Over the years, you may have heard or read of various possible physical causes for Jesus’ death at His crucifixion. Such as: a broken heart, a spear thrust in His side, multiple wounds, suffocation, exposure, heart failure, exhaustion, poison. The apostle Paul affirmed in 1Co.15:3, “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures”. In so doing, Jesus fulfilled Bible prophecies about His death. We’ll examine what the scriptures reflect in regards to physical factors associated with His death.
Ancient historians too have verified that Jesus lived and died. Jewish historian Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 18:3:3 “Jesus, a wise man…Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified”. In 117 AD, Roman historian Tacitus Annals 15.44 “Christus, from whom the name [Christian] had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate”. Jesus was a known historical figure.
Crucifixion was a slow, painful, humiliating execution. The sufferer was nailed or tied to a large wooden cross or pole, and left to hang until dead. It could take two or more days for the victim to die! Crucifixion was used by the Persians ca 500 BC, and ‘perfected’ by the Romans ca 100 BC. It was their common method for executing condemned criminals, rebels and traitors.
Flogging or scourging would usually precede the crucifixion. The whip (flagrum) consisted of leather strips, with pieces of bone, metal and stone tied in. It could rip out chunks of flesh, exposing muscles & bones. David prophesied of Jesus in Ps.22:17, “I can count all My bones. People stare at Me.” The victim would then carry or drag the crossbeam to the execution site where the stake was in the ground.
“According to the scriptures.” Is.52:14 “His appearance was marred more than any man.” Is.53:5 “He was wounded for our transgressions. And by His scourging we are healed.” Jesus is at the Jewish high priest’s residence in Mk.14:65. “Some began to spit at Him, to beat Him with their fists.” Mk.15:15-20 “Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on Him. And they kept beating His head with a staff and mocked Him.” Mt.27:26 “Pilate…Having scourged Jesus, handed Him over to be crucified.” Bleeding from multiple wounds, the crucifixion victim was nailed up. Ps.22:16 “They pierced My hands and My feet.”
The Roman victim might remain on the cross for days, slowly dying in agony. But not Jesus nor the two criminals crucified with Him that day in Judea (Lk.23:38-43)! De.21:22-23 “If a man commits a capital offense and is hanged on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree. You shall bury him the same day; that the land be not defiled.” A rotting corpse wasn’t to be left hanging in the air for birds to eat. So the Jewish leaders who framed Jesus wanted His (dead) body taken down before night.
Let’s now read what happened to Jesus while He was hanging on the cross, before His death that same day. The Bible doesn’t provide complete autopsy results, but does indicate the physical cause of death.
Mark’s gospel says they tried to give Jesus a wine drink mixed with myrrh, immediately prior to hanging Him up. Mk.15:22-25 “They offered Him wine [oínos Strongs g3631] mixed with myrrh [smurnízo g4669], but He didn’t take it.” The Greek term oinos g3631 occurs 33 times in the New Testament (NT). Pure myrrh (smúrna g4666) is a bitter yellowish tree resin. In the NT, the term myrrh g4666 occurs only in Mt.2:11 & Jn.19:39. The mixture or tincture of myrrh g4669 occurs only in Mk.15:23.
What was the nature of this drink (which Jesus initially refused)? Some think it was a mild painkiller provided by charitable women (Sanh 43a, ref Pr.31:6). Others think it was a medicated wine or narcotic to dull the pain, or sedate. Would the Roman soldiers have offered this mixture out of compassion? The late theologian and Anchor Bible commentator Raymond Brown, “Neither in fact nor in what we know of ancient pharmacology does myrrh serve as a narcotic. Perhaps the myrrh was only a flavoring and the wine used was thought to numb.” Myrrh would affect or alter the taste of the mix.
Matthew’s parallel account identifies another ingredient in this mix! Mt.27:33-35 “They gave him sour wine [óxos g3690] to drink mixed with gall [cholé g5521]. After tasting it, He wouldn’t drink it.” The term oxos g3690 occurs in 6 NT verses, all relative to Jesus’ crucifixion (Mt.27:34, 48; Mk.15:36; Lk.23:36; Jn.19:29-30). Oxos/sour wine g3690 was a variety, quality or adulteration of oinos/wine g3631, e.g. acrid wine or vinegar. Cheap wine or vinegar mixed with water was a common beverage. By itself, it wouldn’t be rejected as undrinkable. (However, vinegar is a stimulant, not a sedative!) So Matthew chose the Greek term oxos for this mixture, which had water with wine or vinegar as a base.
