How Did Jesus Die?

Around the world there are some amazing cities. Like here in New York with massive skyscrapers and statues. Some cities are more quaint like my home town in Dublin City! But regardless, all these cities are full with images and symbols. Some symbols can be really complex like confusing road signs that you just can’t get your head around. Other symbols though can be really simple like your favourite team’s crest or an iconic logo. Each one is trying to communicate something to us. There are some symbols we hate to see, like when we look down at our phones and see the dreaded 1% battery! Nooooo But other symbols bring happiness... like that moment when you’re out and suddenly get the urge to relieve yourself. You look around for a symbol of hope and then, when you see it, you do that awkward run towards freedom! Whether you live in a big city or even a town, amongst all other images and symbols you’ll likely find a symbol of a cross. It might be on a church, high rise building, or just around people’s necks. This Christian symbol carries with it a meaning. It speaks of a story that is still being told. A story about Jesus' Death. A story that matters to millions of people today. And while the symbol of the cross speaks of Jesus’ death, the story doesn’t end there. The tomb he was put in was found empty. So what happened? Where did the body go? There are many possibilities to explain what happened the weekend of Jesus' death. Let’s look at four possibilities. One, Jesus survived crucifixion and fooled people into thinking he was resurrected. Two, the Roman or Religious authorities took the body away. Three, the disciples stole it and then hid it. and four, Jesus was actually resurrected from the dead. Let’s start with the crucifixion. Could Jesus have survived it? While many understand Jesus’ significance today, he wasn’t special in the eyes of the Roman Empire. They were taking over the known world and Jesus was just another rebel, another revolutionary who had to be dealt with. He wasn’t the first and he wouldn’t be the last. The Romans had developed the most horrific and painful form of torture to deal with crime and rebellion. Once arrested, the guilty would be stripped, humiliated, beaten and flogged, a punishment so brutal and severe that many prisoners didn’t even survive it. You see it wasn’t just enough to simply end their lives, they had to do so in a way that would put fear into the hearts of those around them, especially those who followed them. Their enemies had to die painfully and slowly. Practice makes perfect and by the time they got their hands on Jesus, they had created what they would consider to be their masterpiece: crucifixion. Those who had the misfortune of surviving the flogging had to carry their cross, that they would be nailed to, through their wrists and ankles. This was usually done in a public place, like a crossroad, where they would hang as a symbol. A symbol that told the common people that the accused was defeated, and that Rome always wins. The wounds themselves were not actually what killed the victims though. Death would come eventually through heart failure as it struggled to pump blood; from an impossible body position to limbs that were nailed to wood; but had no way of holding the body up straight. In his Gospel, John describes Jesus’ final moments and writes that Jesus breathed His last. To make sure he was dead, a Roman centurion stabbed him in the side and, when he did, blood and water poured out. This might seem like an unimportant detail but it’s actually crucial. What John didn’t known then is that we know now because of the likes of the Irish Scientist Samuel Haughton. In the nineteenth century his research proved that when the left side of a body is pierced by a blade after death, water followed by the flow of blood proved and confirmed that fluid had built up around the heart and that the heart had stopped. John didn’t know the science. He just knew what he saw. And what he saw was that Jesus was dead. The idea that Jesus never died on the cross asks us to believe that a man could survive Roman flogging, a crucifixion from the world’s most professional execution force, a spear through his heart, push away a huge stone, fight his way past a small army of guards and then appear to his disciples as the picture of health. This explanation also requires Jesus to be the greatest con man of all, creating the greatest lie... Christianity.