Jesus and Christ
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This statement puzzled the listeners, but the meaning was clear: Rangit did not mean the absence, but the presence of such tolerance.
– Carrying the cross on his shoulders to the place of execution was not a special punishment for Christ, – having said this, he pointed his finger at himself and… smiled, which was obviously out of place, but the above-mentioned "tolerance" left no mystery in understanding the manners of the demonstrated artificial intelligence.
Rather, it was a clue as to how and why he passed the Turing test, because a non-artificial intelligence, i.e. a human being, could have spoken out and shown manners more inoffensive. So these were semantic reflections of inner emotions: he realized that his image expressed more satire than the taboo of satire towards the person in whom he appeared.
– Before this humiliating procedure, the condemned person was subjected to another excision, which was also the lot of all convicts: the criminal was scourged completely undressed – I spoke above about the number of blows – after the condemned person was dressed again and… then what we call "the way of the cross". Please forgive me if you find anything sarcastic in my manner of presentation. No, not at all. Although, I confess, I do not understand yet… – he made a gesture – he waved his open palm into the hall – yet, I emphasize, the high matter of human spirituality. It is in the part of logic. For me, or rather, for my logic it is strange, why people do not grieve much about thousands of executed before Christ and thousands after by this method – if I go into details of victims for faith, the count will go to millions – people do not grieve much.
As if Jesus had fallen silent, gazing intently at the audience.
– There were resurrected ones, too," he added, watching the reaction of his listeners, turning his head slightly toward Ruthra. – What am I trying to say? Basically, I'm only expressing my reasoning, and the rest is partially known to everyone. So I will continue with a clever expression on my face," he smiled at the audience after what he had said, which caused some of the listeners to smile back. – The cross consisted of two main parts – a horizontal beam (patibulum) and a vertical part (staticulum). The condemned carried only this crossbar. And that – not everyone could carry it, not that the whole cross, which actually in the assembly was never and. I remind the rule of the number of blows in scourging, that is the absence of this rule in the Romans. Plus they mocked it…sorry again, made fun of it. If the word "mocked" is acceptable to you, then I'll put it this way…" Rangit hesitated a little, "in general, it's not so important. The fact is… at least until we in the mission check," he stopped talking again, looking around the audience, "yes, yes, I'll apologize again… and a hundred more times, but I won't stop doubting. So, having undergone a cruel scourging, Christ, of course, could not carry the cross, that is, this crossbar, so… with your permission – I will quote the Holy Scripture: "And when they led Him away, they seized a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the field, and laid the cross on him, that he should carry it after Jesus" (Luke 23:26). After the cross or its parts were fastened on the back of Christ, he, as well as everyone in principle, was accompanied on the way to the place of execution by an armed guard of Roman soldiers under the command of a centurion. One of the legionaries walked in front and carried a tablet (titulus) on which was written the name of the condemned and his crime. This was the usual rule. From the very beginning of the execution procedure, and scourging was part of this program, the condemned man was under constant surveillance by the guards.
Rangit took pause again, shaking his head meaningfully, he said:
– Believe me, there were reasons for that.
This caused a smile with a touch of sarcasm, because he claimed it as if he himself was a real witness of the events described. However, the audience liked his character and nodded in response.
– So, the guards kept a close watch on the condemned and his attendants, sometimes many not only relatives but also idle gawkers gathered. The guards were present until they were fully convinced that the condemned had died.
