Marred and Disfigured Beyond Human Likeness

“Never was living beauty so enchanting as a dying Savior.” – C.H. Spurgeon

What did the body of Jesus of Nazareth actually endure before and during His crucifixion?

It is reasonable to assume that Jesus was in good health prior to the ordeal that He faced in the hours before His death. Having been a carpenter and traveling throughout the land during His ministry would have required Him to be in good physical condition. Before the crucifixion, however, He was forced to walk 2.5 miles over a sleepless night, during which He suffered great anguish through His six trials, was mocked, ridiculed and severely beaten, and was abandoned by His friends and Father.

Of medical significance is that Luke mentions Jesus as having sweat like blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. The medical term for this ("hemohidrosis" or "hematidrosis") has been seen in patients who have experienced extreme stress or shock to their systems. The capillaries around the sweat pores become fragile and leak blood into the sweat.

Some sources state that it was Roman law that a condemned criminal had to be flogged first. Others believe that Jesus was flogged by Pilate in the hope of getting Him off with a lighter punishment. Regardless of when or why the flogging took place, Jesus suffered a severe physical beating. During a flogging, a victim was tied to a post, leaving his back entirely exposed. The Romans used a whip, called a flagrum or flagellum, which consisted of small pieces of bone and metal attached to leather strands.

The number of strikes is not recorded in the gospels. However, the number of blows in Jewish law was set in Deuteronomy 25:3 at forty (later reduced to 39 to prevent excessive blows by a counting error). The victim often died from the beating, during which the skin was stripped from his back, exposing a bloody mass of muscle and bone. The result was extreme blood loss which weakened the victim. perhaps to the point of being unconscious.

The Roman soldiers stripped Jesus, put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. The thorns may have been 1 to 2 inches long. The gospels state that the Roman soldiers continued to beat Jesus on the head. The blows would have driven the thorns into His scalp – one of the most vascular areas of the body – and forehead, causing severe bleeding.

After His beating, Jesus was led through the crowded streets carrying the crossbar of the cross (called a patibulum) across His shoulders. The crossbar probably weighed between 80 to 110 pounds.

Jesus was then crucified. Crucifixion was a practice that originated with the Persians and was later passed on to the Carthaginians and the Phoenicians. The Romans perfected it as a method of execution which caused maximum pain and suffering over a prolonged period of time. Those crucified included slaves, provincials, and the lowest types of criminals. Roman citizens, except perhaps for soldiers who deserted, were not subjected to this treatment.

Time and space do not allow me to describe in further detail the physical suffering and agony that Jesus experienced as the nails were driven into His hands and feet or as He labored for every breath He took for the six long hours He hung on the cross… not to mention the spiritual, mental, and emotional anguish He endured from being separated from His Father while He bore the sins of the entire world.

Suffice it to say that He was completely unrecognizable… and yet, never more beautiful.

"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 50:6

"..... Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness" Isaiah 52:14

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President