The imprint of the body of Jesus on the Shroud reveals, as medical doctors and scientists confirm, that Jesus died by asphyxia, or better by tetany and asphyxia, the death of a crucified man.

Carefully looking at the Shroud one can see that the great pectoral muscles have been forcibly contracted - they are enlarged, and drawn up toward the collarbone and the arms. The whole chest is also drawn up, and greatly distended, with a maximum intoning of air. The upper portion of the abdomen is sunk and pressed inward, while the lower abdomen is protruding.

In the forearms the blood flowing from the wound of the wrist is very visible and coagulates in two different directions: one, as the body was in a sagging position, with the body pulling on the arms; the other, as the victim had forcibly pushed Himself up to relax and stretch the arms in order to exhale the air from the lungs. This theory is supported by the normal method of insuring rapid death of crucified victims - the breaking of the legs. (The victim now would have no support from his feet, nor be able to push himself up in order to exhale the air from the lungs.) The only plausible reason that such a procedure was not used in the case of Jesus was that he died so rapidly. In his case, therefore, the spear thrust in the side was deemed sufficient to legally verify death so that the body could be delivered to Joseph of Arimathaea.

According to the Gospel of St. John, Joseph of Arimathaea, once he saw that Jesus would not last too long on the cross, and also because the High Priest had requested Pilate that the victims be killed and removed from Calvary before the beginning of the Sabbath, he himself went to the Procurator and obtained from him the permission to take Jesus down from the cross and bury Him.

The Gospel of St. John recounts the last moments of Jesus on the cross in the following manner: "It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water. This is the evidence of one who saw it and he gives it so that you may believe as well. " (John 19:31-35) Joseph of Arimathaea had arrived at Calvary with the permission to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. St. John describes also this moment as follows: "After this Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus - though a secret one for fear of the Jews - asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the permission, so they came and took it away." (John 19:38)

The Shroud shows the wound of the heart. Scientists in analyzing the blood stain around the wound have asserted that: "the flowing of blood and water from the side, are well documented: the first is evident in a complex of stains of deep red blood, surrounded like a halo with the final shedding of the serous liquid: the blood and water according to St. John." (Way of the Cross in the light of the Holy Shroud: p. 59 Msgr. Giulio Ricci, Centro Romano di Sindonologia)

It has been proven that the statement of St. John "water and blood" corresponds to the medical condition of the victim who had died on the cross. The wound corresponds also to what would be expected from a soldier who knew how to make sure that a victim on the cross would for certain be dead by the time he would have been taken down from the cross.