We are coming to some of the most intense, heart-breaking verses in the Bible. I warn you that I will not be able to fully expound these verses, because I don’t think I fully understand them myself. Of course, there are the obvious details of the case, which to some degree we might all be able to grasp. And then we are sufficiently wicked ourselves to be able to slip into the mind-set of the perpetrators. But the mind and purpose of God will undoubtedly be beyond our ken.
These verses describe about ten different actions or events. By their very nature, I should be able to keep your attention on them for a few minutes. But I was seeking a different angle with which to approach them. I have decided to break one of my personal rules – I am going to allegorize them to a small degree. Be sure that the thorns, for example, beaten down onto the head of Saviour were in no way mere symbols. They were never meant to mean something esoteric, Heavenly or spiritual. They were real thorns, and the blood and pain they produced were genuine. They were a part of the total purchase price of our salvation, like each of these other horrible deeds. But along with describing the thorns and the other things, I want to try to use them to comment on the condition of modern Christendom. I want us to consider the world’s treatment of Christ our Saviour.
As we have already seen, much of the world simply turned their backs upon the Lord Jesus.
The secular world, as personified in Pilate, knew that Christ was not guilty of the charges laid against him. But for political reasons, contrary to his own heart and the peacefulness of his family home, Pilate washed his hands of whole affair and the God/man in the middle of it. Then there was the wicked, religious world – They didn’t just turn and look the other way – they lobbied – they screamed – for Jesus’ crucifixion. “His blood be on us, and on our children.” And it was so – to the 10th and the nth generation.
In addition to these two, honesty demands that I point out that God’s people also forsook the Lord. Oh, I know that in all this, the eternal will of God was being carried out – all of this worked together to produce the atonement. But each one of these groups – secular Roman; religious Israel; and backsliden Christianity – wilfully chose their own particular course of action. They were not coerced by God – or by Christ – or by anything else – but their own depravity.
Is not this the same treatment being carried out in the world today? I’m going to get to more specifics in a few moments, but generally speaking we are still seeing this. Without completely divesting themselves of Christ, all three groups are going their own way and seeking their own agenda. The White House and Congress acknowledge the presence of Christ – for the most part, hoping to garner a few votes and a bit of peace with the populace. Academia acknowledges Christ in the sense of an historical figure and the beauty of the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. And then there is the religious world – liberal Christianity looks at the wise man named “Jesus.” The cults see another guru much like their own – Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, Alexander Campbell. Even the so-called “heathen” religions, like Islam, acknowledge the prophet called “Jesus.” All three groups are inextricably linked to the Son of God, but they all reject Him to in one way or another.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus.
Verse 27 – “Then (Pilate) released Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.” Remember that the Jews refused to enter Pilate’s judgment hall, because it was the Passover. So Pilate, the Procurator, came out to them, sitting on a temporary judgment seat (a bema) in a place called “the Pavement” but in the Hebrew, “Gabbatha” – a raised pulpit of some sort (John 19). When all that was finished, his soldiers brought our Saviour into the common hall – “the Praetorium.” Gill says that it was a very large hall, accommodating “the whole band” of perhaps five hundred men.
Five hundred men is a very large crowd. Could we use that large number to represent the entire Gentile, secular world? Why not? After all it was Pilate’s “whole band of soldiers.” How many of those five hundred men directly participated in the beating of Christ? I would say that it was a small percentage; nevertheless, those who stripped and scourged Christ did so representing the entire group.
You and I, at least for a while longer, are living in a secular world. We often buy our groceries and our gasoline from non-believers, and our governments are non-believing. Not everyone of those people are willing to directly scourge either Christ or us. But that doesn’t mean they are our spiritual friends either. Only by the miraculous grace of God is there a Cornelius found among the soldiers of the governor.
And they stripped Him.
I am going to assume that they stripped off Christ’s shirt or tunic before they applied the scourge. And remember, this was not the first beating Jesus endured that night, but it might have been the worst. The temple guards with the approval of the priests had also beaten him. What hurts more – the moment you get your bruise, or every time you bumped into it later? What hurts more – the scratch or cut, or that same untreated cut an hour or two later? Christ is being beaten by professional soldiers, after having already being beaten.