Combining the accounts of Mark & Matthew…the drink Jesus initially refused was wine mingled with myrrh and gall. The Greek term rendered gall is chole g5521. In the NT, this term occurs only here in Mt.27:34 and in Ac.8:23, where the apostle Peter said to Simon the magician, “I see you are in the gall [g5521] of bitterness and the bond of iniquity”. A few translations read, “…you are poisoned by bitterness.” Peoples NT Notes Ac.8:23 “The gall of reptiles was considered by the ancients the source of their venom.” Robertson Commentary “Peter describes Simon’s offer as poison and a chain.” Poison!? The term often used in ancient Greek poetry for poison is…chole/(gall) g5521!
We read in Mt.27:34 that Jesus didn’t drink the gall mixture then. V d Brink Commentary “In the LXX [gall/chole] has the meaning of poison (in Jb.20:14, Ps.69:21)….It is clear that offering wine mingled with poison must here be regarded as an act of mercy.” The Mt.27:34 margin refs Ps.69:21, to be fulfilled by Jesus. However, that Old Testament (OT) prophecy won’t be fulfilled until Mt.27:48.
While the term chole/gall is in the Greek NT & LXX, the corresponding OT Hebrew term is rosh h7219. Strongs Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary describes rosh h7219. “A poisonous plant. Poison even of serpents.” Ps.69:21 “They gave me gall [roshe h7219] for My food, and in My thirst vinegar to drink.” Jewish Publication Society “They put poison in my food.” ISV & NET Bibles “They put bitter poison into my food.” Cambridge Commentary Ps.69:21 “The Hebrew word rosh, rendered gall, LXX χολή (chole), denotes some bitter and poisonous plant.” The Greek LXX has, “They gave Me gall [chole g5521] for my food, and made Me drink vinegar for My thirst”. Again, this Greek term chole g5521 is the term in Mt.27:34, offered to Jesus!
The Hebrew term rosh h7219, translated as gall or poison in Ps.69:21 (the prophecy Jesus will fulfill), occurs in 11 other OT verses. Following are selected verses for comparison and a frame of reference: De.32:32 “Their vine is from the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison [rosh h7219].” Ho.10:4 “Judgment springs up as poisonous weeds [or hemlock h7219] in the furrows of the field.” Am.6:12 “You have turned justice into poison [h7219], and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.” Je.8:14 “Our God has given us poison [gall h7219] water to drink, because we have sinned against Him.” Jb.20:14-16 “He sucks the poison [h7219] of cobras; the viper’s tongue slays him.” Here the Greek LXX term for poison or gall is chole g5521…as in the Greek of Mt.27:34!
Let’s return to the gospels for Jesus’ prophetic fulfillment (“according to the scriptures”, 1Co.15:3).
We read in Mk.15:23 & Mt.27:34 where Jesus tasted but refused to drink the wine/sour wine (oinos/oxos) mingled with myrrh and gall/poison (chole g5521). Again, chole is the term often used for poison in ancient Greek poetry. Why didn’t Jesus just drink it then and avoid hours of agony on the cross?
Ac.3:18 “The things God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ must suffer, He has fulfilled.” Jesus must suffer as prophesied! He desired to bear the full burden consciously with His senses. It was prophesied that His hands & feet must be pierced. Ps.22:14-17 “All My bones are out of joint”. His bones (shoulders, elbows) must slip out of joint hanging on the cross, before He dies.
Yet something most unusual occurred from 12–3pm! Mt.27:45 “From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.” Unexpected darkness! (Am.8:9?) We read in De.21:23 that a body was not to remain hanging after dark! Jsh.8:29 “He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua commanded and they took his body down from the tree.” (also Jsh.10:27.) This darkness phenomenon at noon would cause confusion…it was still dark at 2–3pm! Jesus and the two malefactors are hanging on crosses in the dark! What were the Jewish leaders/onlookers thinking then?
Around 3pm, Jesus does drink the sour wine. (He’d refused it earlier, Mt.27:34.) Mt.27:46-48 “Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Elí, Elí, lamá sabachthaní.’ And some who heard it said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ And immediately one of them ran and filled it with sour wine [oxos g3690] and gave Him a drink. The rest of them said, ‘Let’s see if Elijah will save Him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.” Jn.19:28-30 “Jesus, in order that the scripture be fulfilled [margin Ps.69:21], said, ‘I thirst.’ They put a sponge full of the sour wine [oxos g3690] to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.’ He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
At 3pm, Jesus drank the sour wine mixture of vinegar, myrrh, gall…and died suddenly! They mocked Jesus about whether Elijah would “save” Him…immediately after He’d drank that gall/poison wine! Mk.15:36-37 “Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine [oxos g3690] and gave Him a drink. ‘Let us see if Elijah will come take Him down.’ Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last.”
