The Passion
Introduction
The Roman Empire, a powerhouse of ideas, inventions, and innovations of the ancient world, is believed to have been the modern West’s foundation. Our language, worldview, laws, and political structure have their foundations from this great Empire, believed to have been the most influential one in human history.
During its golden age, also known as Pax Romana, the vast Roman Empire’s territory encompassed three different continents and its citizens lived in a prosperous and peaceful stability. Its extensive, safe road networks allowed for the fast and wide spread of innovation, knowledge, and information for 200 years.
It was also during this age that surged the most influential historical figure in history: Jesus of Nazareth.
Who was Jesus of Nazareth?
Jesus’ name is Yeshua (ישוע) in Hebrew, which translates to English as Joshua. It is a shortened form of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, meaning “Yahweh saves” or “salvation”. “Jesus” is a transliteration through Greek (Iesous) and Latin (Iesus), While “Christ” comes from the Greek word Christos, the equivalent of the Hebrew “Messiah” designating the “anointed one” or “chosen one.” The title refers to prophetic passages in the Old Testament, that refer to a coming Messiah who would deliver His people (e.g., Isaiah 61:1, Daniel 9:26), a title Jesus claimed for himself (John 4:25-26).
Though there are no archaeological traces of his physical remains, except for the Shroud of Turin, believed to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, historians agree on his existence as many archaeological and historical proofs of his existence pertain in historical records. Discoveries from the first century, such as the Pilate Stone, the Pool of Siloam, and the Caiaphas ossuary, confirm the historical and geographical context of the Gospels; the first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) detailing the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Textual evidence outside of these four books include non-Christian historians like Tacitus and Josephus, who confirm his life and execution.
While most of Jesus’ early years remain a mystery, he is said to have lived between 6-4 BC and AD 30-33. He was a Jewish carpenter who started his ministry at around 30 years old, and died at 33, crucified by the order of Roman official Pontus Pilatus. His death was a demand made by Jewish religious authorities (sadducees and Pharisees), who trialed and accused Jesus of claiming to be the King of the Jews, the Messiah, and the Son of God, which was considered a blasphemy by Jewish law. since it meant claiming divine nature which can only be a title held by Yahweh (God). This led to him being handed over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who authorized the crucifixion when pressured by the crowd and religious figures:
22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
23 Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”
—Mathew 27:22-24
Following his trial, Jesus endured a brutal sequence of physical torture. He was subjected to the Roman flagrum (39 lashes), which severely lacerated his body. In mockery of his “kingship,”, he was robed in royal purple and crowned with a helmet of thorns. Historical and forensic analysis suggests these thorns caused deep cranial punctures and pierced one of his eyes.
Jesus was then forced to carry a patibulum (crossbeam) weighing approximately 75kg over a distance of 600 meters. While a healthy person could walk this in ten minutes, his weakened state turned the journey into an hour-long ordeal. Because he replaced the insurrectionist Barabbas, he was nailed to a cross designed for a different man using 11.5cm iron spikes. The weight of his body suspended from the wood caused a progressive series of dislocations—first in the shoulders, then the elbows and wrists. Forensic measurements from the Shroud suggest these dislocations elongated his arms by around 9 inches.
The Physiology of Crucifixion
Crucifixion was designed as a “lingering death,” primarily through asphyxiation rather than blood loss. To maximize suffering, the victim’s body was placed in a position that made breathing a conscious, agonizing effort:
Muscle Fatigue: Jesus’ knees were flexed at a 45-degree angle, forcing his thigh muscles to bear his entire weight. This position is impossible to maintain, leading quickly to severe cramping and anatomical collapse.
Respiratory Distress: The traction on the upper limbs pulled the rib cage upward and outward. This kept the chest wall in a state of “maximal inspiration” (inhaling), making it physically impossible to exhale naturally.
The Struggle for Air: To expire air, Jesus had to push his entire weight down onto the nails in his feet to lift his torso. This movement allowed the rib cage to move downward and inward briefly.
The Final Agony
The victim was trapped in a lethal cycle: they had to move up and down the cross—a distance of about 30.5cm—for every single breath. With every upward movement, the raw, flagellated flesh of his back was scraped against the jagged wood splinters of the cross, compounding the respiratory failure with excruciating physical pain.
To accelerate death, Roman soldiers would often perform crurifragium, the breaking of the victim’s legs. Once the knees were shattered, the victim could no longer push themselves upward to exhale, leading to rapid suffocation within minutes.