But before we get to the scourge, consider the simple fact that “they stripped Him.” Isn’t this what we see today in every corner of modern society? Leaving aside the modern Romans and Greeks – the politicians and the academics – we have the religionists. In many churches Christ has been stripped of His virgin birth, His deity, His miracles, and His authority. In a great many churches Jesus is nothing more than a good example for us to follow. In many churches the philosophy of Christ is preached – augmented by the philosophies of others. But the truth is – with or without His usual clothing, He still is the Divine person that He had always been. Let the liberals say what they will, they cannot dethrone, or un-deify the Son of God. He is who He is and He always will be – Jehovah. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter (these false teachers) shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” We might say that the world has been trying to strip Christ for more than two millennia – but they have failed.
Then He was scourged. The word is “phragelloo” (frag-el-lo’-o) referring to a Roman “fla-gel-lum.” This was a short whip, probably with a wooden handle and several leather thongs about 18 inches long. Tied into the leather there may have been pieces of bone, iron or other pieces of metal. The purpose of the instrument was to inflict severe pain, either for torture or to prepare someone for his execution. This whip may have been applied anywhere from a dozen to as many as forty times. And the effect was devastating – fatal in the long term if he was beaten more than three dozen times. “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.”
Today the world – secular or religious – cannot scourge the Son of God, but they can scourge His saints. History is replete with the severe persecutions of our forefathers. And in beating those saints they were once again attacking Christ. As he was hailing men and woman to prison, he heard from heaven – “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Don’t think for a moment those scourgings could not begin again at any moment, even in this so-called “Christian country.”
With blood pouring from his body they “put on him a scarlet robe.”
Mark and John tell us that the color was purple – perhaps it was two colored, but I’m not going to worry about it. “And they bowed the knee before him… saying, Hail King of the Jews!” The robe and its color were designed to be a part of their mockery – “Hail King of the Jews!” Little did those foolish men know. Christ was not at this time king of the Jews, and despite being the descendent of David, I’m not sure that will ever be the most appropriate title. Christ is King of the Kingdom of Heaven – He is the sovereign over all creation, not just at one nation – despite being God’s chosen nation. When those men spoke, they were using, not only “king” but also the word “Jew” to mock him. Generally speaking the world has hated “Israel” and “the Jews” – since the time of the very first Jew. That is not going to change until the day that Christ Jesus actually does sit upon the throne of David during the Millennium.
But think about the appropriateness of a scarlet or purple robe. In the Book of Revelation we begin to see Christ in His ultimate glory. In only three verses in Revelation do we ever read of scarlet and purple, and they are not found on Christ. That is the attire of “mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” The robes we see Christ and His saints wearing are pure white accented with gold.
The mocking world tries to clothe Christ in its own favorite colors – as some sort of human monarch. But ermines and silks of King Henry, Queen Elizabeth, and President Obama are not appropriate for Christ. His robe is made of pure righteousness, and His rule is both universal and eternal.
Another part of their mockery was the scepter which they gave him. They put a “reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him.” This reed was some sort of weed, perhaps like a bullrush – at least that is what I picture. It is the same word which is sometimes used as a writing implement – a quill pen – but that might be from a different sort of reed. Why did they put THIS into His hand? Was it because it was useless as a weapon against them? A wooden stick might have been turned on a couple of the soldiers nearest to Him. That is, if the prisoner wasn’t as placid as the Lamb He was prophesied to be. Did their choice have anything to do with Matthew 12:20 – “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.” Probably not.
Once again – the world attributes to Christ a kingship which has no authority or power. To them He is a paper dragon, a puppet king, a fraud. His scepter is nothing but a reed – a weed. But as Revelation tells us, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
When they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head.
Years ago, I was visiting with someone who had made a trip to Israel. Among some of the items he had brought back was a thorny vine. Those thorns were at least an inch long and as sharp as anything I’ve ever seen in nature. I can’t be sure that I was looking at the material used to make this crown, but it is quite likely. The images arising in me were horrific.
