II.

Evidence for the death of Jesus on the cross

This lecture is built on the premise that the Bible is a historically reliable document and that its statements of historical fact can be accepted as true. This was demonstrated in the earlier article on this site, "The Bible: Corrupt or Unchanged." From a historical standpoint, the New Testament is the reliable testimony of the companions of Jesus as to what they personally observed of the events of His life, of the character of His life, and what they heard Him teach. Being Jesus' close companions for three years, they are the best witnesses of what occurred in Jesus' life. The Gnostic documents that concern Jesus are the only early documents with a claim to call the New Testament records into question. The article on this site, "The Historical Reliability of the Gnostic Gospels" explains why these records are not reliable historical records of the life of Jesus Christ. Upon examination, these documents show themselves to be greatly inferior to the New Testament as far as their historical reliability.

A. The Biblical evidence of the crucifixion of Jesus

We need to now turn to the Gospel accounts from the Bible. They record the earliest information available concerning Jesus. Not only is this information early, it is historically reliable. The four Gospel accounts in the New Testament were written by either disciples of Jesus or the companions of Jesus’ disciples who had access to the very earliest written materials concerning Jesus and the people who were intimately acquainted with Jesus. An excellent book which presents the historical value of these Gospel accounts is Paul Barnett’s Is The New Testament Reliable? A Look At The Historical Evidence (ISBN 0-8308-1834-0).

Here is some of the testimony to Jesus’ death on the cross from the New Testament:

  1. The Disciples: It is the unanimous testimony of the disciples of Jesus that they knew He died on the cross. This can be observed by reading any of the following gospel accounts:

  1. Matthew 27:33-50
     

  2. Mark 15:22-37
     

  3. Luke 23:33-46
     

  4. John 19:16-30

Note: This testimony includes Mary, Jesus' mother (John 19:25-27), many woman disciples (Matthew 27:55), many other followers (Luke 23:49), and the Apostle John, one of Jesus' closest disciples (John 19:26-27). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus actually handled the body of Jesus after He had died, wrapped it in grave clothes and laid it in a tomb (Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42).

Other disciples, while possibly not observing the crucifixion, knew it to be a fact:

  1. Peter: John 20:1-7; Acts 2:23,36; 1 Peter 2:24
     

  2. Thomas: John 20:24-29
     

  3. The rest of the twelve apostles: Acts 1:13-14,21-26; 2:14 Two unnamed ones: Luke 24:20.

  1. The Roman authorities: The Romans, as the ruling authority in Palestine at this time, were legally responsible for Jesus' death. Pontius Pilate, the governor, decreed His death after a series of religious and civil trials. The Romans were very efficient in executions and saw to it that Jesus was dead when He was taken down from the cross. The Centurion and soldiers made sure Jesus was dead: John 19:33-34, and Pontius Pilate made sure Jesus was dead: Mark 14:44-45.
     
  2. The Jewish authorities: The Jews were morally responsible for Jesus' death. They rejected Him as their Messiah and plotted and succeeded in having Him executed by the Romans. They made sure Jesus was dead and that their schemes had succeeded. The Jewish leaders observed Jesus die, made sure the Romans killed Him and knew it was fact that he had died: Matthew 27:41-43, 62-66; Mark 15:31-32; John 19:31.
     
  3. Jesus' own predictions of His death by crucifixion.

Jesus predicted His own death many times. The Gospels record Him predicting His death on at least 21 separate occasions. Many of these predictions record the details of His death; that He would die in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover celebration, suffer at the hands of the chief priests, and be killed by crucifixion. Here is a list of the references where Jesus predicts His own death listed by separate occasion:

  1. Matthew 12:39-40
     

  2. Matthew 16:4
     

  3. Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22
     

  4. Matthew 17:12
     

  5. Matthew 17:22,23; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:44
     

  6. Matthew 20:18,19; Mark 10:33,34; Luke 18:31-34
     

  7. Matthew 21:33-39; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19
     

  8. Matthew 23:37
     

  9. Matthew 26:2
     

  10. Matthew 26:12
     

  11. Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24
     

  12. Matthew 26:31,32
     

  13. Mark 10:45
     

  14. Luke 12:50
     

  15. Luke 13:34, 35
     

  16. Luke 17:25
     

  17. John 3:14
     

  18. John 6:51
     

  19. John 10:15-18
     

  20. John 12:30-32
     

  21. John 16:16

Note: These predictions of Jesus' death confirm that He is a true prophet according to the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 18:22) in that what He predicted came about in exactly the same way and at exactly the same time He predicted it.

  1. Old Testament prophecies concerning the death of Christ:

Jesus was not only a prophet in His own right by predicting future events, He also fulfilled events that had been predicted concerning the Messiah’s death at least 700 and 1000 years earlier.

  1. David: David as a prophet in his psalms 1000 years before Jesus predicted details of the death of the Messiah. Psalm 22:16-18 states:

"For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and my clothing for lots."

  1. Isaiah: Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus, predicted many aspects of the Messiah's death. Isaiah 53:5-10 states:

"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before his shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment, He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned to be with wicked men, yet with a rich man in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering..."