In Jesus’ case, the Gospels record that his legs were not broken because he appeared to be already dead. To confirm this, a Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear, an act that resulted in a flow of “blood and water.” Medically, this suggests the spear pierced the pericardium or pleura, confirming that his heart had failed under the extreme physiological stress of the ordeal.
Post-Resurrection Accounts
The period following the reported crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is characterized by a surge of “post-resurrection” accounts that served as the primary catalyst for the early Christian movement. According to the canonical Gospels and the writings of Paul the Apostle, Jesus appeared to a diverse range of individuals and groups over a forty-day period. Records indicate the appearances went beyond simple spectral appearances: he ate with his followers, invited them to touch his wounds, and provided final theological instructions. Beyond the core group of disciples, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, written within twenty to thirty years of the events, claims that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred people at once. Scholars often note that the geographical spread of these sightings across Judea and Galilee, reported by thousands of early adherents, presented a significant challenge to local authorities attempting to suppress the nascent sect.
A central point of analysis for historians and sociologists of religion is the radical transformation of the apostles following these reported encounters. Prior to the resurrection accounts, the disciples are depicted as a fearful, scattered group; however, they shortly thereafter emerged as bold public orators. A compelling argument for the sincerity of their belief lies in their eventual fates. Secular and ecclesiastical history records that nearly all of the original apostles faced execution for refusing to recant their testimony. Traditional accounts indicate that Peter was crucified in Rome, James was beheaded in Jerusalem, and Thomas was martyred in India. From a scholarly perspective, while the supernatural nature of the resurrection remains a matter of faith, the “martyrdom of the eyewitnesses” is often cited as evidence that the original proponents were not consciously perpetuating a fabrication, as individuals rarely submit to torture and death for a known lie.
During this forty-day interval, the accounts describe Jesus shifting the focus of his ministry from public parables to the specific commission of his followers. The “Great Commission” instructed the disciples to expand their message beyond the Jewish borders into the entire Roman world. This period concluded with the Ascension, an event reported to have taken place on the Mount of Olives. In the aftermath, the movement transitioned from a localized group of mourners into an organized mission that utilized the very Roman infrastructure, the safe roads and common Greek language, to spread their claims. This transition from a reported physical presence to an institutional mission laid the groundwork for what would become the dominant religious and cultural force of the Western world.
“Fun” Facts
The instrument used to whip Jesus was built of multiple leather cords that would commonly have metal balls woven into the leather, pieces of broken pottery, glass, nails, bone, or twisted metal at the end of each strand, a design made to inflict maximum pain and blood loss. Each lash would rip out large pieces of flesh, essentially exposing the skeletal muscles completely.
Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 479 B.C. and perfected by the Romans in 100 B.C. It is the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term “excruciating.”
According to the early biblical scholar Origen and other commentators, the full name of Barabbas (the criminal who was released, and in whose cross Jesus was crucified) may have been Jesus Barabbas, since Jesus was a common first name. If so, the crowd was presented with a choice between two persons with the same name. In Hebrew, the name Barabbas means “son of the father,” and it is believed to be a symbol of Jesus taking humanity’s place on the cross. If his name truly was “Jesus Barabbas,” then his full name would’ve meant “Yahweh saves” the “son of the Father.”
Sources
- Wikipedia: Roman Empire
- https://ideas.time.com/2013/12/10/whos-biggest-the-100-most-significant-figures-in-history/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_for_the_historicity_of_Jesus
- Roy, Kaushik (2014). Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Studies in Military History.
- Dark, Ken (2023). Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth. Oxford University Press. pp. 150–152.
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shroud-of-Turin
- https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/did-jesus-exist/
- https://www.citieschurch.com/sermons/the-suffering-of-jesus
- The Autopsy of Jesus: Why He Died so Brutally; by Chris Pennington
- Frederick Zugibe, 2005, The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry Evans Publishing
- https://www.raydowning.com/blog/2023/2/20/how-far-did-jesus-walk?srsltid=AfmBOop-bo2CCVKG5QIooZLr9AMY6skN_3f-xVYrHi4kl2adGxYuIKTN
- https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Barabbas.html
- https://www.learnreligions.com/holy-week-timeline-700618
- Anatomical Crucifixion (James Legg), 1801
- https://jesus-themessiah.com/passion-of-christ/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332449405_The_clinical_anatomy_of_crucifixion
- https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/are-the-accounts-of-the-resurrection-contradictory/
- https://www.magiscenter.com/blog/5-historical-ways-of-verifying-jesus-resurrection
- The Anatomical And Physiological Details Of Death By Crucifixion By Dr. C. Truman Davis A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion. From New Wine Magazine, April 1982.