Have you ever fallen into a rose bush? We had some wicked rose bushes in front of our house in Riverside Harbor, and I had to work around them on several occasions. Even to be scratched by a single rose thorn can be quit painful – lasting for days. Did the thorns on Christ hurt and sting to the same degree? Was it even worse? Some of us know the misery caused by shingles. Some of us have experienced shingles in the same place where Christ experienced these thorns. I think that to some degree, I understand the pain that Jesus silently endured for my salvation.
In what manner did this “coronation” take place? Did some unscrupulous ruffian kick Jesus on the back of the leg forcing Him to His knees? Did someone in a priestly fashion, hold the crown over Christ’s head and slowly and reverently put it in place? Did those thorns just rest on Jesus’ scalp and hair, or did the man press it down drawing blood. In my mind, I can’t see the man hurting himself, so it appears to be to have been done gingerly and lightly. But after that those wicked men took Christ’s pretended scepter and beat Him on the head with it. If those thorns hadn’t already dug through the skin into the bones of His head, they certainly did as they were driven down like nails with a hammer. There was very likely terrible pain and a certain amount of blood now running down my Saviour’s face.
Once again, we see what the world thinks about the sovereign kingship of Christ. Is there anything more demeaning than to be spit upon? There may be some weird cultures where to be spit upon is considered to be a blessing, but not anywhere in my mind. And it certainly wasn’t meant to be a blessing by these barbarous soldiers. It used to be illegal in parts of this country to spit on the sidewalk or in other public places. The only exceptions of course were into spittoons and in baseball parks. They spit upon my Saviour – many of those wicked soldiers spit upon Christ. Oh, how those men have been trying for two thousand years now, to withdraw that ignominy. Was there anything they did which more clearly showed their hatred and disrespect of Christ?
“His citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” The reign of Christ. Not even in much of Christendom is there a proper understanding of the reign of the Lord. There are millions of semi-believers who think that Christ has already returned to establish His reign. If we are now in the millennium then the Word of God isn’t worth the paper on which it is printed.
After some minutes or hours having their way with Him, they returned to Jesus His own clothing.
The scarlet/purple robe was undoubtedly borrowed, so after their fun the soldiers returned it. And now Christ was back in His own raiment. And what exactly was that? John 19:23 – “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.” The Lord Jesus wore some relatively unusual clothing – including a seamless coat. And I know that it was nothing more than that – clothing. There is a sense in which it was not more special than the clothing that I am wearing this morning. I don’t ordinarily wear a long sleeve shirt and tie at home – these are only for special occasions. And I consider every service of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ special. I believe that Christ Jesus wore a special coat because He was very special.
Some Christian female hands wanted to be a blessing to her Saviour so she created something really outstanding and gave it to Him. That seamless jacket represented, at least to her, that this man was unique – special.
Along with that coat, Jesus was stripped to His bear skin before being whipped and mocked. But when the world had finished their fun, Christ returned to what He had always been. He had never ceased to be the eternal Son of God; He never stopped being the Messiah – the Christ. Those men could not take from Him his sovereign deity, even though they mocked His earthly position. As He was led out of the Praetorium, Jesus Christ was the prophet of God He had been for the last three years. He was the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, and now He was being taken to Calvary where He would pour out the rest of His blood for the salvation of God’s elect. Man with his false religions of Humanism, Evolution, and even with his religious religions cannot change the realities of Christ.
How SHOULD those men have treated the Lord?
They should have come to Christ as Thomas will – with the words and heart to say, “My Lord and my God.” They should have come to him as the Philippian jailer will do to Christ’s missionaries – “Lord, what must I do to be saved.” They should have bowed before him as Mary will in a few days – worshiping Him in tears. Instead of “Hail, King of the Jews” they should have shouted “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
If you had been there in Jerusalem that day, how would you have behaved before the Lord? Would you have shouted “Crucify him, Crucify him. We will not have this man to reign over us”? Or would you have mocked “Hail, king of the Jews” and then beat upon Him with your self-deification? I implore you to humble yourself before Him – bow before Him. Repent of your sin and your sins before God the Father and put your faith, love and soul in the hands and in the sacrifice of the God the Son. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.“