go. But the people, taught by the chief priests, continued to cry: crucify, crucify Him! (John 19:6).

They put a heavy cross on Christ and forced him to carry, to drag this cross from the praetorium of Pilate's palace to Golgotha, located not far from the city walls.

There is a legend that the Jews, in mockery of Christ, did not want to make His cross from a freshly cut down tree, but took a log that served as a bridge over a stream. This log was blackened by time and dirt from the feet of those pilgrims who crossed it, heading to the temple. From it they made the Cross of Christ the Savior. And here it was a sign that the Lord was carrying our sins, the filth of our black crimes, to Golgotha.

On the way, Christ staggered and fell under the weight of the Cross. When He fell, the crowd, like a flock of wild animals, rushed at Him, showering him with blows, forcing him to get up and move on. Finally He fell down and could no longer get up. At this time, a man named Simon of Cyrene was walking towards them. He stopped and looked at the Lord with sympathy. The guards saw this and forced, forced Simon to carry the Cross. But Simon was a free landowner. According to the laws of Rome, only a slave or a criminal could be forced to carry an instrument of execution. He could refuse, but out of love and pity for Christ, he carried His Cross on his shoulders. So we, brothers and sisters, when we help people who are suffering, unfortunate, we become like Simon of Cyrene, who carried the Cross of the Savior.

On Golgotha, while the pit for the Cross was being prepared, Christ was put into a cave. But they dug a hole, then they threw Christ on the cross tree, put nails to his hands and feet, hammers banged, and streams of blood stained the ground. The cross was lifted up and put into the pit with such force that it oscillated and trembled like a string, and with every movement of its wounds on its hands were torn, and the Lord experienced terrible pain. The Savior seemed to lose consciousness, but then He opened His eyes.

Below, like a raging sea, the crowd raged. He saw before him faces distorted with hatred or a grimace of ridicule. The crowd shouted: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross (Matthew 27:40). The Lord opened His pure lips and spoke the first word from the Cross. What was the word? - Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). Brothers and sisters! This is the first word spoken by the Lord from the Cross, this is an eternal testament to us, a prayer for our enemies.

The Lord said: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; how I have loved you (John 13:34). The most obvious sign of this love is love for enemies. If a person fulfills all the other commandments, but does not love enemies, he is no longer a disciple of the suffering Christ, he is not a Christian, he is inwardly alien to Christ.

The great Athos ascetic of our century, St. Silouan says: “How can we know if we believe in God correctly, how can we know if we are in grace, or are strangers to God?” And he himself answers: “If you have love for your enemies, then you are in grace, then your faith is right and true. And if you do not have love for your enemies, then know that you are far from the Holy Spirit, far from Christ the Savior, you are a stranger to Him. So, the first commandment given from the Cross is love for enemies, which determines our entire eternal life.

Two thieves, two villains, were crucified near Christ. All their lives they have been engaged in this terrible craft. They lived in caves and rocks. They rushed at people, like wild animals at their prey, robbing and killing. They, too, were persecuted like wild beasts. Finally caught, chained brought to court and condemned to death on the cross. And these two villains, along with the crowd, mocked and blasphemed Christ. So sometimes we, in suffering, become even more hardened and instead of repentance, we blaspheme God.

But then one of the robbers heard the words of the Savior, heard His prayer for the enemies. And he realized that beside him was the Son of God and the Messiah, beside him, Love incarnate itself was crucified. The eyes of his heart were opened, and he saw Christ in the divine radiance, and he said to his comrade: we are justly condemned, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing bad. And, turning to Christ, he exclaimed: remember me, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom! (Luke 23:41-42). He confessed the Lord as King, although not the royal mantle, but wounds and blood were on His body. Instead of a golden throne - a terrible Cross, instead of a scepter - nails that pierced the hands of Christ. But the robber knew with his heart that near him was the Lord of Heaven and Earth. He said: they accepted what was worthy according to our deeds. This is the first confession! He did not blame anyone, but only himself for the fact that he deserved the painful death penalty by his sins, his atrocities. Remember me!.. He did not ask the Lord for eternal salvation, he only asked the Lord to remember him in His Kingdom. And now the thief receives a royally majestic answer: Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).