A man suffocating due to hanging bodyweight, or suffering a heart attack, doesn’t cry out loudly. Yet Jesus did. A person having a heart attack is relatively quiet. Matthew, Mark and John all show Jesus dying right after He drank the mixture in the sponge! metrum.org “It cannot be denied that there is a causal relationship between the application of the sponge and the death.” It was a potent poison.
Jesus was in good physical condition from walking throughout the Land. He wasn’t diseased; He had a healthy body and immune system. Jesus never ate any unclean parasitic creatures, disease-carriers.
Mk.15:42-46 “Pilate was amazed to hear that Jesus had already died, so he summoned the centurion to ask if He was in fact dead. When he knew it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.” Pilate was well aware of the extent of Jesus’ scourging. Jn.19:1-5 that morning Pilate had beheld how much Jesus was beaten. Yet Pilate still wondered why Jesus was so soon dead…He’d been on the cross only six hours! The Romans were experts at torture and crucifixion. It could take a man days to die…a cruel, lingering, exhausting death! Yet the Son of God died before the two criminals beside Him died!
Again, darkness had set in at 12pm. The sabbath normally would begin near 6pm. The three victims must be taken down ASAP. Jn.19:31 “The Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have their legs broken and their bodies taken down.” To hasten death, the Romans would break the legs of crucifixion victims with a club. Hanging on the cross, they’d then be unable to thrust themselves up with their legs to expand their slumping chest cavity to breathe. They’d quickly suffocate. Jn.19:32-33 “So the soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw He was already dead, they didn’t break His legs.” There was no need to break His legs to bring on death…Jesus had been in control of His circumstances during that time, and was already dead!
Jn.19:34 “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” Reading Jn.19:34 in more than 20 translations, none of them say ‘had pierced’, as if the spear thrust caused His death. Jesus had died from the sour wine in v.30, prior to the confirmation of v.34.
Jn.19:35-38 Jesus’ legs wouldn’t be broken! (ref Ps.34:20, Ex.12:46.) The piercing must occur (Zec.12:10)! To confirm a victim was dead before releasing the body, the Romans customarily inflicted a spear wound through the right side of the heart. The outer sac of the heart (pericardium) contains blood and water. Jesus’ blood was shed! Mk.15:39-45 before Pilate could give Jesus’ body to Joseph, Pilate sent a centurion to certify Jesus was dead. His side was then pierced, perhaps by the centurion’s order.
{Sidelight: Here’s one more crucifixion account. It’s the earliest existing non-canonical account of Jesus’ Passion. A fragment of the Lost Gospel of Peter was discovered in 1886 in an Egyptian tomb. It was referred to by Serápion bishop of Antioch in 190 AD, Órigen in 253 AD, Eusebius bishop of Caesárea in 300 AD. Theodóret in 455 AD said the Nazarenes (Ac.24:5) used it, and previously Jústin Mártyr also mentioned it. Dr. D.H. Stanton wrote in Journal of Theological Studies, “The conclusion with which we are confronted is that the Gospel of Peter once held a place of honor”.
GosPet.1:15-19 “Now it was noonday, and darkness prevailed over all Judea; they were troubled in an agony lest the sun should have set, for that He yet lived. For it is written for them that the sun should not set on him that had been slain. And one of them said, ‘Give ye Him to drink gall with vinegar’; and they mingled it [Mt.27:34] and gave Him to drink; and they fulfilled all things and accomplished their sins upon their own heads. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night; and some fell. And the Lord cried aloud saying, ‘My power, my power, thou hast forsaken Me’. And when He had so said, He was taken up.”
We don’t give the Lost Gospel of Peter the same credence as the four canonical gospels, of course. Nonetheless, GosPet does indicate what some Christians believed regarding Jesus’ crucifixion ca 100 years afterwards. It contains a few details not in our gospel Passion accounts.
