Quote by Tim Mack, Ph.D.

“BOOK EXCERPT Did Jesus actually die on the cross? The Roman soldiers were responsible for ensuring that all three crucified prisoners were dead. That was their job. The Roman army had brutal discipline for soldiers who didn't do their job correctly. For example, falling asleep on guard duty was punishable by death. Other corporal punishments included being beaten or having their clothes set on fire. The soldiers would have broken his legs if there was any possibility that Jesus was alive. They didn't. There wasn't anyone there who cried out, "He's still alive!" The Jewish rabbis in attendance wanted him to die. They would have said something if Jesus was still alive. After all, they wanted to guarantee that he died. I don't know how anyone could have survived being beaten, scourged, had a crown of thorns forced onto one's head, crucified, and then stabbed in either the lungs or the heart with a spear. The scourging alone would have been deadly. Jesus' dead body remained on the cross for a short while. Still, it would have been long enough for blood to accumulate in his lower extremities and for his body to cool. His lower extremities also would have turned bluish. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus retrieved the body and would have noticed at once if Jesus weren't dead. His body would have been warm, and his extremities would not have been distended and bluish. Joseph and Nicodemus didn't notice that, though, because they would have stopped preparing his body for burial if they did.”

Quote by Tim Mack, Ph.D.