So, the robber entered Paradise first. Why did the Lord create this miracle? Why was it not the great righteous and ascetic who was saved first, but the repentant thief? Brothers and sisters, this was done for us so that we would never despair, so that we would know how great is the mercy of God. We knew that the doors of repentance are always open for us.

The Lord saved the thief so that we would not condemn a single person. Shortly before the suffering of the Lord, Judas was among His disciples and, moreover, among the closest twelve disciples, who were given great power to heal, cast out demons from people, work miracles. It would seem that Judas should be forever with the Savior, and Judas became the prey of hell! And the robber, all covered in human blood, having committed all the atrocities and already dying, this robber became the son of Divine light.

Therefore, perhaps these people, whom we condemn with our loose and dirty tongues, will be in paradise before us; maybe in the next world we will see them in the same place where the repentant robber is, and we will ask them for forgiveness, mercy and help.

At the Cross stood the Most Pure Mother of the Lord and His beloved disciple John the Theologian. And the Lord, turning to the Virgin Mary, said: Woman! behold, thy son. And to His beloved disciple: behold, thy Mother! (John 19:26-27). And here is not only filial care for the Virgin Mary, there is something else. There is a great mystery here. The Lord, in the person of John the Theologian, adopted the entire human race as sons of His Mother.

Brothers and sisters! As long as a person's mother is alive, he knows that he is not an orphan, he knows that there is one heart in the world that beats for him with love. And now we have a Heavenly Mother - Love itself! In the heart of the Virgin Mary, enlarged by terrible suffering, all mankind entered. And for Her love, the most terrible criminal, the most bitter sinner is only an unfortunate child, only a suffering sick child.

The suffering of the Lord increased. People nailed to the cross endure terrible pain, as if their whole body is on fire. Their blood is baked, and the heart seems to be pierced by thousands of needles. The whole body seems to be torn apart. But the sufferings of the Lord were different, more terrible - invisible sufferings. That hellish fire that was prepared forever for all mankind for its sins, those terrible sufferings the Lord had to endure on the Cross. Hell itself broke into the pure soul of the Savior, and this terrible fire tormented Him. The sinner experiences abandonment by God. And this God-forsakenness, which is now completely incomprehensible to us, which sinners experience in hell, is a complete loss of God, it, as the Holy Fathers say, is worse than all other torments. And Christ tested it. So He exclaimed: My God! My God! Why did you leave me?.. (Mark 15:34).

But here it is, done! (John 19, 30) - said the Lord. What happened? Mankind has been redeemed. The devil, the ancient serpent from the abyss, who wrapped his coils around the whole earth, raised his head to challenge Heaven itself to battle. But the Lion descended from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David in humanity, the Son of God - Christ. This Lion erased the head of the infernal serpent, stepped on hell, the lair of asps and scorpions. And with His Cross, like a sword, he struck hell into its very heart.

Thus, the salvation of mankind has come to pass. Previously, the righteous went to hell after death, but now repentant sinners have become the heirs of paradise.

The gaze of Christ, the gaze that pleased the Angels, was fading away like the rays of the sun at sunset. A deathly pallor covered His face. The last words were: Father! into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46). A terrible and incomprehensible sacrament took place. Only in eternity will we, brothers and sisters, know what happened at Golgotha.

Amen.
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Death was a turning point in human history. Probably there are almost no people on earth who have not heard about Jesus Christ and his life. But at the same time, not many realize what Christ really did for every person on earth. We invite you to read the article by S. Truman Davis, who writes about the physical aspects of the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross - in the last hours of His earthly life.

