Deliverance from the Cross — Page 61
did not really die upon the cross, that his supposed death was no more than a temporary swoon, and that his resurrection was simply his return to consciousness. In defence of this are urged the rapidity of his death, in contrast with the slowness with which death by crucifixion generally took place; the fact that persons are known to have recovered who had been crucified and taken down from the cross as dead; the effect that would be produced by the cool air of the rock- hewn sepulchre, as well as by the aromatic spices with which the body had been prepared for burial - and the conclusion is drawn that apparent restoration of life is thus sufficiently and easily accounted for'. 11 In the book of John in the Holy Bible we have one of the interesting facts concerning the crucifixion which appears in the ancient records from which I am quoting, and which incident is overlooked by the most critical of Bible students. It is that although it was a common practice to break the legs of the crucified persons, and to cause these bodies to hang upon the cross for several days so there would be no possibility of the body remaining alive, nevertheless the body of Jesus was taken down without the bones being broken, even though the soldiers broke the bones of the other two criminals that were upon the crosses close by. This was not an oversight on the part of the soldiers by any means, for not only did they fulfil the law by breaking the bones of the criminals but they had been 11 Milligan, William, The Resurrection of our Lord, pp. 76-77. 61