MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
John 19:1 NKJV
19 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.
At face value, this verse seems very benign. It is a very simple verse. "So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him." Without looking a bit further, this verse can pass right by us. But what was done to Jesus was anything but simple or benign. It was harsh and extremely brutal and beneficial for us!
The NLT version gives us more insight into what was done to Jesus. "Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip." And now we begin to see what took place. Pilate did not do the work himself. It was far too violent and beneath a man of his position and status. This was done by Roman soldiers, and the Romans were experts at brutality. Doctor Frederick Zugibe, an expert in forensic pathology, wrote about the Roman scourge. "The Roman flagellation or scourging was one of the most feared of all punishments. It was a form of brutal, inhumane punishment generally executed by Roman soldiers using the most dreaded instrument of the time, called a flagrum. The flagrum used in scourging was a whip consisting of three or more leather tails that had plumbatae, small metal balls, or sheep bones at the end of each tail."
Although the doctor goes into detail about what transpired at a scourging, I am going to spare you. Suffice it to say the effects of the Roman scourge often resulted in death. And after being scourged, the soldiers put a crown of thorns on Jesus' head and a purple robe. It seems in reading this chapter that Pilate had hoped that the punishment inflicted by the scourging and the thorns would have appeased the crowd of Jews. Remember, Pilate did not want to crucify Jesus. But the crowd prevailed, and Pilate gave into their pressure. The scourge was not enough for the mob; they wanted Jesus crucified so that the scriptures might be fulfilled.
APPLICATION
We often refer to what Jesus did for us on the cross. On the cross, He bore our sins in His own body. But we also need to understand that not only did He bear our sins, but He also bore our sicknesses. Hundreds of years before Jesus went to the cross, the prophet Isaiah spoke of what He would do for us in Isaiah chapter 53:4-6 NKJV "Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." The word griefs is translated as sicknesses, and the word sorrows is translated as pains. The word stripes in verse five is translated blows that cut in. Those blows did not happen on the cross, they happened at the Roman scourging post. Later, the apostle Peter would quote this Isaiah passage in 1 Peter 2:24 when he said, "...by whose stripes you were healed."
These verses have proven to be a huge help to Joy and me over the years. Believing that Jesus not only bore our sins, but He bore our sicknesses and pains has helped us to take a stand against the attacks of sicknesses in our bodies.
That one little verse in John chapter 19 carries so much more than meets the eye.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for taking my sins and my sicknesses. You paid a price I could not pay to purchase my freedom, and I am eternally grateful.