The death of Jesus Christ - a view from the point of view of medicine

Almost all the inhabitants of the earth have heard about Jesus Christ. Many people have houses. Some tried to read it. And very few try to live according to what is written in it. In this article, the author describes the death of Jesus Christ from the point of view of medicine. Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross - He died the death that was usually used to execute criminals. He died for each of us. Read this article and you will never forget what happened that day...

In this article, I want to discuss some of the physical aspects of the passion or suffering of Jesus Christ. We will trace His path from the Garden of Gethsemane to judgment, then, after His scourging, the procession to Golgotha ​​and, in the end, His last hours on the cross ...

I began by studying how the act of crucifixion was practically carried out, that is, the torture and deprivation of human life when they were nailed to the cross. Apparently, the first known crucifixion in history was made by the Persians. Alexander the Great and his generals resumed this practice in the countries of the Mediterranean: from Egypt to Carthage. The Romans adopted this from the Carthaginians and quickly, like everything else they did, turned it into an effective method of execution. Famous Roman authors (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus) write about it. Some innovations and changes are described in ancient historical literature. I will mention only a part of them that is relevant to our topic. The vertical part of the cross, otherwise the leg, may have a horizontal part, otherwise the tree, located 0.5 - 1 meter below the top - just such a form of the cross we usually consider today to be classical (later it was called the Latin cross). However, in those days when our Lord lived on Earth, the shape of the cross was different (like the Greek letter "tau" or our letter "t"). On this cross, the horizontal part was located in a recess at the top of the leg. There is quite a lot of archaeological evidence that Jesus Christ was crucified on just such a cross.

The vertical part was usually constantly at the place of execution, and the condemned person had to carry the tree of the cross, which weighed about 50 kilograms, from prison to the place of execution. Without any historical or biblical evidence, the artists of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance depicted Christ carrying the entire cross. Many of these artists and most sculptors today depict the palms of Christ with nails driven into them. Roman historical records and experimental evidence suggest that the nails were driven between the bones of the wrist rather than in the palm of the hand. A nail driven into the palm will tear it through the fingers under the influence of the weight of the convict's body. This erroneous opinion, perhaps, was the result of a misunderstanding of the words of Christ addressed to Thomas: "Look at my hands." Anatomists, both modern and ancient, have always considered the wrist to be part of the hand. A small tablet with an inscription about the crime of the condemned was usually carried at the front of the procession, and then nailed to the cross above his head. This tablet, together with the shaft attached to the top of the cross, may have given the impression of a shape characteristic of the Latin cross.

The suffering of Christ begins already in the Garden of Gethsemane. Of the many aspects, I will consider only one of physiological interest: bloody sweat. Interestingly, Luke, who was the doctor among the students, is the only one who mentions this. He writes: “And in torment He is even more diligent. And like drops of blood, His sweat fell to the ground. Modern scholars have used every conceivable effort to find an explanation for this phrase, apparently in the false belief that this cannot be. Much wasted effort could have been avoided by consulting the medical literature. The description of the phenomenon of hematidrosis, or blood sweat, although very rare, is found in the literature. During times of great emotional stress, the tiny capillaries in the sweat glands break, causing blood and sweat to mix. This alone could cause a person to experience a state of extreme weakness and possibly shock.

We omit here the passages connected with betrayal and arrest. I must emphasize that important points of Christ's suffering are missing from this article. This may upset you, but in order to achieve our goal of considering only the physical aspects of suffering, this is necessary. After the arrest, at night Christ was brought to the Sanhedrin to the high priest Caiaphas. Here He is given the first physical injury, hitting His face for being silent and not answering the high priest's question. After that, the palace guards put a blindfold on Him and mocked Him, demanding to know which of them spat on Him and hit Him in the face.

