Since we are deep into the Lenten season, it seems the perfect time to address the question: What really killed Jesus? It is ironic that a man, a craftsman, who spent his life learning to fashion chairs, stone walls, and tables from rough wood — died on some of the same material. The mallet, an instrument he would have used to pound joints together, hammered spikes into his wrists. The nails, used to connect pedestals to tabletops, fastened his flesh to a wooden beam.
But what killed him?
Was it the loss of blood and the physical cruelty of the Roman cross? Crucifixion caused fever, cramping muscles, tetanus, lacerated veins, crushed tendons, gangrene, and swollen arteries which throbbed increasingly with each passing hour. The victim pushed his quivering legs against a wooden projection, struggling to move upward for each breath. Then the body relaxed and dropped, tearing flesh and muscle from hands and feet. Each breath required another push upward to prevent suffocation. Prior to Jesus’ execution, his back was opened by a whip embedded with pieces of bone and lead. So as he pushed up to breathe, splinters of wood thrust their barbs into his lacerated skin and exposed muscles. For six hours, Jesus endured physical torture.
Is that what killed him?
Or was it the burden of grief? Isaiah wrote, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows….” (Isaiah 53:4 NIV). The shocking force of grief can result in physical, mental, and emotional pain. Jesus understood the devastation of grief. He lost his earthly father, Joseph, and his friend, Lazarus (for four days). John the Baptist, his cousin, was beheaded. Friends, relatives, and comrades lay on funeral biers while the Son of God watched. He understood how grief mutilates happiness and changes us forever.
But on the cross, Jesus experienced our griefs. He felt the fear of Holocaust victims inside gas chambers. He saw the children of Ukraine shot outside their homes, and he heard the screams of murdered babies. He experienced the pain we feel with each tragic phone call, and he watched countless families weep beside coffins. All the ages of suffering marched before Jesus. He saw every tear and heard every cry.
Was it grief that killed him?
Or was it sin? Jesus lived a holy life, never sinning, never doing wrong. He was perfection, holiness, and purity. But on the cross, he became sin. All the lies and deceit of the enemy poured over his soul. The adulterous relationships, the murders, and the gossip projected their graphic images. The abuse of children and the rape of women shattered his senses. Pornography, unkind words, and every evil thought swept over him like the black tides of a night sea. It was his first experience with sin, the final reminder of damaged integrity.
Was it the sludge of sin that killed this holy man?
Maybe it was the loneliness that killed him. His best friends, those he spent three years teaching and training, abandoned him during his time of greatest need. The women bravely stood at the foot of the cross and probably — the apostle John. But where were all the crowds from the Sermon on the Mount? Some of them had just screamed, “Crucify him!” Jesus met hell face to face, and he died.
Was it the physical cruelty of crucifixion, the emotional distress of grief, the spiritual anguish of sin, or the intense loneliness of rejection?
What really killed Jesus? All of the above.
Why did he go through with it? Because of love. Because he did not want us to live our lives within the hell of mental pain, emotional torment, or spiritual loss. Because he wanted us to become his family and join him in a beautiful eternity. Because death was the main reason he came to earth in the first century.
And because he knew Almighty God would bring him victoriously out of that tomb.
©2026 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
Image Attribution: music4life / Pixabay
For a different take on the brave women at the cross, check out The Women of Passion Week.