Was Jesus’ Death a Sham and His Resurrection a Hoax
Interview #10: Alexander Metherell, M.D., PH.D.
The Torture Before the Cross
- Jesus sweat blood as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. This medical phenomena is known as hematidrosis, and is associated with a high degree of psychological stress.
- Roman floggings were terribly brutal. A soldier’s whip would consist of braided leather thongs with metal balls and sharp bones woven into them.
- A typical flogging was 39 lashes, but frequently were many more. The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep cuts. The whipping would have gone all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs.
- Victims of floggings often died before crucifixion. At the very least, the victim would experience extreme pain and go into hypovolemic shock.
- Hypovolemic shock occurs when you lose large amounts of blood. As a result, the heart races, blood pressure drops, causing fainting or collapse, kidneys stop producing urine, and the person becomes very thirsty as the body craves fluids to replace the lost blood volume.
The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.
Eusebius, A third-century historian
The Agony of the Cross
- Spikes five to seven inches long would be driven into the wrists. This would crush the median nerve causing excruciating pain.
- The stress of hanging on the cross would immediately dislocate both shoulders.
The Cause of Death
- Crucifixion is essentially an agonizing slow death by asphyxiation.
- Stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position. In order to exhale, the individual must push up on their feet so that the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment.
- As a person slows down his breathing, he goes into respiratory acidosis—the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid causing irregular heartbeat.
- With an erratic heartbeat, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, “Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And then he would have died of cardiac arrest.
- Hypovolemic shock would have caused a sustained rapid heartbeat, contributing to heart failure, and resulting in a collection of fluid in the membrane around the heard and lungs.
- When the Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side, this fluid would have come gushing out like “water,” followed by a large volume of blood.