In the morning, Christ, beaten, thirsty and exhausted from a sleepless night, is led through Jerusalem to the praetorium of the fortress of Anthony, the place where the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, was located. You, of course, know that Pilate tried to shift the responsibility for making the decision to the tetrarch of Judea, Herod Antipas. It is clear that Herod did not inflict physical suffering on Christ and was brought back to Pilate.

And then, yielding to the cries of the crowd, Pilate ordered the release of the rebel Barabbas and condemned Christ to scourging and crucifixion. There is much disagreement among established scholars as to whether scourging served as a prelude to crucifixion. Most Roman writers of the time do not link these two types of punishment together. Many researchers believe that initially Pilate ordered the scourging of Christ and limited himself to this, and the decision on the death penalty by crucifixion was made under pressure from the crowd, who claimed that the procurator did not protect the Caesar in this way from a man who calls himself the King of the Jews.

And now comes the preparation for the scourging. The prisoner's clothes are torn off, and his hands are tied above his head to a post. It is not completely clear whether the Romans tried to keep the Jewish law regarding scourging. The Jews had an ancient law that prohibited more than forty strokes. The Pharisees, who always followed the strict observance of the law, insisted that the number of strokes be thirty-nine, that is, in the event of an error in counting, the law, however, would not be violated. A Roman legionary proceeds to scourging. In his hands is a whip, which is a short whip consisting of several heavy leather straps with two small lead balls at the ends.

A heavy lash with all its force falls again and again on the shoulders, back and legs of Christ. At first, heavy straps cut only the skin. They then cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissue, causing bleeding from the capillaries and saphenous veins, and finally leading to rupture of blood vessels in the muscle tissue.

Small lead balls first form large and deep bruises, which rupture on repeated impacts. At the end of this torture, the skin on the back hangs in long shreds and the whole place turns into a continuous bloody mess. When the centurion leading this execution sees that the prisoner is close to death, the scourging finally stops.

Christ, who was in a semi-conscious state, is untied hands, and He falls on the stones, covered with His blood. The Roman soldiers now decide to have fun with a provincial Jew who claims that He is the King. They throw a robe over His shoulders and put a stick in His hands as a scepter. But you still need a crown to complete this fun. They take a small bunch of flexible branches covered with long thorns (usually used for a fire) and weave a wreath, which they put on His head. And again there is profuse bleeding, because there is a dense network of blood vessels on the head. Having sneered to their heart's content and smashed His face, the legionnaires take the cane from Him and beat Him on the head so that the thorn thorns cut even deeper into the skin. Finally tired of this sadistic game, they tear off His clothes. It has already stuck to the blood clots on the wounds, and its tearing off, as well as the careless removal of the surgical bandage, causes excruciating pain, almost the same as if He was whipped again, and His wounds begin to bleed again.

Out of respect for Jewish tradition, the Romans return His clothes to Him. The heavy tree of the cross is tied to His shoulders, and the procession, consisting of the condemned Christ, two robbers and a detachment of Roman legionnaires, led by a centurion, begins its slow procession to Golgotha. Despite all Christ's efforts to walk straight, He fails, and He stumbles and falls, because the wooden cross is too heavy and much blood has been lost.

Jesus tries to get up, but his strength fails him. The centurion, showing impatience, forces a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was walking from the field, to take and carry the cross instead of Jesus, Who, in a cold sweat and losing a lot of blood, tries to go Himself. The path, about 600 meters long, from the Antonia fortress to Golgotha ​​is finally completed. The prisoner's clothes are again torn off, leaving only a loincloth, which was allowed for the Jews.

The crucifixion begins and Christ is offered to drink wine mixed with myrrh, a mildly anesthetic mixture. He refuses her. Simon is ordered to put the cross on the ground and then they quickly put Christ back on the cross. The legionary shows some confusion before he drives a heavy square hammered nail into his wrist and nailing it to the cross. He quickly does the same with the other hand, being careful not to pull too hard to give him some freedom of movement. The tree of the cross is then lifted up and planted on top of the stem, after which a tablet is nailed with the inscription: JESUS ​​OF NAZAREH, KING OF THE JEWS.

