The Historicity of the Crucifixion
Certain aspects of the life of Jesus, particularly his death by crucifixion, “rank so high on the ‘almost impossible to doubt or deny’ scale of historical facts,” they “command almost universal consent.”1 Nevertheless, not everyone is convinced.
Anti-Christian Skepticism
Mainstream Muslims, while believing Jesus is a real historical figure, typically reject the Gospel accounts of his death.2 Other skeptics not only deny his crucifixion and death but his very existence. Sam Woolfe, a freelance writer and blogger based in London, is among the plethoric non-critical thinkers claiming the biblical account of Jesus’ life is not original but represents “the archetypal story of the archetypal hero,” with “similarities between Jesus and other gods, suggesting that the authors of the Bible borrowed myths from other religions,” particularly the “dying-and-returning-god” pattern of various legends, concluding this “suggests that there never was a real, historical Jesus.”3
The idea of an ancient “dying-and-returning god” archetype comes from Sir James George Frazer’s 1890 The Golden Bough: a Study in Comparative Religion. However, subsequent scholarship has proven the claim to be farcical. These so-called dying (or disappearing) and returning gods of ancient mythology are actually accounts of deities that died and did not return, or deities that returned but had not died. “The category of dying and rising gods, once a major topic of scholarly investigation, must now be understood to have been largely a misnomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts.”4
Antemortem Suffering of Jesus
According to Luke the physician, textual variation notwithstanding,5 prior to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion he was in “agony” [ἀγωνίᾳ] as he earnestly prayed, “and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44). Medically, hematidrosis (bloody sweat), albeit rare, is the result of capillaries hemorrhaging into the sweat glands due to extreme mental anguish.6 The other Synoptics describe his volatile mental and emotional state as intense “grieving” [λυπέω], “distressing” [ἀδημονέω], “very sorrowful” [περίλυπος], and “sorely dismayed” [ἐκθαμβέομαι], “even to death” (Matt. 26:37-38; Mark 14:33-34).
Jesus was arrested by an armed mob (sent and escorted by the chief priests, scribes [Pharisees], captains of the temple, and elders), carrying lanterns, torches, and “weapons,” viz. “swords and clubs.”7 He was treated as a λῃστής, a violent criminal like a bandit or robber or insurrectionist.8 All the disciples “left him and fled,” just as Jesus and the prophetic scriptures had foretold.9
He was bound and led to the former high priest Annas, where he was interrogated and slapped.10 Next he was taken to the current high priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin and accused of blasphemy (subject to the death penalty under Jewish law),11 where they spat in his face, struck him with the fist [κολαφίζω], slapped12 him in the face, blindfolded and beat him.13 He was then led bound to the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate14 and briefly transferred to the tetrarch Herod Antipas, where he was treated with contempt and mocked before being taken back to Pilate.15
Jesus was accused of sedition, treason, and insurrection, including the claim of being “king of the Jews.”16 These were very serious charges, and if proven, subject to the death penalty under Roman law. Pilate then had Jesus severely whipped.17 To be continued in the Next Post.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 J. G. D. Dunn, Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019): 339; cf. also J. D. Crossan and R. G. Watts, Who Is Jesus? (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1996): 96; B. D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford: University Press, 1999): 101. Ehrman observes, “The crucifixion by the Romans is one of the most secure facts we have about his life” (“Why Was Jesus Crucified?” The Bart Ehrman Blog [18 Oct. 2019], <Web>).
2 Quran 4:157-58, “In fact, they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him …”
3 “How the Bible Borrowed from Other Stories,” Sam Woolfe (25 April 2013), <Web>.
4 J. Z. Smith, “Dying and Rising Gods,” in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. M. Eliade (London: Macmillan, 1987): 4:521-27. See also P. R. Eddy and G. A. Boyd, The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003); B. D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (NY: HarperCollins, 2012); T. N. D. Mettinger, “The ‘Dying and Rising God’: A Survey of Research from Frazer to the Present Day,” in David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J. J. M. Roberts,” eds. B. F. Bernard and K. L. Roberts (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004): 373-86.
5 Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation. While undisputed in the Byzantine Majority Text, the editors of UBS5 and NA28 have enclosed Luke 22:43-44 in double square brackets, considering the verses to have been absent from the original and added in the early stages of transmission. On the diverse manuscript evidence, see P. W. Comfort, A Commentary on the Text and Manuscripts of the NT 235-36; B. M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek NT (2nd ed.) 151. Unlike other textual variants, this passage does not depend on parallel accounts or provide an explanation to the narrative. As a physician Luke would surely have an interest in bloody sweat, and angelic activity is thematic in his writings (Luke 1:11-19, 26-38; 2:9-13, 15, 21; 4:10; 9:26; 12:8-9; 15:10; 16:22; 20:36; [22:43]; 24:23; Acts 5:19; 6:15; 7:30, 35, 38, 53; 8:26; 10:3, 7, 22; 11:13; 12:7-11, 15, 23; 23:8-9; 27:23).
6 W. D. Edwards, W. J. Gabel, F. E. Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” JAMA 255:11 (21 March 1986): 1456.
7 Matt. 26:47-55; Mark 14:43-48; Luke 22:47-52; John 18:1-12.
8 Matt. 26:55; Mark 14:48; Luke 22:52; cf. Matt. 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:32-39; John 18:40; 19:18. See also Luke 10:30, 36; 2 Cor. 11:26. Josephus employs the term with reference to revolutionaries (War 2.13.5-6; Ant. 14.9.2); cf. Mark 15:7; Luke 23:25.
9 Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:27, 49-50.
10 Luke 22:54a; John 18:13, 19-23.
11 Matt. 26:57-65; Mark 14:53-64; Luke 22:54, 66-71; John 18:24; cf. Lev. 24:13-16.
12 ASV, CSB, ESV, NASB, NIV, N/KJV; cf. Matt. 5:39. The verbal ῥαπίζω can also mean to “strike with a rod.”
13 Matt. 26:67; Mark 14:65; Luke 22:63-65.
14 Matt. 27:2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28.
15 Luke 23:6-25.
16 Matt. 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:2, 3, 5, 14; John 18:33; 19:12-15.
Related Posts: Brutal Suffering and Death of Jesus Part 2, Were Jesus Stories Copied from Ancient Myths?
Image credit: https://hope1032.com.au/stories/faith/2019/rediscovering-jesus-part-16-two-men-on-trial/
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