Come Follow Me Insights This Week: June 19

This Week's Reading: Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19

Come Follow Me Insight #1

How did Jesus actually die?

We know that Jesus had power to give or keep His life. He made the decision of when His time was finished. But what would the medical cause of His death have been?

For crucified individuals, “death ultimately occurred through a combination of constrained blood circulation, organ failure, and asphyxiation as the body strained under its own weight.” (Source 1 and source 2)

Come Follow Me Insight #2

Why not stone Jesus like Stephen was?

The martyr Stephen was killed by stoning (Acts 7:58). Why did the Jews take Jesus to the Romans to crucify rather than just stoning Him as well (the Jewish form of capital punishment for blasphemy– see Leviticus 24:16)?

There are many possibilities but three stand out to me:

Jesus was so popular and well known that the Jewish leaders knew the Romans were aware of Him (John 11:47–48). So they couldn’t kill Him without local Roman leadership knowing and punishing them for acting outside the bounds of Roman law. In contrast, the Romans likely had no idea who Stephen was.
The Jewish leaders might have killed Stephen in a frenzy, without planning to do so. (Acts 7:57-58)

The Jewish leaders likely wanted to make a shameful public spectacle of Jesus. According to Biblical scholar Tom Meyer, “[Crucifixion] was a most shameful and degrading punishment. Among the Romans, it was reserved for robbers, assassins, criminal slaves and rebels.” (Source) To get their ultimate “revenge” on Jesus, the Jewish leaders likely saw great value in Jesus being so publicly and painfully killed.