The left foot is pressed from above to the right with the fingers down and the nail is driven into the instep of the feet, leaving the knees slightly bent. The crucifixion of the victim is complete. His body hangs on nails driven into his wrist, which causes excruciating, unbearable pain that radiates to the fingers and pierces the entire arm and brain: a nail driven into the wrist presses on the median nerve. Trying to reduce the unbearable pain, He rises, transferring the weight of His body to His feet, nailed to the cross. And again, burning pain pierces the nerve endings located between the metatarsal bones of the foot.

At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As fatigue builds up in the arms, waves of spasms travel through the muscles, leaving knots of relentless, throbbing pain in their wake. And these convulsions make it impossible for Him to lift His body. Due to the fact that the body is completely hanging on the hands, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed, and the intercostal muscles cannot contract. Air can be inhaled, but not exhaled. Jesus struggles to pull himself up on his hands to take even a small breath of air. As a result of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood, convulsions partially weaken and it becomes possible to rise and exhale, in order to then receive a saving breath of air. Undoubtedly, it is during this period of time that He speaks the seven short phrases that are given in Holy Scripture.

He utters the first phrase when he looks at the Roman soldiers who divided His clothes, casting lots: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

The second, when he addresses the repentant thief: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The third, when he sees in the crowd his mother and the grief-stricken young apostle John: "Here is your son, woman" and "Here is your mother."

The fourth, which is the first stanza of Psalm 21: “My God! My God! Why did you leave me?"

Hours of unceasing torment come, convulsions pierce His body, there are attacks of suffocation, every movement is given with burning pain when He tries to rise, as the wounds on His back are again torn against the surface of the cross. This is followed by another agony: severe squeezing pain occurs in the chest due to the fact that the blood serum slowly fills the space around the heart, squeezing the heart.

Let us recall the words from Psalm 21 (verse 15): “I have been poured out like water, all my bones have crumbled, my heart has become like wax, it has melted in the midst of my insides.” It's almost over. The loss of fluid in the body has reached a critical point, the constricted heart is still trying to pump thick and viscous blood through the vessels, the exhausted lungs are making a desperate attempt to draw in at least a little air. Excessive dehydration of tissues brings excruciating suffering.

Jesus lets out a cry, "I'm thirsty!" This is His fifth sentence. Let us recall another stanza from the prophetic 21st Psalm: “My strength dried up like a shard, my tongue clung to my throat, and You reduced me to the dust of death.”

A sponge dipped in the cheap sour wine Posca, which was in use among the Roman legionnaires, is brought to His lips. He apparently didn't drink anything. The suffering of Christ reaches its extreme point, He feels the cold breath of death. And He utters His sixth phrase, which is not just a lament in death throes: "Now that's it."

His mission to atone for the sins of men is completed, and He can accept death. With one last effort, He again rests on his broken feet, straightens up, takes a breath and utters His seventh and last phrase: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."

The rest is known. Not wanting to darken the Sabbath before Easter, the Jews asked that the executed be removed from the crosses. The common method used to complete an execution by crucifixion was to break the bones of the lower leg. Then the victim will no longer be able to rise on his feet, and due to the great tension in the muscles of the chest, rapid suffocation occurs. The legs of the two robbers were broken, but when the soldiers approached Jesus, they saw that this was not necessary, and thus the Scripture came true: “Let not His bone be broken.” One of the soldiers, wanting to make sure that Christ died, pierced His body in the area of ​​the fifth intercostal space towards the heart. John 19:34 says, “and at once blood and water gushed out of the wound.” This suggests that the water came out of the volume around the heart, and the blood - from the pierced heart. Thus, we have quite convincing post-mortem evidence that our Lord did not die the usual death of crucifixion from asphyxiation, but from heart failure due to shock and compression of the heart by fluid in the pericardial region.

