The Crucifixion and Events
Surrounding It
In spite of His efforts to walk erect, the weight of the
heavy wooden beam, together with the loss of blood,
was too much. Jesus stumbled and fell. The rough
wood of the beam gouged into His lacerated skin and
shoulder muscles. He tried to rise, but human muscles
had been pushed beyond their endurance. An
onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, was then selected to carry
the beam for Jesus. After reaching Golgotha, Jesus was
again stripped of His clothing except for His loincloth.
The crucifixion began.
Jesus was offered a mild pain-relieving mixture — wine
mixed with myrrh — but He refused the drink. Simon
was ordered to place the cross bar on the ground, and
Jesus was quickly thrown backward with His bare and
bleeding shoulders against the wood.
The solider felt for the small , weak area at the front of
the wrist and pounded a heavy, square wrought-iron
nail through the wrist and deeply into the wood. He
quickly moved to the other side and repeated the
action, careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to
allow some movement.
The cross bar was then lifted into place at the top of the
horizontal wooden beam, and the sign reading “Jesus
of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was nailed into place.
The left foot was pressed backward against the right
foot. With both feet extended, toes down, a nail was
driven through the arch of each. This left the knees
slightly flexed. Jesus was now crucified.
As the body of Jesus slowly sagged down, it placed
more weight on the nails in His wrists. Excruciating,
fiery pain shot along His fingers and up His arms
exploding in His brain. The nails in the wrists put
pressure on the median nerve — large nerve trunks
which travel through the mid-wrist and hand. As Jesus
pushed Himself up to avoid this stretching torment, He
had to place His full weight on the nail through His feet.
Again, He experienced searing agony as the nail tore
through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of
His feet.
As His arms grew tired, great waves of cramps swept
over the muscles and knotted them in deep, throbbing
pain. When these cramps overcame Him, Jesus was
unable to push Himself upward. Hanging by the arm,
His pectoral muscles (the large muscles of the chest)
were paralyzed. The intercostals muscles (the small
muscles between the ribs) were unable to move. Air
could be drawn into the lungs, but couldn’t be exhaled.
Jesus fought to raise Himself in order to get even one
short breath. Finally, the carbon dioxide level increased
in His lungs and bloodstream, and the cramps would
partially subside.
Very spasmodically, Jesus was able to push Himself
upward to exhale and bring in oxygen. It was probably
during these periods that He spoke the seven short
sentences uttered while dying on the Cross.
Know It!
