DAY 209
CHALLENGE
“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances by saying that Jesus swooned on the cross? After all, Pilate was surprised he ‘died’ so quickly (Mark 15:44). If Jesus actually revived in the tomb, Pilate and the disciples might have thought he rose from the dead.”
DEFENSE
There are multiple problems with this hypothesis.
Jesus did die quickly. Other crucifixion victims lingered for days. However, Jesus was subjected to severe stress and trauma in the hours before the Crucifixion.
This included sleeplessness (Matt. 26:42–46), emotional anguish (Matt. 26:38), being taken to multiple locations for various proceedings (Matt. 26:57, 27:2, 27:31; Luke 23:7, 11; John 18:24), and being physically beaten (Matt. 26:67), scourged (Matt. 27:26), and crowned with thorns (Matt. 27:29). By the end, he was so traumatized he could not carry the cross, so it was carried by Simon of Cyrene (Matt. 27:32).
“The severe scourging, with its intense pain and appreciable blood loss, most probably left Jesus in a preshock state. . . . The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep, also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual Crucifixion, Jesus’ physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical” (see Edwards, 1458, below).
Jesus then underwent the trauma of Crucifixion itself. He may have died due to a sudden cardiac event, as suggested by the loud cry he made immediately before dying (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37). Afterward, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 18:34)—the “water” being a clear fluid from the pleural cavity of the lung and/or the pericardial sac sur- rounding the heart.
If Jesus somehow managed to survive all this, he would not have been able to move the stone and escape his tomb (Mark 16:3), nor would he have been able to ascend into heaven in front of the apostles (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9–11).
The swoon hypothesis thus does not explain how the apostles could have innocently thought they saw Jesus alive after the Crucifixion.
TIP
On the medical aspects of the Crucifixion, see William D. Edwards, MD, et al., “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Mar. 21, 1986, 1455–63 (available online).