So, we have seen the evil that a person is capable of in relation to another person and to God. This is a very ugly picture that makes a depressing impression. How grateful we should be to God for His mercy to man - this is the miracle of the redemption of sins and the expectation of Easter morning!

S. Truman Davis
Reprinted from Arizona Madisin magazine. March, 1965

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S. Truman Davis, MD
(reprint from Arizona Madisin magazine)
In this article, I want to discuss some of the physical aspects of the passion, or suffering, of Jesus Christ.
We will follow his path from the Garden of Gethsemane to judgment, then, after his scourging, the procession to Golgotha ​​and, finally, his last hours on the cross...
I began by studying how the act of crucifixion was practically carried out, that is, the torture and deprivation of a person's life when he was nailed to the cross. Apparently, the first known crucifixion in history was made by the Persians. Alexander the Great and his generals resumed this practice in the lands around the earth, from Egypt to Carthage. The Romans adopted this from the Carthaginians and quickly, like everything else they did, turned it into an effective method of execution. Some Roman authors (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus) write about it. Some innovations and changes are described in ancient historical literature. I will mention only a few of them relevant to our topic. The vertical part of the cross, otherwise the leg, may have a horizontal part, otherwise the tree, located 0.5-1 meters below the top - just such a form of the cross we usually consider today to be classical (later it was called the Latin cross). However, in those days when our Lord lived on earth, the shape of the cross was different (like the Greek letter "tau" or our letter T). On this cross, the horizontal part was located in a recess at the top of the leg. There is quite a lot of archaeological evidence that Jesus was crucified on such a cross. The vertical part, or leg, was usually constantly at the place of execution, and the condemned person had to carry the tree of the cross, which weighed about 50 kilograms, from prison to the place of execution. Without any historical or biblical evidence, the artists of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance depicted Christ carrying the entire cross. Many of these artists and most sculptors today depict the palms of Christ with nails driven into them. Roman historical records and experimental evidence suggest that the nails were driven between the small bones of the wrist, and not into the palms. A nail driven into the palm will tear it through the fingers under the influence of the body weight of the condemned. This erroneous opinion, perhaps, was the result of a misunderstanding of the words of Christ addressed to Thomas - "Look at my hands." Anatomists, both modern and ancient, have always considered the wrist to be part of the hand.
A small tablet with an inscription about the crime of the condemned was usually carried at the front of the procession, and then nailed to the cross above his head. This tablet, together with the shaft attached to the top of the cross, could give the impression of a form characteristic of the Latin cross. The suffering of Christ begins already in the Garden of Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of them, I will consider only one of physiological interest: bloody sweat. Interestingly, Luke, who was a physician among the disciples, is the only one who mentions this. He writes: "And in torment He prayed even more fervently. And, like drops of blood, His sweat fell to the ground." Modern scholars have used every conceivable effort to find an explanation for this phrase, apparently in the false belief that this cannot be. Much wasted effort could have been avoided by consulting the medical literature. The description of the phenomenon of hematidros or blood sweat, although very rare, is found in the literature. During times of great emotional stress, the tiny capillaries in the sweat-producing glands break, causing blood and sweat to mix. This alone could cause a person to experience a state of extreme weakness and possible shock. We omit here the passages connected with betrayal and arrest. I must emphasize that important points of suffering are missing from this article. This may upset you, but in order to achieve our goal of considering only the physical aspects of suffering, this is necessary. After being arrested at night, Christ was then brought to the Sanhedrin to the high priest Caiaphas: here he was given the first physical injury, hitting him in the face because he was silent and did not answer the question of the high priest. After that, the palace guards blindfolded him and mocked him, demanding to know which of them spat on him and hit him in the face. In the morning, Christ, beaten, thirsty and exhausted from a sleepless night, is led through Jerusalem to the praetorium of the fortress of Anthony, the place where the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, was located. You, of course, know that Pilate tried to shift the responsibility for making the decision to the tetrarch of Judea, Herod Antipas. It is obvious that Herod did not inflict physical suffering on Christ, and he was brought back to Pilate ...
