[Swordmaker]

MissPie, while they do have the cloth (the Sudarium of Oviedo) it bears only blood stains and no image. The positions of the blood stains on the Sudarium have a high correlation with blood stains on the Shroud, indicating that the blood stains may have come from wounds in similar locations on the body both may have covered.

The theory is that the Sudarium served as a temporary face covering, placed over the top of his head and draped down over his face, while Jesus's budy was removed from the cross, perhaps to shield his agonized face in rictus from his mother.

He was then transferred to the Shroud and the Sudarium, no longer needed to cover the face, was pressed into duty as a binding, rolled into a bandage-like strip and tied around his head, under the jaw and over the top, to keep his jaw closed in death when Rigor Mortis passed in a few hours.

The blood stains locations on both Shroud and Sudarium map to the same head wound locations and the blood type, AB, matches.

[MissAmericanPie]

Along with other things, like microscopic pollen being the same, the blood at the nape of the neck matched in 50 something places under a microscope.

I just don't have a solid opinion yet, but the growing perponderance of evidence that both cloths covered the same body, even to the hair drawn into a pony tail at the back of the head, the route taken by each during the same period ahead of the advancing muslim invaders, gives one pause.

Here is an interesting site that compares the two cloths. http://www.shroudstory.com/sudarium.htm
As yet, I just cannot write it off as a hoax, even though I'm pretty much a cynic.

[justshutupandtakeit]

A clinical description such as yours makes the horror of the action/scene sadly graphic and brings home the pain and suffering of our Lord for us.

Great post, thanks.

As regards the Sabbath eve crucifiction it should be recalled by those doubtful about that representatives of the Sanhedrin were about to break Jesus's legs so that death would not occur on the Sabbath. Longinus speared his side showing that he was dead and thus allowing the prophacy " not a bone shall be broken" to be fulfilled.