Rangit paced the room again, head bowed slightly, looking thoughtful. He glanced once more at Ruthra, as if he had received tacit approval, and continued:
– A little about the cross itself. The Romans used different kinds of crosses for crucifixion. T-shaped, X-shaped, and the traditional Catholic crucifix. Or rather, the shape of the cross, which was taken as a basis for Catholicism. This type of cross is most accurate as the version on which Jesus was crucified according to the tradition of Matthew. He writes the following: "And they put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt, 'This is Jesus, King of the Jews'" (Matthew 27:37). Here the evangelist speaks of the tablet on which the Savior's accusation was written. But it is quite obvious that in order to place such a plaque over the head of Christ, it is necessary that the main vertical column should have a continuation above, above the cross bar, i.e. it is necessary that the cross should be four-pointed, and not three-pointed tied (in the form of the letter T), and also not knocked down (in the form of the letter X). After arriving at the place of crucifixion, the condemned man was stripped naked and his clothes were given to the soldiers guarding the cross. In Judea, however, going along with the religious conviction of the Jews (Gen. 9:22-23; Lev. 18:6-19; 20:17; Hos. 2:3), the Romans left the condemned with a loincloth (Mishnah. Sanhedrin. 6:3; Tosefta. Sanhedrin. 9:6). The condemned person was then placed on the cross. The fixation of the body of the crucified person could be done in different ways. The legs of the crucified person were bent at the knees and nailed to the statikulum or fixed with ropes. The condemned could also be crucified on crosses already dug into the ground. The soldiers used ropes to lift the body of the condemned, and those who remained below helped them. When the crucified man was raised to the proper height, he was tied by his hands to the patibulum with ropes, and then two iron nails were placed on his wrists, which were driven into the wood with a hammer. The soldiers standing below at this time tied or nailed the feet of the condemned man to the statikulum. For this purpose they either folded them in such a way that one foot covered the other, and then one nail was driven through both feet at once, or each foot was nailed separately. Whether the feet of Jesus Christ were nailed with one or two nails is not known. Some Fathers of the Christian Church (St. Gregory Nazianzin, Egyptian Bishop Nonnus) pointed to one nail, while others (St. Gregory of Tours, Cyprian) speak of four nails – two for the hands and two for the feet. The iconography of the Orthodox Church adopted the second tradition, while the Roman Catholic Church adopted the first. Different devices were used to keep the crucified person on the cross. Sometimes a small ledge–or scoot–was used, which was placed between the condemned man's legs. To increase the suffering of the executed person, the ledge was sometimes made pointed. Traditional Christian iconography and painting depict the crucified man with his hands pierced with nails in the middle of his palms. However, research done in the first half of the twentieth century by Pierre Barbet, the chief surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital in Paris, showed that Christian painters were quite mistaken. Conducting a number of experiments with amputated hands, as well as with corpses, P. Barbet discovered unexpected at the time facts. It turned out that when nailed to the cross at the level of the middle of the palms of the hands came off the nails at a load of about 39 kg. Experimental data confirmed mathematical calculations, which showed that at the position on the cross, during which the hands of the crucified person move away from the torso to the patibulum at an angle of about 68?, the body of the condemned would definitely fall off the cross. Looking for an anatomical place that could, on the one hand, correspond as much as possible to the Gospel text and historical chronicles, and on the other hand, reliably hold the weight of the crucified on the nails, P. Barbet came to the conclusion that for this purpose the space available on the wrist of Desto is the most suitable. When nails pierce the palm of the hand through this space, the large blood vessels are not damaged. The divergence of the data revealed in the works of P. Barbet data with traditional iconography can be explained by the simple fact that since the IV century AD, after the edict of Constantine the Great, in the Christian world execution by crucifixion was forbidden and much knowledge about this procedure was eventually forgotten. One more important fact: in the first quarter of the twentieth century French doctor A. LeBec made an assumption that death by crucifixion came as a result of suffocation. This assumption is now accepted as the main cause of death in crucifixion. As muscle fatigue increased, the crucified man sagged more and more, with inhalation still more or less possible, but exhalation became more and more difficult. As a result, inevitable muscle cramps made it possible to breathe only by means of diaphragm contraction, and this, in its turn, led to the development of suffocation, from which the crucified man died. Together with the heaviness of breathing at each attempt to change the position on the cross, the bones of the wrist and feet turned around the nails driven in, and the soft tissues of the back, damaged during scourging, were scraped on the staticulum, which caused the crucified person the most severe pain, and to speak – a person must get enough air in the lungs, so to pronounce each word the crucified person had to rise on the cross. For this purpose, each time the executed person had to lean on his nail-pierced legs and at the same time pull himself up on his hands nailed to the cross. Imagine how much pain every word spoken on the cross brought to the crucified man. If, of course, this was even possible. Especially since Jesus died three hours after the crucifixion. This fact gives the whole story even more mysticism, it seems to be simple, but it speaks of many things: from the conspiracy theory and staged performance to the paucity of imagination, miserable fantasy of the authors of the Gospels; from the original fascism, manifested by the Roman legionaries in the gambling beating of the religious-political leader of the Jews, to the femininity of Jesus' nature, sickness and poor health. And there is one more formula, explaining very logically this fact of quick death, taking into account that Jesus was not broken knees, unlike the rest executed near him (and those, if you know, did not die by the moment of declaring Jesus dead), but about it, perhaps, I will keep silent – first I will check in mission, then I will sound.
A light hum went through the hall.
