“by his stripes we were healed”
The Shroud of Turin is believed to be the authentic burial cloth of Christ and is now kept in a Church in Turin, Italy. The point of this lesson is to go through each of the marks found on the Shroud, and look at them from the perspective of a scientist trying to learn what this man of the Shroud went through. It is best to use the Shroud slide show while presenting this lesson. This slide show may be found on the Pop Culture Connection page.
Where is the proof?
Carbon dating dates the Shroud back to the 14th century, but many scientists feel that the dating is flawed because of the samples. For example, fungus and other bacteria can grow on cloth and the carbon ends up dating these things rather than the actual cloth. NASA scientists and many others have been allowed by the Catholic Church to test the Shroud, and no one has been able to prove that it is a fake. They can only say that it is the burial cloth of a man who was 5’7” and weighed about 175 pounds.
There are pollen and flower particles pressed into the cloth of the shroud. These particles are only found on plants that grow near Jerusalem. There are also some very small rock particles that were on Jesus’ feet that are now found pressed into the shroud. These stone particles are also only known to be found in the area around Jerusalem.
The image on the Shroud is not painted. There is no paint on the cloth. The image on the Shroud is not a burned image. There are no burn marks. An artist would have probably put the nails in the hands as artists typically did in paintings of the crucifixion, but the image on the Shroud has the nails in the wrist which was the actual location used by the Romans for crucifixion. An artist would have probably painted or drawn thumbs, but no thumbs show in the Shroud due to way the thumbs are pulled into the palm of the hand when a nail is driven through the wrist.
The blood on the Shroud was tested and is the same blood type as the Eucharist miracle of Lanciano. At Lanciano, Italy, a Eucharistic miracle took place in which the host turned to real flesh in appearance and substance as well as the wine turned to real blood in both appearance and substance. The blood from the Eucharistic miracle and the blood from the Shroud are of the same type.
After all these scientific tests, the result is: NO SCIENCTISTs HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROVE THAT THE SHROUD IS A FAKE. All they can determine with certainty is that it is the burial cloth of a man and that there is indication that it dates back to the time of Christ. When we add the element of Faith to the scientific evidence and research it becomes evident that this is the genuine burial cloth of Christ.
Three main markings on the Shroud
The water marks caused when the place where the Shroud was kept caught fire and the Shroud was damaged, miraculously did not damage the image itself.
Blood wounds
Photographic-like flash image
The water marks:
The water marks show us how the shroud was folded. This is important because we know that the Shroud could have been folded in such a way that only the face appeared. If the face section of the Shroud was framed and protected for many years, people might not have realized that it was actually a full Shroud. Many people think that the actual Shroud was able to be preserved for so long because people didn’t know that it was the Shroud, but instead may have thought it Veronica’s veil or simply a painting.
The Blood marks (what we see and what it tells us about the man of the Shroud)
120 wound marks
The marks on the Shroud appear in sets of three. For every whip there are three wounds. The whip the Romans used had three tips on the end probably made out of bone or metal. We know that according to Jewish law, no man could be put to death, and that the maximum punishment by whipping was 39 lashes. It was against the law to whip a man 40 times. But Jesus was punished by the Romans who did not have the 39 lashes maximum rule. This tells us that the Jewish people would have been careful not to kill a person but were able to bring them right up to the point of death (39 lashes). Since Jesus was whipped 40 times, it indicates He was at the point of death by the scourging alone. Also, remember, Pilate at first did not sentence Jesus to crucifixion but instead gave him the punishment of scourging to the point of death. To add crucifixion in addition to scourging was never done. The fact that the Shroud shows a person who was scourged in addition to being crucified, adds credibility to the fact that the man of the Shroud is in fact Christ.
The whip wound marks are on both the front and back of the image going all the way from the shoulders to the calves. The whip marks are at different heights showing us that there were two guards and that the guards were at the back of Jesus. The marks show that in some instances the whip whipped around the arm and shoulder and beat against the front of the chest, not only causing a wound but causing trauma to the lungs and possibly causing the lungs to begin to swell and fill with liquid.
The nail marks
The nail wounds are in the wrist between the two bones, NOT in the hand. Scientific tests have proven that nails in the hand would not support the weight of a human body. The two bones in the wrist however would have supported the weight of a human body.
The nail piercing between the two bones would have severed the medial nerve. The medial nerve is one of the most important nerves in the body, when this nerve is severed there is immense pain and the thumb locks down in place.
The wound in the side
The wound in the side is another indication that the man of the shroud was actually Jesus. Crucifixion victims usually had their legs broken. By breaking the legs the victim could not push up on their feet and get oxygen. Without the ability to push up they died of suffocation.
The Gospel accounts say that Jesus had already died before the guards came to break his legs, so instead of breaking the bones of his legs they decided to stab Him with a spear in the side to make sure He was dead. The marks on the Shroud support both the wound in His side as well as the unbroken bones of His legs.
The Church is born from the side of Jesus the new Adam, as blood and water from the side of Christ [1] We are reminded, at each Mass of the blood and water, which gives us life in the mingling at the offertory of the water and wine. During the offertory, the deacon, or the Priest, pours wine and a little water into the chalice, saying quietly: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” [2]
The crown of thorns
The crown of thorns was also a particular torture which other crucifixion victims were not normally made to endure. The crown of thorns was only put on Jesus because the soldiers were mocking Him, calling Him “the king of the Jews”.
The marks on the Shroud clearly indicate that there was severe bleeding and swelling on the head and even on the face showing some clear blood marks.
The Photographic Flash
The Shroud not only shows blood marks but the outlined, image of a person. If a person were to lie down on a white cloth with many blood wounds, only the blood wounds would show up, not the actual image of the person. Scientists cannot explain how the image was made. The image is most similar to the image that would be formed by a bright flash. The flash would cause bright areas and shadow areas where the flash was blocked. The Shroud is like the image and shadows caused by the sun or the process that takes place in a photo copy machine. This sounds a lot like what we could imagine would take place through the powerful light/flash of a resurrected body.
What can we learn about the Shroud?
Imagine one of your family members was murdered and you had no idea how the murder took place or how your loved one died. You would probably want an autopsy performed and a report from the medical examiner. The Shroud is the only physical evidence we have to examine to show us the extent of the Passion of Christ. Not only is it proof of how much Christ loves us, but it is a gift from Christ to us, a relic which we can cherish and honor.
The Shroud is kept in Turin, Italy. The Church only allows it to be viewed during the Jubilee Years, every 50 years. The last time the Shroud was viewed was in 2000, the next time will be 2050.
[1] See the Spiritual Reading in this Link to Liturgy Packet
[2] The Order of the Mass