Sometimes I wish we were all together, having a conversation instead of me writing and you reading. If we were sitting around a table today, I'd ask you, "what do you know about flogging?". We'd watch a segment of the Passion of the Christ together. We would probably be moved to tears because the visual would be so strong.
But perhaps reading and writing are a good test to our ability to really understand, really feel what our Savior went through on that dark, horrible day, 2,000 years ago.
According to Wikipedia, flogging - or flagellation - is the act of methodically beating or whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip") the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject.
Flagellation probably originated in the Near East but then spread throughout the ancient world. Jewish law limited flagellation to forty strokes, and in practice delivered thirty-nine, so as to avoid any possibility of breaking this law due to a miscount. Additionally they would have a doctor monitor the punishment, who would stop it if it became too much for the person to bear safely.
In the Roman Empire, flagellation was often used as a prelude to crucifixion, and in this context is sometimes referred to as scourging. Whips with small pieces of metal or bone at the tips were commonly used. Such a device could easily cause disfigurement and serious trauma, such as ripping pieces of flesh from the body or loss of an eye. In addition to causing severe pain, the victim would approach a state of hypovolemic shock due to loss of blood.
Imagine a flogging by Roman soldiers that was inflicted by the urging of the Jewish leaders. There is no evidence of a doctor nearby, monitoring Jesus' health and well-being. In fact, we know that as far as all were concerned, He was on His way to the cross; therefore, this beating was simply the first step to a very painful death.
I'm not trying to be gruesome. But I think we need to understand, accept, and embrace just how horrible this beating was for the man who least deserved it!
Roman soldiers were known to be brutal in their beatings. Jesus, after going hours without food or drink, a beating by the Jewish guards, not to mention sweating drops of blood as He agonized over what was going to come - would have been weak, exhausted, dehydrated. Then to be beaten with scourges that had small pieces of metal or bone in the ends, designed to grab a man's skin and rip it off . . . That alone should have killed Him.
And to add insult to injury, pieces of grapevine, filled with thorns, are ruthlessly woven into a circle, and shoved into the flesh of His head, causing drops of blood to pour from His brow.
Remember how I said last week that Jesus was a warrior, a champion? I'm sure at this moment, to the Romans and Jews standing around and watching, He looked like a loser. The guy who lost the fight, lost his dignity, lost everything.
But we have to remember what He said: to save your life, you have to lose it . . . "but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." Mark 8:35
I think we can safely say He truly modeled what He taught.
This life isn't easy. We're attacked daily by the enemy. But just from what we've seen in the scripture so far, tells us that He sacrificed so much for us-so much that this life has to be worth something. Reading what I'm reading this month makes me want to live a life that's worthy of His sacrifice. Of course, the oxymoron of that thinking is that I can't possibly be worthy. But I can live every day with gratitude, fight every battle with confidence, and proclaim His love with boldness.
That's how I pay Him back.
That's what I want to do.
That's who I want to serve.
The man with the broken eye socket. The one bleeding from His brow, His back, His whole body. The man who looks like a loser.
The one who wasn't done yet.
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