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.
Lets 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
victims 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 victims 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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