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Scourging and the Crown of
Thorns John 19:1-5
Today we begin to look at the process that Jesus had to go through
before He made it to the cross. I think so often that we want to jump
right to the Cross. And while I think that the cross is a very central
part of what Christ and God went through for us it was not the
beginning. Prophecy had to be fulfilled, and that prophecy is found in
Isaiah 53:4-5:
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was
wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we
are healed.
Today I we make it to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Let’s read our
text today Found in John 19:1-5 says:
Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted
together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a
purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and
struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them,
“See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no
guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the
purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
This chapter begins with these words "...and flogged or scourged
Him...," that have a terrible impact on the body, soul, and emotions of
our Messiah. Since we have never experienced a scourging our mind
absorbs the phrase in a second and passes to the next sentence. The
Bible gives no further explanation. There is no parenthetical statement
or footnote explaining what it means. Most of us read over it for years
without really contemplating that word...scourged.
It was somehow a part of the crucifixion. Maybe we heard a preacher say
it was some sort of a whipping. Oh, but it was so much more. This
morning, let us pull back the curtain of history and experience a brief
glimpse of Jesus scourged, and of the love He possesses for mankind.
What was it that Pilate wanted the people to see that Friday morning?
What was involved in the scourging of Jesus?
Well first what were the definition and limitations of scourging.
Remember that these were not civilized people by modern standards. We
would not be allowed to treat a dog today the way our Lord was. An
"examination by scourging" was a legal beginning to every Roman
execution because it weakened the victim through shock and blood loss.
Without scourging, strong condemned men might live on the cross for
several days until exposure, wild animals, insect or birds contributed
to their death. This brutal flogging was called the "little death" and
preceded the "big death"--crucifixion. The only allowable exemptions to
this law were women and Roman senators or soldiers.
History tells us that a criminal was flogged either by two soldiers--
called "lectors"--or by one who alternated positions. Under Hebrew law a
punishment was limited to forty strokes. The Bible says, "He may beat
him forty times but no more, so that he does not beat him with many more
stripes than these and your brother is not degraded in your eyes"
(Deuteronomy 25:3). Because of tradition, they normally stopped at
thirty-nine in case they miscounted.
However, there was no such numerical limitation imposed by the Romans.
One writer has said that when the Romans scourged a Jew, they struck at
least forty-one times out of spite for the Jewish law.
A scourging’s severity depended entirely on the lector’s disposition.
The only rule for the lictor who scourged a man about to be crucified
was that he was to expire on the cross--not at the stake. Therefore he
tried to bring his victim to the very verge of death, without crossing
that threshold.
Instruments Of Scourging.
The scourging post was usually about two feet high. A criminal’s wrists
were strapped to an iron ring that projected from two sides near the
top. Sometimes the victim’s arms were instead stretched above his head
and fastened to a beam. The usual instrument was a short-handled whip
(called a flagellum) with "several single or braided leather thongs of
variable lengths, in which sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at
intervals" Sometimes the whip instead was made of several thin, iron
chains which ended in small weights.
However, the punishment could only be administered after proper
Preparation for Scourging.
Clothing was stripped so the prisoner stood naked, or at the most with a
loincloth. The man’s wrists were tightly fixed to the iron rings. He was
stretched, face down, with his feet pointed away from the post or, in
the case of the beam, he was hoisted vertically. In both cases, the
shoulder blades were positioned to provide little protection for the
underlying flesh. The tension of awaiting the first blow was cruel. The
body was rigid. The muscles knotted in tormenting cramps. Color drained
from the cheeks. Lips were drawn tight against the teeth.
Scourging Itself.
Then it came ... the whistle of the whip and the dull thud as it made
contact with flesh. Then it came ... the burning sensation and the first
trickle of blood. Then it came ... again and again, more rapidly, blow
after blow. Then it came ... with seemingly unbearable agony the naked
back, neck, sometimes face, chest (as the whip was allowed to encircle
the body), and legs were repeatedly struck. At first, it caused deep
bruising. Then, as the lictor continued his well-practiced procedure,
the thongs, sheep bones, chains, and weights cut into the skin and even
muscle.