And then, yielding to the cries of the crowd, Pilate ordered the release of the rebel Barabbas and condemned Christ to scourging and crucifixion. There is much disagreement among established scholars as to whether scourging served as a prelude to crucifixion. Most Roman writers of the time do not link the two types of punishment. Many researchers believe that initially Pilate ordered the scourging of Christ and limited himself to this, and the decision on the death penalty by crucifixion was made under pressure from the crowd, who argued that the procurator did not protect the Caesar in this way from the man who called himself the King of the Jews. And now comes the preparation for the scourging. The prisoner's clothes are torn off, and his hands are tied above his head to a post. It is not completely clear whether the Romans tried to keep the Jewish law, but which was forbidden to inflict more than forty blows. The Pharisees, who always followed the strict observance of the law, insisted that the number of strokes be thirty-nine, that is, in the event of an error in counting, the law, however, would not be violated. A Roman legionary proceeds to scourging. In his hands is a whip, which is a short whip consisting of several heavy leather straps with two small lead balls at the ends. A heavy lash with all its force falls again and again on the shoulders, back and legs of Christ. At first, heavy straps cut only the skin. They then cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissue, causing bleeding from the capillaries and saphenous veins, and finally leading to rupture of blood vessels in the muscle tissue. Small lead balls first form large and deep bruises, which, on repeated impacts, rupture. At the end of this torture, the skin on the back hangs in long shreds, and the whole place turns into a continuous bloody mess. When the centurion directing this execution sees that the prisoner is close to death, the scourging finally stops.
Christ, who is in a semi-conscious state, is untied, and he falls on the stones, covered with his blood. The Roman soldiers decide to make fun of this provincial Jew who claims to be a king. They throw clothes over his shoulders and put a stick in his hands as a scepter. But you still need a crown to complete this fun. They take a small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns (usually used for campfires) and weave a wreath which they put on his head. And again there is profuse bleeding, because there is a dense network of blood vessels on the head. After scoffing and smashing his face, the legionnaires take the cane from him and hit him on the head so that the thorn thorns cut even deeper into the skin. Tired, finally, of this sadistic fun, they rip off his clothes. It has already stuck to the blood clots on the wounds and its tearing off, as well as the careless removal of the surgical bandage, causes excruciating pain, almost the same as if it were whipped again, and the wounds begin to bleed again. Out of respect for Jewish tradition, the Romans return his clothes to him. The heavy tree of the cross is tied to his shoulders and the procession, consisting of the condemned Christ, two robbers and a detachment of Roman legionnaires, led by a centurion, begins its slow procession to Golgotha. Despite Christ's best efforts to walk straight, he fails and stumbles and falls, as the wooden cross is too heavy and much blood has been lost. The rough surface of the wood rips at the skin on the shoulders. Jesus tries to get up, but his strength leaves him. The centurion, showing impatience, forces a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was walking from the field, to stand up and carry the cross instead of Jesus, who, in a cold sweat and losing a lot of blood, tries to go himself. The path, about 600 meters long, from the Antonia Fortress to Golgotha ​​has finally been completed. The prisoner's clothes are again torn off, leaving only a loincloth, which was allowed for the Jews.
The crucifixion begins, and Christ is offered to drink wine mixed with myrrh, a weakly anesthetic mixture. He refuses her. Simon is ordered to put the cross on the ground and then they quickly put Christ back on the cross. The legionary shows some confusion before he drives a heavy, square, hammered nail into his wrist and nail it to the cross. He quickly does the same with the other hand, being careful not to pull too hard to give him some freedom of movement. The tree of the cross is then raised and planted on top of the leg of the cross, after which a tablet is nailed with the inscription: Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews.
