By Dr. Bill Blanke
CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE
Sometime in the afternoon on Good Friday, I will continue my personal tradition of watching the 2004 Mel Gibson film, “The Passion of the Christ.” I don’t watch horror movies like I did when I was younger. Why do I watch this movie?
I want to remember what Jesus willingly endured for us. Some are moved by visiting Pearl Harbor, Civil War battlefields, the Holocaust Museum and the 9/11 Memorials. We go to remember.
On Palm Sunday, we heard that after Pilate “had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.” On Good Friday, we will hear “then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged” and later “he handed him over to them to be crucified.” While other movies have shown details of scourging and crucifixion, “The Passion of the Christ” is admittedly the most brutal that I have seen. I watch so that I can remember.
No first century Christian listening to apostolic teaching would need details of scourging and crucifixion because they had firsthand knowledge. The Romans did not invent these practices, but they had perfected them as forms of torture and slow death. During medical school, I read an article, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” with details of what Jesus endured on Good Friday. I have also read “A Doctor at Calvary,” by Pierre Barbet, M.D., a 1953 book that is a summary of this surgeon’s analysis of the markings on The Shroud of Turin.
I will share some of the details that touch me. Deuteronomy 25:3 limits the number of scourging “stripes” to 40, and later rabbinic interpretations limited the number to 39 in case there was an error in counting. Jesus did not receive a Jewish scourging, however; Pilate handed Him over to Roman soldiers, who did not follow any limits. Scourging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution and was intended to weaken the victim. That scene in the movie is the toughest for me to watch.
After scourging, the victim needed to carry the patibulum, or crossbar, to the place of execution. Unlike what is depicted in this and other movies – as well as Stations of the Cross – Jesus did not likely carry a full cross. The stipes, or upright beam, was anchored in the ground for repeated crucifixions; therefore, only the crossbar needed to be carried as illustrated by the two criminals crucified next to Jesus in Gibson’s film. The severity of the scourging Jesus received led to Simon of Cyrene being forced to help carry the patibulum.
At Golgotha, Jesus’ hands were nailed to the patibulum. The location of the nails was not in the middle of the palm as normally depicted. The flesh of the hand would tear with the body’s weight once the patibulum was lifted onto the stipes with a nail in the palm; therefore, the nail was placed in the wrist between or below the wrist bones. Once suspended from the cross, the feet would then be nailed to the stipes. Medically speaking, the wrist is part of the hand, so Psalm 22:16 is accurate, “they have pierced my hands and feet.”
While being suspended on the cross, Jesus could pull Himself upright with His wrists while pushing up with His feet in order to take a deep breath, but this would increase pain. Jesus was able to do so as He continued to teach and minister with His Seven Last Words. Jesus likely died of a combination of scourging, blood loss, exhaustion and asphyxiation when He could no longer lift Himself to fill his lungs with oxygen. Mark 15:44 is the only Gospel that indicates Pilate was surprised when he learned Jesus died so quickly, as a crucifixion was intended to cause death over two to three days, not six hours.
These are only a few of the medical details of Christ’s Passion. Regardless of whether you watch “The Passion of the Christ,” I pray this gives you a clearer picture of what Jesus willingly chose to do for you and for me. I want to remember.