Getting Crucified

I saw a TV show the other day where a researcher hooked up a couple of people with medical monitors and put them on a cross to see how their bodies reacted to hanging and how long they could take on a cross. He was operating under the assumption that what actually led to the death of Christ (or anyone else) was asphyxiation. The people were strapped to the cross with some very solid leather straps and there was a little stand where they could place their feet to help hold themselves up.

At 5 minutes in of this they started feeling some distress as their breath rate went up to deal with the anxiety of hanging. One person complained about severe pain in his thighs, another in the arm area, and they all tried to but failed to receive any comfort by trying to shift their bodies around. At 8 minutes in they all seemed to have enough, it was too much to bear and they wanted to be taken down immediately.

The researcher estimated that it would take 20 to 24 hours for a person to die with just being tied to a cross, with the cause of death asphyxiation. Now Jesus died after only 6 hours, but keep in mind He had been beaten severely and nails were used to keep him on the cross, (plus getting speared in His side) so it is easy to assume that blood loss must have been a big factor in His relatively quick demise. From watching this it was pretty clear that being hung on a cross was a painful and terrible way to die.