Jesus was flogged brutally and terribly beating to endure.  It was standard practice for a convicted person to be flogged before a crucifixion. The roman flog whip consisted of several short braids of leather thongs with small iron balls and sharp pieces of sheep bones tied at intervals, along the length of it. The severity of the scourging depended on the mood of the soldiers and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim could survive the cross.

Two Roman soldiers alternated blows as they repeatedly struck the victim's back with full force. The iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather things and sheep bones would viciously cut into the skin and deep tissues causing disfigurement when it is extreme (Jesus own was more than extreme), also causes serious trauma, such as the ripping pieces of flesh from the body. During scourging, it would be common place for the lacerated skin and bloody underlying muscle tissue to take on the appearance of SHREDDED MEAT.  The victim would approach a state of severe shock due to blood loss.




By the time soldiers were done in extreme cases, the victim appears ten times more terrible than the picture above. Because the one to be punished was stripped naked and bound to a low pillar so that he could bend over it, or be chained to an unprofitable pillar, so as to be stretched out. Then the two floggers alternated blows from the bare shoulders down the body to the soles of the feet. In 1 PETER 2:24, Peter gave a small description, and if we notice the term  WOUNDS also called STRIPES in the original language is in the singular number. This clearly means the back of Jesus was such a bleeding and bruised tissues that it appeared as a single wound. After he was scourged he was still taunted, the truth is the 39 lashes could have been done using ordinary whip as one might have beaten an ancient Roman slave, but the prison guard soldiers used what I call a MILITARY GRADE 1 FLAGRUM with multiple tips specifically designed to tear tissues and flesh out. Don't forget the son of man had no sin, knew no sin and did no sin yet he went through all these.

This was just a small part of the punishment for my sins, your sins and the sins of the whole world. Don't for a moment think that these soldiers did this terrible thing. No! Our sins did this to Him. Jesus' situation was terrible in the sense that he had already experienced bursting of capillaries and that was why his sweat looked like blood. It happens when someone is under the most extreme kind of fear and stress and the result is always a very fragile/soft and painful skin. Now imagine this degree of torture on a skin that is already soft like jelly, and the whips were designed in such a way that when it lands on your body, it will cut through your body skin and enter, then the soldiers will pull it out forcefully and this will certainly tear out your body meat and skin causing large pore openings, with blood oozing out uncontrollably. This explanation is small compared to what he really went through, it's vague to us and that's why it's not a big deal.



The crown of thorns was more haggard looking and terrible than this, Isaiah gave us a good picture of Jesus taking on the sins of the world. In biblical symbolism, the cross often represented the CURSING OF THE EARTH. Jesus drew all the curses to himself. Botanist familiar with the foliage of the Middle East have suggested that the thorn on his head most likely came from the Lote tree(if that's true that's the definition of hell) because that tree have thorns averaging 2 inches in length, to now form a wreath-like crown with this and repeatedly hammering it into a person's head is extremely terrible. It's an insult on Jesus for me to ever say I HAVE HEADACHE. Headache? No, not after His crown of thorns experience! He suffered these things for me to experience the opposite, it's something I must daily take advantage of. The crown of thorns was more like a helmet unlike the traditional crown you see in this picture depicted by an open ring. It more likely covered the entire scalp and the Bible said the Roman soldiers kept beating Jesus on the head (unimaginable pains).



Definitely these blows will drive the thorns deep into the scalp and forehead, causing severe bleeding. Don't forget that the beating he took was so ghastly that his face was torn, and his beard ripped from his face, now crown of thorns, most men wouldn't survive the torture. I like to keep the scene of his sufferings, torture and death on my mind it's the most brutal and one of the most beautiful ever. Brutal in the sense that I get to the extent of the damage my sins did to my Lord. How he willingly surrendered himself because of His eternal love for me. He didn't argue, didn't put up a resistance, because I was all through on His mind. He must have thought, if I resist these things now Daniel would never be saved and I can't imagine heaven without Daniel, who will help Daniel cleanse all his records of sins eternally, I just have to do this, I don't care what happens to me, Daniel must sit with me on my throne when I resurrect. I would endure anything because I am his only hope”. Now please tell me why I won't devote my whole life to him? No one can do what he did for me, then why should anyone else take most of my time and attention in life? It's not about being saved now, do you understand His love? The expressions of his love began here.



