Did Jesus die on the cross or just swoon? (Matthew 27:48)
48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. Many skeptics, as well as Muslims, believe that Jesus did not die on the cross. Some say that He took a drug that put Him in a comalike state and that He later revived in the tomb. Yet the Bible says repeatedly that Christ died on the cross (cf. Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Thes. 4:14).
Matthew 27:45 - 56
ESV - 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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Asked November 14 2021
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
To me, any idea of Jesus having merely "swooned" on the cross (rather than having actually died) is effectively rebutted by three considerations: -- the fact that the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus' legs (as they did with the two others crucified with Him to hasten their deaths by rendering tham unable to push themselves up with their legs in order to be able to breathe in the crucified position), which indicates that Jesus was actually already dead (in addition to this being a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy or symbolism, indicating that the bones of the Passover lamb (a symbolic type of Christ) were not to be broken (Exodus 12:46)); -- the piercing of Jesus' side with a spear (John 19:34), causing blood and water to flow out of the wound as a result of the breaking by the spear of the pericardium (the membrane around the heart), which would have been fatal in any event even if Jesus had not already died (and in further fulfillment of the words of Zechariah 12:10); and -- the fact that the Roman soldiers were performing the crucifixion under military orders specifically for the purpose of assuring the deaths of those crucified. Leaving any possibility of Jesus still being alive before being taken down from the cross would have violated those orders, leaving them open to prescribed punishment.
Jack Gutknecht
Jesus never fainted or swooned, nor was He drugged on the cross. In fact, He refused the drug customarily offered to the victim before crucifixion to help deaden pain (Matthew 27:34 (ESV) --"They offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it."), and He accepted only “vinegar” later (Mt 27:48) to quench His thirst. Compare John 19:29 in the King James Version: --"Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth." Jesus took NO drug that put Him in a comalike state and that He later revived in the tomb! See this and 11 other reasons why JESUS DID NOT JUST SWOON, here: defendinginerrancy.com/bible-difficulties/
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