And when he had
scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. — Matthew 27:26
What
was it like for a prisoner to be scourged in New Testament times? From what
materials was a scourge made? How did it feel when the straps of a scourge
whipped across a person’s back and body? What effects did a scourging have on
the human body?
Matthew
27:26 tells us that Pilate “had scourged Jesus” before he delivered Him to be
crucified, so we need to understand what it meant to be “scourged.” The word
“scourged” is the Greek word phragello, and it was one of the most horrific
words used in the ancient world because of the terrible images that immediately
came to mind when a person heard this word. Let me tell you a little about the
process of scourging and what it did to the human body. I believe this
explanation is important so you can understand more completely what Jesus
endured before He was taken to be crucified.
When
a decision was made to scourge an individual, the victim was first stripped
completely naked so his entire flesh would be open and uncovered to the beating
action of the torturer’s whip. Then the victim was bound to a two-foot- high
scourging post. His hands were tied over his head to a metal ring, and his
wrists were securely shackled to the metal ring to restrain his body from
movement. When in this locked position, the victim couldn’t wiggle or move,
trying to avoid or dodge the lashes that were being laid across his back.
Romans
were professionals at scourging; they took special delight in the fact that
they were the “best” at punishing a victim with this brutal act. Once the
victim was harnessed to the post and stretched over it, the Roman soldier began
to put him through unimaginable torture. One writer notes that the mere
anticipation of the first blow caused the victim’s body to grow rigid, the
muscles to knot in his stomach, the color to drain from his cheeks, and his
lips to draw tight against his teeth as he waited for the first sadistic blow
that would begin the tearing open of his body.
The
scourge itself consisted of a short, wooden handle with several 18- to 24-inch-
long straps of leather protruding from it. The ends of these pieces of leather
were equipped with sharp, rugged pieces of metal, wire, glass, and jagged
fragments of bone. This was considered to be one of the most feared and deadly
weapons of the Roman world. It was so ghastly that the mere threat of scourging
could calm a crowd or bend the will of the strongest rebel. Not even the most
hardened criminal wanted to be submitted to the vicious beating of a Roman
scourge.
Most
often, two torturers were utilized to carry out this punishment, simultaneously
lashing the victim from both sides. As these dual whips struck the victim, the
leather straps with their jagged, sharp, cutting objects descended and extended
over his entire back. Each piece of metal, wire, bone, or glass cut deeply
through the victim’s skin and into his flesh, shredding his muscles and sinews.
Every
time the whip pounded across the victim, those straps of leather curled
tortuously around his torso, biting painfully and deeply into the skin of his
abdomen and upper chest. As each stroke lacerated the sufferer, he tried to
thrash about but was unable to move because his wrists were held so firmly to
the metal ring above his head. Helpless to escape the whip, he would scream for
mercy that this anguish might come to an end.
Every
time the torturers struck a victim, the straps of leather attached to the wooden
handle would cause multiple lashes as the pieces of metal, glass, wire, and
bone sank into the flesh and then raked across the victim’s body. Then the
torturer would jerk back, pulling hard in order to tear whole pieces of human
flesh from the body. The victim’s back, buttocks, back of the legs, stomach,
upper chest, and face would soon be disfigured by the slashing blows of the
whip.
Historical
records describe a victim’s back as being so mutilated after a Roman scourging
that his spine would actually be exposed. Others recorded how the bowels of a
victim would actually spill out through the open wounds created by the whip.
The Early Church historian Eusebius wrote: “The veins were laid bare, and the
very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.”
The
Roman torturer would so aggressively strike his victim that he wouldn’t even
take the time to untangle the bloody, flesh-filled straps as he lashed the whip
across the victim’s mangled body over and over again. If the scourging wasn’t
stopped, the slicing of the whip would eventually flay the victim’s flesh off
his body.
With
so many blood vessels sliced open by the whip, the victim would begin to
experience a profuse loss of blood and bodily fluids. The heart would pump
harder and harder, struggling to get blood to the parts of the body that were
profusely bleeding. But it was like pumping water through an open water
hydrant; there was nothing left to stop the blood from pouring through the
victim’s open wounds.