Jesus Christ! By the time they were done he looked 7 times more terrible than the picture below. Mel Gibson tried in his movie Passion of Christ but that's just like 50 times lesser than how the real graphical picture of his torture looked like on that day.
Isaiah the prophet was taken to the CURTAINS OF ETERNITY in the Spirit and was allowed to have a sneak peek into the future. Look out how he described the SCENE. Isaiah 52:14 But many were amazed when they saw him (he became an object of horror). His face and appearance was so disfigured and marred he seemed hardly human, and from his form, one would scarcely know he was a man”. This means he didn't look human again after the brutal torture my sins did to him (how can anyone say we are supporting sinful lifestyle because we preach grace, your condemnation is well deserved when you say that because that's blasphemy) we know the lethality, the corrosive and poisonous power of sin and that is why we preach grace so that sin will have no dominion over people (Romans 6:14).



He looked more like this, he did all these for me. How can I ever repay him if not by living for Him? This is why the last judgment will be severe, tell me if you were God and did all these for people without having to do it, if you had wiped them all off, you would still be justified but because it's not in your nature you chose gruesome brutality upon your son instead, to pay for every dime of sin that was committed and will be committed and yet the people refuse to accept this sacrifice. They go clubbing and you still specifically give your angels to keep charge over them to keep them from harm, because you don't want them to die without knowing you, still they rejected your hand of love and sacrifice till they died, what will you do? The interpretation of his sacrifice is that anyone who goes to hell, goes by choice and it's not God's fault, the person by himself condemned himself because God have done practically everything he could do, he gave himself up as the atoning sacrifice, what more is greater than God? If there is anything greater than Himself he would have given. I was privileged to see Jesus in a vision today and he looked so graceful and terrific, his eyes were like flames of fire, then I was told this is how he looks like in judgment. He was the vulnerable lamb on the cross but in judgment he is a lion with all authority in heaven, on earth and under the earth subject to him.



In Isaiah 53:4-5, the prophet said, Surely HE (this is the most emphatic way possible to emphasize the word HE. What the Holy Spirit is doing here is directing our attention away from us and our problems to him who is the solution. The Hebrew word is AKEN, it's used to direct your attention to the next word that follows. There is no solution in us, we don't have the answers, if only we can turn ourselves away from ourselves and our problems and look to him who is the solution. When serpents were biting the Israelites in the wilderness, God told Moses to make a bronze snake and place it on a pole(that was a typology of Jesus becoming sin for us on the cross, he confirmed it in John 3:14) and God told Moses to them to look at the bronze snake on the pole(a typology of Jesus as sin on the cross) and as many that looked away from the problem(the snake bite) and looked at the bronze snake on the pole(a picture of God's judgment of sin, which Jesus became on the cross) they lived and didn't die.



Bronze in the Bible often represented judgment, so even in the wilderness God was revealing his plans in typologies and codes. Surely he hath borne my griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, distresses) and carried my sorrows: the prophet said yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for (our) not (his) transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [punishment] for our peace and well-being was upon Him, and by his stripes (wounds) we are healed. It's an insult on him for me to remain sick. In my transgressions, in guilt and iniquity, to fear punishment, he was punished that I might have peace with God by being forgiven. Why won't it please the father that in him should dwell all fullness, when all suffering dwelt in him? The Hebrew word we are healed is rather difficult to render in English, but I will say it this way, It was obtained for us.



Healing was obtained for us because he took our sickness and bore our pains, he was wounded that we might be healed. So when you're sick you don't say I need healing, you declare your perfect health which you already posses in Christ Jesus.

I've left so many things out, yet this remains weighty and overwhelming for my soul, I've not even talked about what happened at Golgotha, the nails, the spear, the water, the blood, the cry, the separation, what happened in the spirit, why the earth shook, why darkness came for a while, his condition on the cross and much more. If God were to take you to the past (time travel is possible) and make you stand and watch that day, you will beg to be taken away after sometime, if not you would weep out your eyes. It makes the soul shudder and makes a man humble and see how vain life is without Christ, you would prefer Christ to anything and everything, the smell of blood alone is enough to make on to puke, the smell of torn skin, the smell of death and hell, the darkness. Hmmmm. May we continue to understand the magnitude of his sacrifice and become rooted and grounded in his love. Amen.



Photo credit: Internet
© Daniel Oriade