The lacerations often tore into the underlying skeletal muscles and
produced quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. As V. P. Black puts it,
"They beat Him until His shoulder blades looked like two whitecaps on an
ocean of blood." The victim lost all consciousness to anything other
than the blinding, burning pain as the cruel whip whistled and
cut...whistled and cut. It hurt so much that men were known to bite
their tongues in two during the beatings.
After what seemed like an eternity to the victim and those who loved
Him, His limp body was finally taken down from the post or beam. As was
the custom, His wounds were washed but not otherwise medicated. The pain
and blood loss caused by scourging generally led to circulatory shock.
Also factor in that Jesus had gone without food, water, and sleep for
fifteen to thirty hours and that He had been physically and mentally
abused during the night.
Adding Insult to Injury.
After the scourging, they did three things: 1. Put a crown of thorns on
His head. 2. Put a reed in His hand. 3. Put a purple robe on Him.
The thorns could have come from the lote tree. This tree had thorns
averaging one inch in length. It was improbable for anyone to form a
wreath-like crown using these thorns without being injured. It would be
more probable, that the crown of thorns was more like a helmet. In fact,
it would have been easier to cut off a branch and use it as a helmet of
thorns. (Reason & Revelation).
Another soldier then took the reed and hit Him over the head, thus
driving the thorns in more deeply. How He must have hurt! How He must
have bled! Since even a small cut to the head bleeds profusely because
so much blood continuously goes to the brain, imagine how the blood must
have run down His face, into His eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and dripped
onto His clothes.
Immediately following the scourging, Jesus’ clothes were put back on His
massacred back. Imagine how the garment must have soaked up the blood.
How uncomfortable it was to have that rough material scratch against His
open wounds! As the blood began to clot, His clothing became stiff and
dry.
One of them fashioned a robe out of some purple material, another ran
out to a thorn bush and gathered some prickly limbs, and another found a
rod or stout stick to use as a scepter. Just about the time His bleeding
stopped, they ripped His clothes off and placed the robe on Him opening
the wounds again.
But I need to remind you that all of this is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s
prophecy.
I want to show you one more thing about the crown of thorns, before we
go any farther. Turn with me to Genesis 3:17-19:
17And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your
wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not
eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat
of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring
forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall
return.”
Where did thorns come from? They were a product of the curse that came
because of sin. I believe that by putting a crown or helmet of thorns on
Christ to mock Him, through their mockery, God still shows us even more
so, how that Jesus bore our sins.
When God put our sins upon Christ, what better symbol than putting
thorns on His head? Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made
Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him”
The soldiers finally had all the fun they wanted with Him and took Him
back to Pilate. Pilate then presented Him to the people. Picture, if you
can, Pilate leading this purple-clad Man, with scepter dangling from His
limp hand and bloody crown on His head, out for these sick people to
see. Pilate said simply, "Behold the man!"
He must have thought that surely this would satisfy their hatred. Surely
they will say, "You’ve done enough. Let Him go." But he underestimated
them. They were no more satisfied than a shark that first gets the scent
of blood. They wanted more. They wanted murder.
Today I wanted to end class by showing you one man’s rendition of the
scourging that took place. It comes from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of
the Christ.” Now before we go any farther I need to tell you that it is
very gruesome. The movie is rated R for this scene and the scene at the
crucifixion. IF you would rather not watch it, I need you to go to the
foyer. But I wanted to show it today because I need the words from our
passage this morning Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him, to mean
something more to you, just as it made an impact on the first readers of
this glorious letter.
The Elders also wanted me to let you know that this is not an exact
representation of what happened. If we believe Josephus and Philo, two
ancient historians, it was much worse. The Actor Jim Caviezel who
portrays Christ in this movie was wearing a prosthetic back, and still
during the shooting of this scene the broke his left shoulder.
So if those who are unsure have left, we will close today by watching
the scourging scene.
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