The left foot is pressed from above to the right with the fingers down and the nail is driven into the instep of the feet, leaving the knees slightly bent. The crucifixion of the victim is complete. His body hangs on nails driven into his wrist, which causes excruciating, unbearable pain that radiates to the fingers and pierces the arm and brain - a nail driven into the wrist presses on the median nerve. Trying to reduce the unbearable pain, he rises, transferring the weight of his body to his legs, nailed to the cross. And again, burning pain pierces the nerve endings located between the metatarsal bones of the foot.
At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As fatigue builds up in the arms, waves of spasms travel through the muscles, leaving knots of relentless, throbbing pain in their wake. And these cramps make it impossible for him to lift his body. Due to the fact that the body is completely hanging on the hands, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed, and the intercostal muscles cannot contract. Air can be inhaled, but not exhaled. Jesus struggles to pull himself up on his hands to take even a small breath of air. As a result of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood, convulsions partially weaken, and it becomes possible to rise and exhale, in order to then receive a saving breath of air. Undoubtedly, it is during this period of time that he utters several short phrases that are given in Holy Scripture.
He utters the first phrase when he looks at the Roman soldiers who divided his clothes, casting lots: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
The second, when he addresses the repentant thief: "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
The third, when he sees his mother in the crowd and the grief-stricken young apostle John: "Here is your son, O woman." And: "Here is your mother."
The fourth, which is the first stanza of Psalm 22: My God! My God! Why did you leave me?"
Hours of unceasing torment come, convulsions pierce his body, suffocation attacks arise, every movement is given with burning pain when he tries to rise, as the wounds on his back are again torn against the surface of the cross. This is followed by another agony: severe squeezing pain occurs in the chest due to the fact that the blood serum slowly fills the space around the heart, squeezing the heart. Let's remember the words from Psalm 21 (verse 15): "I have been poured out like water; all my bones have been scattered; my heart has become like wax; it has melted in the midst of my bowels." It's almost over
- fluid loss in the body has reached a critical point - a constricted heart is still trying to pump thick and viscous blood through the vessels, exhausted lungs make a desperate attempt to draw in at least a little air. Excessive dehydration of tissues brings excruciating suffering.
Jesus lets out a cry, "I'm thirsty!" is his fifth sentence.
Let us recall another verse of the prophetic 21st Psalm: "My strength is dried up like a shard; my tongue clung to my throat, and You reduced me to the dust of death."
A sponge dipped in the cheap, sour wine Posca, which was in use among the Roman legionnaires, is brought to his lips. He apparently didn't drink anything. The suffering of Christ reaches its extreme point, he feels the cold breath of approaching death. And he utters his sixth phrase, which is not just a lament in death throes: "It is done."
His mission of atonement for human sins is completed, and he can accept death.
With one last effort, he again rests on his broken feet, straightens his knees, takes a breath and utters his seventh and final phrase: "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit!"
The rest is known: Not wanting to darken the Sabbath before Easter, the Jews asked that the executed be removed from the crosses. The common method used to complete an execution by crucifixion was the breaking of the shins. Then the victim will no longer be able to rise on his feet, and due to the great tension in the muscles of the chest, suffocation occurs. The legs of the two robbers were broken, but when the soldiers approached Jesus, they saw that this was no longer necessary, and thus the Scripture came true: "let his bone not be broken." One of the soldiers, wanting to make sure that Christ died, pierced his body in the area of ​​the fifth intercostal space towards the heart. John 19:34 says, "and immediately blood and water gushed out of the wound." This suggests that the water came out of the volume around the heart, and the blood - from the pierced heart. Thus, we have quite convincing posthumous evidence that our Lord died not the usual death at the crucifixion - from suffocation, but from heart failure due to shock and compression of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.
So, we have seen the evil that a person is capable of in relation to another person and to God. This is a very ugly picture that makes a depressing impression. How grateful we should be to God for His mercy to man - the miracle of atonement for sins and the expectation of Easter morning!