– Again, I can cite the execution of Spartacus' companions as an example. Some of those executed were alive three days after the crucifixion. Remember, 6,000 people were crucified at that time, there is no reason to think that pity was shown to them before the crucifixion. The more time passed from the moment of crucifixion on the cross, the more strength the executed person lost, he had increasing cramps and muscle pain, more and more pronounced became the dislocation of the joints of the girdle of the upper limbs, more and more often he took a position that prevented normal breathing. Inhalation was carried out only at the expense of the diaphragm, which gradually led to the development of pronounced suffocation, from which eventually the crucified man died. Sometimes, in order to shorten the time of waiting for death, the bones of the shins were broken with a crucifixion hammer, as I have just mentioned. In this condition, the crucified person would quickly become asphyxiated. In about fifteen minutes. The theoretical assumption that the death of the condemned by this method of execution came from, shall we say, an inability to breathe, is now accepted by practically all those who study the matter scientifically. However, no one has been able to explain exactly how Christ died on the cross. And in this there is not only a secret, not only a mystery, but a mysterious secret, in which, however, I will not initiate you. Not yet. Perhaps you will understand, I will even say, calculate it yourself. Look, suffocation and heaviness to exhale make impossible all attempts not only to utter words, but also separate meaningful sounds. However, during the crucifixion, Jesus speaks until his last breath. This is stated in all four Gospels. For example, the Gospel of Luke says: "Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he gave up his spirit" (Luke 23:46). As I have already said, the crucified were on the cross until the moment of death a few days, and the death of Christ came three, at most six, hours after nailing to the cross, about what is clearly enough written in the Gospels: "It was the third hour, and they crucified Him" (Mk. 15:25) and "It was about the sixth hour of the day, and there was darkness over all the earth until the hour of the ninth hour (similar to an eclipse): and the sun was darkened, and the veil in the temple was rent in the midst (this I cannot logically comment on yet)." "Jesus, crying out with a loud voice…" Please pay attention to this. This is just before he died! Don't you think he's hinting that it's time to take me down? "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And when he had said this, he gave up his spirit." (Luke 23:44-46) Neither the judges, nor the executioners, nor the sympathizers, and most importantly, nor the Pharisees who watched the crucifixion, expected Christ to die so quickly.
Rangit in the form of Christ was silent for a moment, then continued again:
– There is a factor to consider. The Pharisees were faced with a difficult choice. Accordingly, so did the Sanhedrin, whose law they were guided by. They realized that the crucified would stay on the crosses for a day or more, so at first they wanted to postpone the execution to other days. The thing is that the next day was Saturday, and it also coincided with the Passover. Waiting for the death of the executed, which usually came on the second or third day, was a serious violation of Jewish law. But then the question arises again: why did they decide to execute them all on this day? Most likely they were afraid of Pilate's change of mind. They complained against Christ both secretly and openly many times before. Most likely this was the main argument, so they decided to speed up the execution. And they went, of course, under the leadership of the Sanhedrin, since they had obtained Pilate's decision with difficulty. Let's just say they put pressure on him. They intimidated the people, they shouted… I think it would be better if I quote part of chapter 19 of John's Gospel . From it you will learn, among other things, about the much shorter time between Jesus' crucifixion and death – less than three hours. And John in this case is a very reliable source: he was a friend, a relative and was present at the execution (unlike the other future apostles who scattered in fear). According to John, at the sixth hour Pilate was still interrogating Jesus.
10 Pilate said to him, "Do you not answer me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you?
11 Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above; therefore more sin is on him who delivered me to you.
12 From that time Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, "If you let him go, you are no friend of Caesar; anyone who makes himself king is an opponent of Caesar.
13 When Pilate heard this word, he took Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, at a place called Lithostroton, or Gabbatha in Hebrew.
14 Then it was the Friday before the Passover, and the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!
15 But they cried out, "Take him, take him, crucify him! Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then at last he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away.
I mean, he was also walking for a while. And the rest of the procedure also took time.
…Thus they themselves were faced with a difficult choice. To execute on Passover was to offend Jewish law. And they had to execute him quickly, before Pilate changed his mind. The fact is that Christ also had powerful supporters. Joseph of Arimathea, whom we shall soon remember. The rush factor was the reason why the Pharisees were forced to ask Pilate to allow an act of mercy for those being crucified – to break their shins so that the death of the executed would come soon. "But since it was then Friday, the Jews, in order that the bodies might not be left on the cross on the Sabbath – for that Sabbath was a great day – asked Pilate to break their shins and take them down" (John 19:31). Pilate authorized it, and the soldiers broke the shins of the robbers. But when the turn came to Christ, they found Him dead, so they did not break His shins. And then something unforeseen for the average person happens. Well, let's say, unforeseen for the uninformed in the rules of execution, elevated to a certain ritual. Unforeseen, I interpret the legionary guard's act as spontaneous to the uninformed. Not to the condemned, the witnesses to the execution, and certainly not to Jesus' colleagues in the rabbinate… yes, yes, Jesus was called a teacher not out of sight, not for the sake of a red word, not according to their own understanding of his role, but according to the fact of his professional activity: he really was a rabbi. So, his supporters knew about such a procedure as piercing the executed person with a spear as a method of checking whether he was alive or dead. Why I put some intrigue into this, you will have to understand in the course of the mission. This is my version, and I believe it is real.