“Then Pilate Took Jesus and Flogged Him”

“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.” (John 19:1-3 ESV)

We have read about the cross, received scripture in exposition, and probably seen a movie about the crucifixion. Do we really understand the depth of the punishment? For many I would think not. While this post is very descriptive, I pray you will not turn away from it. It is important for every Christian to understand what happened to our Lord.

To understand the depth of the sacrifice in mortal terms, in other words, what Jesus suffered, is to understand a multifaceted Roman practice of torture and death. I would like us to look at today's scripture from three perspectives. The Romans, the method, and the victims.

The Romans were experts at torture, and this was their preferred way of inflicting pain and death. The principle was obtained from the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Greeks, who used it to punish slaves, rebels, and foreigners. However, their methods were not as brutal as the Romans'. The Romans developed special tools to inflict maximum pain on the victims.

While Paul was flogged many times, his back was scarred by the whip. However, the type of beating Christ received was far worse. History shows that those sentenced to crucifixion were beaten with a flagrum. A flagrum is a whip with eight or nine leather tails; the ends of these lashes contain bone fragments, sharp metal, and stone. The whipping produced deep lacerations to the back and front of the victim's torso, causing intense bleeding. The victims were also physically beaten, and in the case of Christ, a twisted crown of long thorns was forced on His head. The Roman goal was to inflict as much punishment upon the victim while still keeping them alive to be crucified.

If you have watched the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” while it was not completely scripturally accurate, the beating and crucifixion scenes were, and if you are not affected by them, you may not have any compassion in you at all. The Roman method of crucifixion began with physical beatings and abuse. These beatings were mixed with taunting and belittling the victim.

The victim was then tied to a post where the flogging would take place with the flagrum. The victim's beating was excessive, and the blood loss was immense. The victim's blood pressure would drop, causing hypovolemic shock. The victim was stripped nude and forced to carry their cross to the place of crucifixion, in Jerusalem, Golgatha, Calvary. The victim was nailed to the cross through the hands, although it is also believed through the wrists, which would support the victim's weight better, and through the feet. The large iron spikes ground against the victim's bones.

The position of crucifixion also caused positional asphyxiation. It was like trying to breathe through a wet towel. This caused the victim to push up on their heels, resulting in massive bruising of the foot. We see a foreshadowing of this portion of the crucifixion in Genesis 3:15, where God addresses the snake (Satan): “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Lastly, the victims of crucifixion were the lowest people. People were crucified because they were thieves and criminals, rebellious and traitorous, and because they were foreigners, those without standing, whom no one cared about. Jesus took that position, from Lord to a pauper, so that He could complete God's plan of human redemption.

Why would I go through the horrid details of the practice of crucifixion? Because the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity. Everything emanates from the cross. The humanity of Christ is confirmed on the cross. He bled, He suffered, He was in pain, He struggled to breathe,  He was humiliated, and isolated. Ridiculed and taunted by those who persecuted Him, just like we are humiliated in our sins. But there are more intense truths that come from the cross.

Christ lived and died what He taught in His ministry. As He hung on the cross before His persecutors, Christ blessed them and prayed for them, showing His grace and mercy. Hanging betwixt two thieves, He promised salvation to the one who repented. I believe this shows us that even a deathbed profession of faith can bring salvation to the lost.

In His death and resurrection, He opened the door to heaven and salvation through faith in the risen Son of God. The cross is the only way our sins were paid for by Christ through penal substitutionary atonement. Only a human could pay for human sin, and only a God could withstand the wrath of God against that sin. Jesus was both taking on the form of a servant in the flesh, paying for our sin with His death, revealing His deity on Mt. Tabor, and in His resurrection, crushing sin and death for all those who believe in Him.

Jesus loves humanity so much that He suffered all the things I have written. He chose to suffer them obediently, giving His life up for you. What depth of love, what unending devotion, what truth that breeds our assurance of salvation.

He lives, will you not believe in Him and live too, for eternity?

Grace and Peace.