Jesus then went out to the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives, and spent the remaining hours of the night in great travail of soul, and in prayer while the disciples slept. He was betrayed by Judas and taken by the chief priest and captain down to the high priest's house. Here He was mocked and mistreated until morning came. Following this He was quizzed and further mistreated and falsely accused.
A trial was held, which was entirely illegal, and which resulted in His being passed back and forth between Herod and Pilate, neither one of whom wanted to have anything to do with the matter. Finally Pilate gave assent that He should be crucified. By this time Jesus must have been greatly fatigued, and when He was forced to carry the cross on which He was to be crucified, He became so exhausted that He could not continue. Assistance was given by a Cyrenian by the name of Simon, who had come in from the country.
The procession, composed of His followers and His enemies, came to a place called Golgotha, where He was crucified by being nailed to a cross between two thieves, who were similarly crucified. During the next few hours a number of things occurred which need not be recited here. It seems clear, according to the record, that Jesus was Rot particularly interested in His own situation and in His own agony. He was most concerned over the welfare of those who immediately surrounded Him at the foot of the cross and over the welfare of all who had lived before that particular time, and those who were to be born and live from that time on until He came again. He knew full well that there was "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. He realized that these burdens, which were His, could not be transferred to someone else. He must go through with it. In the book Desire of Ages (pages 752, 753), we read:
"Christ was the prince of sufferers ; but His suffering was from a sense of the malignity of sin, a knowledge that through familiarity with evil, man had become blinded to its enormity. Christ saw how deep is the hold of sin upon the human heart, how few would be willing to break from its power. He knew that without- help from God, humanity must perish, and He saw multitudes perishing within reach of abundant help. . . So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt."
Here, then, we find Jesus, anatomically and physiologically a human being, hanging there on the cross, but with the greatest mental and emotional burden that anyone has ever endured. For you who have a knowledge of anatomy and physiology, it would not be difficult to imagine the terrific physiological reactions which had been occurring for many hours or many days, and which were probably significantly increased during the few hours which He spent on the cross. Then all at once, and obviously to the surprise of everyone, He called out, "It is finished," and immediately died.
Various opinions have been offered concerning the actual cause of the death of our Lord. Three rather popular opinions exist: 1. He took His own life. 2. An angel caused His death. 3. The fact that He was nailed to the cross caused His death. The first hypothesis is entirely against Scripture. He could have saved His life, but He gave it as a sacrifice for sinners. He Himself said that He was to die the death of the cross, and it is recorded that He was killed by His enemies. This reasoning also eliminates the second hypothesis, namely, that an angel caused His death.
Concerning death from crucifixion, there is much recorded information. Crucifixion in those days was not an uncommon thing. From the most accurate reports available, it is quite clear that in these cases death was the result either of exposure to the elements, starvation, infection, or a combination of these factors. Therefore, the average person who died from crucifixion remained alive on the cross for days, even up to two or more weeks, depending upon the particular circumstances involved. Those who were old, weak, and poorly nourished died sooner than those who were young, strong, and well nourished. Therefore, it is quite understandable to find that the soldiers and others were surprised and puzzled when Christ died so soon and so suddenly.
A rather common statement is made that Christ died of a broken heart. If the evidence which has been given is to receive- consideration, one can reasonably assume that this statement, "He died of a broken heart," may not be far wrong, and that this break was actual and not just an expression of thought. In support of this opinion is the Scriptural record of a very superficial postmortem examination. Finding Christ dead, one of the soldiers thrust his spear into His side, and according to the description blood and water came forth. This could well have been the contents of the pericardial sac, into which a considerable volume of blood would run following the rupture of the heart itself, or of the first portion of the aorta.
This particular phenomenon is well recognized in the field of medicine, and death is produced by what is called cardiac tamponade, which means that the accumulation of blood in the pericardium prevents further action of the heart, and death is an immediate result. Some time ago I read a comment in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Aug. 5, 1933, p. 452) in regard to this subject of spontaneous rupture of the heart and aorta, a selection from which is apropos:
"The consensus seems to be that the rupture in most cases, though primarily due to some pathologic condition of the aorta, is immediately caused in nearly all cases, except those due to traumatic accidents, by something that increases the arterial pressure. The most frequent causes are strain, sudden muscular effort, hypertrophy of the heart, passions, and similar incidents. Rupture occurs in the greatest percentage of cases near the heart somewhere below the arch, and is intrapericardial in most instances."
Medical literature contains many reports of death due to the following sequence of events: ( 1) extreme emotional reaction, or, as mentioned in the above-quoted article, "passion"; (2) a marked rise in arterial pressure; (3) an intro-pericardial rupture with death from cardiac tamponade. The series of events in the case of Jesus could well fit into this picture.
I trust that this discussion, which emphasizes the humanity of Christ, also emphasizes the great sacrifice which the Son of God made in our behalf. From now on our vision is toward the future. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9 :28.
