Matthew 27:26, 28–31 (ESV)
Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. … And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
So, as I understand it, by the time Jesus was finished pulling an all-nighter, and then being tried by Pilate, he was a bit low on fluids. Still, he wasn’t severely dehydrated.
Right. Then Jesus got scourged. Matthew 27:26 says that Pilate had Jesus scourged before delivering Him to be crucified.
And this was unique to Jesus?
Not that part, but then the guards in charge decide to have a little fun.
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. — Matthew 27:28–31(ESV)
Scourging was a normal crucifixion practice, but the scarlet robe wasn’t. When they stripped Jesus to put on the robe, they ripped off all the blood clots on his back. That made him bleed more. The crown of thorns cost him some blood too. Then they stripped him of the robe, ripping off the blood clots again.
So, you’re saying that Jesus is now significantly worse off than the average lasetase who’s about to be crucified.
Exactly, the average lasetase also didn’t skip drinking the night before, and didn’t stay up all night. They got scourged too, but that’s all. They’re plenty bad off, but not like Jesus.
This explains what happens next. Jesus is now weaker than they expected Him to be. That’s a problem—not for Jesus, but for the centurion in charge of crucifying Him.
How’s that?
The centurion’s job is to kill people by crucifixion. They can have all the sadistic “fun” they want with the condemned, but the point of the whole thing is for other people to see them suffer crucifixion. Nailing a corpse up just won’t do. He had better deliver the condemned to the cross alive or he’ll have to answer for it. Then Jesus collapses.
Suddenly, the centurion needs to think fast. Jesus won’t make it to the cross at all if He has to carry his cross up the hill to Golgotha. Then the centurion spots a solution.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. — Luke 23:26 (ESV)
Okay, that pretty much fits.
Jesus barely makes it to the cross alive, and then doesn’t live long. Frederick T. Zugibe, in his 2005 book The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry describes (on page 131) how dehydration played a key role in crucifixion. People got super thirsty on the cross, partly because of the scourging. That thirst might even be most torturous part of the whole thing. Jesus said He was thirsty just before He died.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” — John 19:28 (ESV)
Zugibe concludes that Jesus died of hypovolemic shock.
What’s hypovolemic shock?
Blood loss and dehydration. When you lose more than 20 percent of your body’s normal blood or fluid supply, your heart can’t pump enough blood to keep you alive.
Later, the Roman soldiers noticed that Jesus was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs. That’s important; because it fulfills Psalm 34:20.
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (ESV)
Even the soldiers who put the scarlet robe on Jesus helped fulfill prophecy. God had it all planned out. Using science, we can see how the whole sequence of events fits together perfectly. Modern forensic pathology adds to our understanding of ancient scriptures.
I see how all that fits together, but that’s a long way from establishing the resurrection.
Yeah, I still need to do that. See you tomorrow.
