John 19:31–33 (ESV)
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
So they broke the legs of the two lasetases Jesus was crucified with. What did they break their legs with? A bulldozer? Leg bones are big; they don’t break easy.
Good question. Plus, legs have very large blood vessels in them. Breaking leg bones with something like a club (or a bulldozer) invariably tears open many large veins and arteries. They’ll die of hypovolemic shock in minutes.
Makes sense.
In a way, finishing off the two thieves by breaking their legs was merciful. Dehydration is uniquely agonizing. Zugibe says that people dying of thirst go absolutely nuts. Also, the wounds from the nails will be getting infected soon. The road up to Golgotha was covered in every kind of dirt imaginable. The nails drove that filth through their skin and into their bloodstream.
As painful as getting scourged and then nailed to a cross was, the next day held even greater misery.
I get it. It’s even more obvious that this would “make the trains run on time.” But how does that support your belief in the resurrection?
Excellent; now we’re getting somewhere. I set all this up to refute a common theory for how Jesus might not have actually risen from the dead—the swoon theory. According to the swoon theory, Jesus didn’t die on the cross; He was just unconscious. Later, He revived in the cool of the tomb.
Makes sense to me. Why are you so sure that isn’t what happened?
Because crucifixion produces catastrophic injuries. Hypovolemic shock doesn’t make you pass out; it causes organ failure. Even if someone is taken down from the cross after their heart has stopped pumping blood, they’re not going to recover. A modern hospital couldn’t have revived Jesus; a tomb had nothing.
And, don’t forget, He wasn’t exactly rushed to the tomb. Look at how He got there.
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. — John 19:38 (ESV)
Even if Jesus was only unconscious when everyone thought He was dead, He had to hang there a long time while Joseph got Pilate’s permission to take the body. Then there some further injury from being removed from the cross and carried to the tomb. Revival seems incredibly far-fetched at that point.
Not as far-fetched as resurrection. One is possible and the other is not.
Okay, that is the key. The resurrection is a miracle. If miracles are impossible, then any alternative, no matter how unlikely, is still the answer. That’s like the famous quote from Sherlock Holmes (actually Arthur Conan Doyle).
“When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”
Yes. That’s my point.
Well, there are some other noteworthy bit of evidence to reduce the plausibility of the swoon theory. One is that Jesus wasn’t merely alive later; He was walking around normally. The eyewitnesses—the ones who saw Him walking around normally—were absolutely convinced that Jesus is the Lord of the universe. No amount of torture could get them to recant. Then they went out and turned the world upside down.
I’ll conclude today’s lesson with a masterful summary by D.F. Strauss:
“It is impossible that a being who had been stolen half-dead out of the sepulchre, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening, and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to his sufferings, could have given the disciples the impression that he was a conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life: an impression which lay at the bottom of their future ministry.”
That’s nice, but you’re up against proving the impossible. I’m still not convinced.
And I’m still not done.
See you tomorrow.