This
loss of blood caused the victim’s blood pressure to drop drastically. Because
of the massive loss of bodily fluids, he would experience excruciating thirst,
often fainting from the pain and eventually going into shock. Frequently the
victim’s heartbeat would become so irregular that he would go into cardiac
arrest.
This
was a Roman scourging.
According
to Jewish law in Deuteronomy 25:3, the Jews were permitted to give forty lashes
to a victim, but because the fortieth lash usually proved fatal, the number of
lashes given was reduced to thirty-nine, as Paul noted in Second Corinthians11:24. But the Romans had no limit to the number of lashes they could give a
victim, and the scourging Jesus experienced was at the hands of Romans, not
Jews. Therefore, it is entirely possible that when the torturer pulled out his
scourge to beat Jesus, he may have laid more than forty lashes across His body.
In fact, this is even probable in light of the explosive outrage the Jews felt
for Jesus and the terrible mocking He had already suffered at the hands of
Roman soldiers.
So
when the Bible tells us that Jesus was scourged, we now know exactly what type
of beating that Jesus received that night. What toll did the cruel Roman whip
exact on Jesus’ body? The New Testament doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus
looked like after He was scourged, but Isaiah 52:14 says, “As many were
astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more
than the sons of men.”
If
we take this scripture literally for what it says, we can conclude that Jesus’
physical body was marred nearly beyond recognition. As appalling as this
sounds, it was only the overture to what was to follow. Matthew 27:26 continues
to tell us, “…and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified.” This scourging was only the preparation for Jesus’ crucifixion!
Every
time I think about the scourging Jesus received that day, I think of the
promise God makes to us in Isaiah 53:5. This verse says, “But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” In this verse, God
declares that the price for our healing would be paid by those stripes that
were laid across Jesus’ back.
In
First Peter 2:24, the apostle Peter quoted Isaiah 53:5. He told his readers,
“By whose stripes ye were healed.” The word “stripes” used in this verse is
molopsi, which describes a full- body bruise. It refers to a terrible lashing
that draws blood and that produces discoloration and swelling of the entire
body. When Peter wrote this verse, he wasn’t speaking by revelation but by
memory, for he vividly remembered what happened to Jesus that night and what
His physical appearance looked like after His scourging.
After
graphically reminding us of the beating, bleeding, and bruising that Jesus
endured, Peter jubilantly declared that it was by these same stripes that we
are “healed.” The word “healed” is the Greek word iaomai — a word that clearly
refers to physical healing, as it is a word borrowed from the medical term to
describe the physical healing or curing of the human body.
For
those who think this promise refers to spiritual healing only, the Greek word
emphatically speaks of the healing of a physical condition. This is a real
promise of bodily healing that belongs to all who have been washed in the blood
of Jesus Christ!
Jesus’
broken body was the payment God demanded to guarantee our physical healing!
Just as Jesus willfully took our sins and died on the Cross in our place, He
also willfully took our sicknesses and pains on Himself when they tied Him to
the scourging post and laid those lashes across His body. That horrific
scourging paid for our healing!
If
you need healing in your body, you have every right to go to God and ask for healing
to come flooding into your system. It’s time for you to dig in your heels and
hold fast to the promise of God’s Word, releasing your faith for the healing
that belongs to you.
Jesus
went through this agony for you, so don’t let the devil tell you that it’s
God’s will for you to be sick or weakly. Considering the pain Jesus endured to
bear your sicknesses that day, isn’t that enough evidence to convince you how
much He wants you to be physically well?
I was in tears after I read this article. It is really
touching. I can't grasp the fact that the only Son of God should suffer such
beating. Isaiah 55:8-10 says that the ways of God is different from human's
ways. But I clearly understand that Jesus didn't quit because He is thinking of
you and me. That's the greatest love of all.
source:
No comments:
Post a Comment