You Can Know You Have Eternal Life
#63 – King Jesus of Nazareth
King Jesus — God, Myth, or Mere Man? (6)
Did Jesus of Nazareth Really Die? (3)
Jesus in a Coma or Dead: The Soldiers’ Role
by Jim Mettenbrink

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     Consider that some skeptics deny Jesus’ resurrection by asserting that He did not die, but rather was in a coma and His resurrection was actually a resuscitation from the coma.
     Let’s assume for a moment that Jesus was a mere man, but did not die after being crucified but was simply in a coma and recovered three days later.  How does one explain His walking up to 70 miles (Matthew 28:7; Luke 24:13; John 21:1) after His feet were torn by nails, let alone having his arms pulled out of joint on the cross, the massive wounds from the flogging, the spear wound in His side, and the great blood loss and the resultant trauma?  His appearance would have been so terrible, who would have announced that He was the victor over death?  Rather Jesus’ disciples would have pitied Him and nursed Him back to good health.  They certainly would not have been making the claim that He had risen from the dead and that they would be resurrected as He had been, and by this claim, start a religious movement to the detriment of their own lives.  Absurdity is the best description for those who assert Jesus was in a coma.  Even at that, it is important that we consider the evidence to know that Jesus really died.
     Crucifixion in the ancient world was not only a gruesome method of death, it was one where all human dignity was stripped from the victim.  Usually the victim’s naked corpse was left on the cross for the birds and animals to devour, but in the case of the Jews, Rome allowed them to bury the victims.  By Jewish law a person was not allowed to hang on the cross over night (Deuteronomy 21:23).  Thus if a person was still alive late in the afternoon, the soldiers would break the victim’s legs to hasten death so he could be buried before sundown.
     Jesus was crucified on Friday, so it was important to the Jews that He was dead and removed from the cross before the Sabbath began (about 6 p.m. Friday).  When the soldiers went to hasten the death of those crucified, they did not break Jesus’ legs because He was already dead (John 19:33, 36-37).  But, soldiers, whose prisoners escaped during their watch, were themselves put to death for dereliction of duty, so confirming the death of those on the cross was paramount.  When the soldiers were about to remove Jesus from the cross, a soldier thrust the spear in Jesus side to ensure He was dead (John 19:34, 37).  It would have been humanly impossible for Him to have survived.  The testimony all four gospels corroborated with medical knowledge confirms that indeed, Jesus of Nazareth died!

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      © Jim Mettenbrink; used by permission; courtesy of the Brookings church of Christ. rev.061125
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