The Romans Were Good at Dead
Everybody knew no man could possibly survive.
This was the saddest day on earth.
Jesus was dead. There was no question about it.
The Romans were experts, and everybody knew it. He was dead, thoroughly dead, in the most public possible way.
Absolutely everyone knew without question that he was dead.
The crucified might take lingering days to die. Because of the objections of the Jews to leaving the crucified lingering over the holidays, the Romans in this case dispatched the three crucified early, two by breaking their legs, which quickly caused suffocation.
Except one of the crucified, unusually, was already dead. With typical Roman skill, they put a spear up under the ribs into the heart, anyway, to be absolutely sure. We know they pieced his heart by report of the draining from the sword wound of blood and pericardial effusion.
You don't get deader than Romans made you.
Jesus was dead, that one thing was certain.
Searching for an image for this article, I found the depictions shown (depending on your display) on the left and right side. The images on the right are the originals.
Which side is your heart on?
"But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." -John 19:34
"When these soldiers arrived at Golgotha, they did accordingly to the two thieves, but they found Jesus already dead, much to their surprise. However, in order to make sure of his death, one of the soldiers pierced his left side with his spear. Though it was common for the victims of crucifixion to linger alive upon the cross for even two or three days, the overwhelming emotional agony and the acute spiritual anguish of Jesus brought an end to his mortal life in the flesh in a little less than five and one-half hours." —Urantia Paper 187