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Book: John
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John 19:1
I. This scourging was a part of the divine plan of God.
A. It was a fulfillment of prophecy.
1. Psalm 129:3 "The plowers plowed upon My back, they
made long their furrows."
2. Isaiah 50:6 "I gave My back to the smiters, and My
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, I hid not
My face from shame and spitting."
3. Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His
stripes we are healed."
4. Jesus prophesied His scourging in Matthew 20:18,19.
"Behold we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall
be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the
scribes and they shall betray Him unto death. And
shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles to mock and to
scourge, and to crucify Him and the third day He shall
rise again."
B. What was the scourging?
1. It was the Roman flagellis according to Josephus it was
inflicted before crucifixion.
2. The prisoner was tied with thongs to a post. When Paul
was brought into the castle or the Antonio Fortress by
the chief captain, who ordered Paul to be examined by
scourging, to find out what he said that caused such a
tumult among the Jews, we are told that while they were
binding him with the thongs, he asked the centurion if
it was lawful to scourge a Roman citizen who had not
been condemned.
3. Pulpit commentary declares the Roman punishment
flagellis inflicted hideous torture. It was executed
upon slaves with thin elm rods or straps having leaden
balls or sharply pointed bones attached, and was
delivered on the bent bare and tense back. The
flagellation usually brought blood with the first
stroke, and reduced the back to a fearful state or raw
and quivering flesh. Strong men often succumbed under
it.
4. Paul refers to receiving five times from the Jews forty
stripes save one. It is generally accepted that this is
the number of stripes inflicted. Forty is the number of
judgment, it rained in in the time of Noah's flood, for
forty days and nights. The children of Israel wandered
in the wilderness for forty years. The forty save one
being 39, 39 is thus considered the number of mercy.
(Not much mercy)
5. The purpose of the scourging was to torture the
prisoner into a confession of his crimes. Paul was to
examined by scourging to find out what he had said to
the Jews that caused them to riot. The idea was that as
a prisoner confessed to his various crimes the guard
that was inflicting the stripes across his back would
ease off with every confession.
6. Think of the case of Jesus, with nothing to confess He
took the full brunt of the beating. "As a lamb before
her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."
C. It was obviously the will of God that He should be thus
tortured, which leaves the big question, "Why?"
1. Would God allow His beloved Son to suffer needlessly?
a. Would you allow your son to suffer needlessly?
b. There must be some purpose why God allowed
Jesus to be thus cruelly treated.
2. Naturally we should look to the scriptures to see if
we can find some answer to this question.
a. When Isaiah prophesied the scourging, he said,
"And by His stripes, we are healed."
b. In 1Peter 2:24 "Who His own self bare our sins
in His body on the tree, that we, being dead
to sins, should live unto righteousness: by
whose stripes you were healed.
3. When at the passover meal when Jesus took the bread, He
said, "This is My body which is broken for you."
a. Where was His body broken? As a sacrifice not
a bone could be broken, it was not lawful to
offer for a sacrifice an animal whose bone had
been broken.
b. When they decided to break the legs of the
prisoners who were being crucified to hasten
their deaths, when they came to Jesus, they
found that He was already dead, so they did not
break His bones that the scripture might be
fulfilled which declared not a bone of Him
shall be broken.
c. Jesus could not then be referring to bones
being broken.
d. It would seem that His reference must have been
to His body being broken open during the
scourging.
e. His death for our sins accomplished our
salvation, what did the scourging accomplish?
4. In Matthew's gospel chapter 8 as he tells us that they
brought the sick to Jesus he declares that He healed
all that were sick That it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "That Himself
took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
a. You will not find that declared in the book of
Isaiah, so we must conclude that Matthew is
interpreting chapter 53 of Isaiah, that
declared, "By His stripes we are healed."
b. The scourging of Jesus was related to healing.
c. It has been the position of the fundamental
commentators of the Bible to interpret the
healing as spiritual healing.
d. The reason that this position is taken is the
fact that they have determined that physical
healing in answer to prayer ceased with the
Apostles.
e. Thus their interpretation is influenced by
their presuppositional premise. The question
must be asked, "Is their presupposition
correct?"
f. Is there a passage of scripture that might
suggest such a thing. Has God rescinded His
covenant to heal His people.
EXO 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the
LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and
wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I
will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee.
g. Was there a limit put on the instruction of
James that if there were any sick among us
that we should call for the elders of the
church to anoint them with oil in the name
of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save
the sick and the Lord shall raise them up?
h. A.G. Gordon in his book on the Ministry of
Healing shows that throughout the history of
the church there have been testimonies of
healing in answer to prayer. This is usually
termed divine healing.
5. Paul's interesting instructions for the Corinthian
church regarding the taking of communion. He warns
them not to partake in an unworthy fashion. Then he
speaks of them not discerning the Lord's body, and for
this cause many were weak and sickly among them and
some have actually died.
6. I offer this to you as a suggestion. Could it be that
God has provided for us in the scourging of Jesus, by
His stripes,
His broken body, a provision for our healing, if we
only discerned the Lords body, i.e. His body that was
broken for us. Is it possible that many could be
healed, who are now weak and sick if they only
discerned the Lord's body?
a. What could Jesus have meant, "This is My body
broken for you?"
b. We know what He meant by the cup, "This is a
new covenant in My blood for the remission of
sins."
c. His blood was shed for our redemption, but why
was His body broken?
"Why are they whipping my Jesus?
Why does the lash descend?
Why must His quivering shoulders,
Christ to the swift lash lend?
Is not the cross tree of Calvary,
Sufficient to pardon my guilt?
Why are they whipping my Jesus?
Tell me my friend if thou wilt.
For this they are whipping my Jesus,
As lashes rise and fall,
Here He is purchasing healing,
Without the judgment hall.
Jesus Himself bare thine anguish
Ye Jesus Himself bare thy pain,
Cast now thy burden upon Him,
Health through His stripes now regain.
7. What is the significance of His body being broken for
us?
8. What did God accomplish through that?
9. Until I can find a better scriptural answer, I will
look to Him for His strength and healing.
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