Dominic Crossan The Birth of Christianity “That is exactly the point of the Gospel of Peter, where Jesus is given a poisoned drink to finish the crucifixion speedily so that His body can be removed before dark.” Another researcher observed, “In the Gospel of Peter it was poison and vinegar both in a drink”. Prior to the advent of firearms, the most convenient common means of taking a person’s life was poison (ref Mk.16:18).}
Jn.19:4-12 Pilate thought Jesus was unjustly accused. Mt.27:17-25 Pilate’s wife had a dream about the righteous Jesus, and so told her husband. Pilate wanted Him released, and “washed his hands” of guilt. Perhaps Pilate, despite other wrongs noted by historians, desired to ease or shorten Jesus’ suffering?
Jesus’ total time on the cross was comparatively short. Some critics don’t think He really died. But Jesus did die, according to the scriptures. Peter said of Jesus, Ac.2:23 “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death”.
Yet God isn’t a masochist or sadist. Jesus needn’t be on the cross any longer than to accomplish His Father’s will and fulfill all prophecies about Him…including the Ps.69:21 gall/poison.
Mt.26:42 “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done.” Also see Jn.18:11. Jesus drank it…and died. To the very end, Jesus, not His tormentors, was in control of His life. Jesus determined exactly when/how He would die. Jn.10:17-18 “No man takes it from Me, I have authority to lay down My life.” Mt.26:53-54 Jesus’ Father would have sent Him legions of angels to rescue Him, had He asked. “But if I did ask, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
Jesus said in Jn.10:11, “I Am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Jesus also fulfilled Zec.13:7, which reads in more than 20 translations, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered”. Jesus referred to Zec.13:7 in Mt.26:31 & Mk.14:27. But in both accounts He added words not found in Zec.13:7. Mt.26:31 & Mk.14:27 in more than 20 translations, “I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered”. Jesus Himself struck the Shepherd! (And His disciples left Him and fled, Mt.27:56, as prophesied.)
God commanded in Ex.20:13, “You shall not murder”. God Himself has the authority and right to take life when He so chooses. God determines the number of our days (Jb.14:5, Ex.23:26), and then God takes us. In so doing, God isn’t a murderer, needless to say. The capital punishment that YHVH commanded for certain crimes in His theocracy of ancient Israel…it was killing, but it wasn’t murder. (see the topic “War & Killing and the Bible Christian”.)
As God, Jesus chose to lay down or sacrifice His life (according to His Father’s will). In Jg.16:28-31, Samson also chose to sacrifice his life for a higher cause, dying at his own hand. Samson is among God’s faithful (He.11:32)! Jn.15:13 “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There are war heroes who sacrificed their life, falling on a grenade so infantrymen next to them could live. And the stewardess who voluntarily gave up her life jacket and went down with the sinking ship. (Relative are the Christian martyrs who could have escaped death, but chose to die instead.)
To view the death of Jesus or Samson or those war heroes, etc. as self-murder is too narrow! Their self-sacrifice was intentionally taking one’s own life for a greater good (somewhat similar to agathusia or benevolent suicide). Self-sacrificers such as Jesus and Samson aren’t suicidal self-murderers!
Father God & Jesus were in charge of His entire ordeal. Jesus didn’t die due to loss of blood from men’s actions according to the will of man, or because He just couldn’t take prolonged suffering. Jesus made the decision as to the exact time He would die…He said, “I thirst”. He initiated the onset of death. Jesus struck the Shepherd. He gave His life (for us)…men didn’t take it!
Yet many, so very, very many, ‘assisted’ in Jesus’ death, if you will. We might say that satan ‘killed’ Jesus, or that Judas killed Jesus, Lk.22:3-4. Or those Jewish leaders killed Jesus. Or that Pontius Pilate killed Jesus. Or those Roman soldiers killed Jesus. Or that Father God killed Jesus, Ro.8:32. Or that we ‘killed’ Jesus…you and I, all of us sinners (1Pe.3:18).
We understand that Jesus’ throat wasn’t slit as were the Passover lambs & animal sacrifices. (Analogies and types end at some point.) The important thing to remember is…Jesus did give His life/blood for our salvation! 1Jn.5:6 “This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.” Both water and blood flowed from His spear wound (Jn.19:34). Ro.3:23-25 “Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publically as a sacrifice through faith in His blood, for the remission of our sins.” He.10:19-23 “Since we too have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near in full assurance of faith. For He is faithful who promised.”
Jesus conquered death! 1Co.15:4 “He was buried, and raised the 3rd day according to the scriptures.” Jesus died…and rose again! His blood was poured out on our behalf. Therefore we can come boldly to God for forgiveness. So let us come to the throne of grace with confident assurance. Our God is faithful! It is finished (Jn.19:30)!
Bible Topic Exposition 