  1. Daniel: Daniel, 400 years before Jesus, stated this concerning the Messiah in Daniel 9:26:

"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing..."

  1. Zechariah: Zechariah, 400 years before Jesus, said this in Zechariah 12:10:

"And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; ..."

Note: These specifically mention piercing Messiah (John 19:34) and piercing His hands and feet (John 19:18), dividing up His garments by using lots (Matthew 27:35), He did not fight His torturers or cry out because of the injustices being done to Him (Matthew 26:50-56,62,63; 27:14), He was unjustly tried and condemned (Luke 22:54-23:25), and He was killed with criminals but buried among the rich (Matthew 27:38,57-60). Also note that the Isaiah 53 prophecy even predicts why the Messiah would die, to be a guilt offering for sin (Mark 10:45).

Note also that these are only a few of the many prophecies in the Old Testament of the Bible concerning the Messiah. Jesus’ life and ministry as recorded in the gospel accounts of the New Testament fulfill these prophecies. They do not point to anyone else. Many books are available on this topic and a paper is available at the book table.

  1. Medical evidence that Jesus was killed by the crucifixion:

Medical evaluation of the historical accounts of the Biblical Gospels have concluded that Jesus died as a result of the effects of the scourging He received and the crucifixion. Note this quote from an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association:

"Thus, it remains unsettled whether Jesus died of cardiac rupture or of cardio-respiratory failure. However, the important feature may not be how he died but rather whether he died. Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge. (1)

The Romans practiced crucifixion to kill. They were expert, well-practiced executioners. They knew how to use this form of torture and they made sure it killed their victims.

  1. Conclusions on the Biblical Material

The Bible, taken as a historical document, is unequivocal as to the reality of Jesus' physical death. Its testimony is consistent in that everyone who observed the crucifixion or knew it took place knew that Jesus was crucified and knew that He truly died. This is true for those who were friends and followers of Jesus as well as His enemies. The government authorities made sure of His death as also did the Jewish religious authorities. The eyewitness accounts of His death also fully agree with the proven medical effects of such torture. Also, all of this testimony is in full agreement with Old Testament predictions of the Messiah's death and with Jesus' own predictions of the place, time, and manner of His death. According to the Bible, Jesus truly died by crucifixion.

B. Evidence from outside the Bible - secular testimony to the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion

  1. Non-Jewish and non-Christian sources:
  1. Tacitus, a Roman historian, in his Annals, c. AD 115, describes the Roman Emperor Nero's actions after the great fire of Rome, c. AD 64:

"...Nero fabricated scapegoats-and punished...Christians (as they were popularly called). Their originator, Christ, had been executed in Tiberius' reign by the governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilatus." (2)

  1. Lucian, Greek satirist, second century AD, alludes to Christ:

"...the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world.... Furthermore, their first lawgiver persuaded them that they were all brothers one of another after they have transgressed once for all by denying the Greek gods and by worshipping that crucified sophist himself and living under his laws." (3)

  1. Thallus, a Samaritan-born historian, c. AD 52, quoted by Julius Africanus, c. AD 221:

"Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away this darkness [at the time of the crucifixion] as an eclipse of the sun- unreasonable, of course, because a solar eclipse could not take place at the time of the full moon, and it was the time of the pascal full moon when Christ died." (4)

  1. Letter of Mara Bar-Serapion, after AD 73 (this letter resides in the British Museum):

"What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It was just after that that their kingdom was abolished....But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given." (5)

  1. Jewish sources:
  1. Josephus, Jewish historian (AD 37-100) wrote of Jesus:

"At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders." (6)

  1. The Jewish Talmud (Centuries of Jewish oral tradition committed to writing between AD 200 and AD 500):

"On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu (of Nazareth) and the herald went before him for forty days saying (Yeshu of Nazareth) is going to be stoned in that he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. Let everyone knowing aught in his defense come and plead for him. But they found naught in his defense and hanged him on the eve of Passover." (7)

See John 11:57 for confirmation of this.

  1. Conclusions from the non-biblical sources:

All available sources recognize Jesus' death by crucifixion as fact. Both the Romans and the Jews believed Jesus died by crucifixion exactly as the Gospels relate. Jews even to this day don't doubt that Jesus died on a cross. They just don't recognize Him as the Messiah and that He rose from the dead.

 B. Conclusions

The historical evidence overwhelmingly points to the reality of Jesus' death on the cross. The Bible's testimony agrees fully with the testimony of the Romans and Jews; people who set themselves up as enemies of the Christians. The Old Testament prophets predicted the Messiah's death in detail and Jesus, as the Messiah, fulfilled it to the last detail. All credible historical evidence also supports this. No one has ever presented credible historical evidence that Jesus did not die on the cross. Also, it must be noted that the death of Jesus by crucifixion is a historical event on which the whole of the New Testament is based. The Gospels have the events of the crucifixion and the following resurrection as the climax of the accounts of Jesus' life. They are not incidental events in the biblical accounts; they are the greatest events that all of Jesus' miracles and teaching led up to.