Mark 15:15 - "Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified."
The
Sanhedrin met early the next morning and sentenced Him to death (
Matthew 27:1). Because the Jews were not, and the Romans were, able to
carry out an execution, Jesus was brought before Pilate.
Then
Pilate sends Jesus to Herod. Jesus is speechless before Herod, and
Herod sends Him back to Pilate. Pilate is unable to convince the crowds
of Jesus' innocence and orders Jesus to be put to death. But he ordered
that Jesus be flogged first.
It
is at this point that Jesus suffers a severe physical beating. During
that kind of flogging, a victim was tied to a post, leaving his back
entirely exposed. The Romans used a whip, called a flagrum or flagellum
which consisted of small pieces of bone and metal attached to a number
of leather strands.
The
number of strikes is not recorded in the gospels. The number of blows
in Jewish law was set in Deuteronomy 25:3 at forty, but later reduced to
39 to prevent excessive blows by a counting error.
The
victim often died from the beating (39 hits were believed to bring the
criminal to "one from death".) Roman law did not put any limits on the
number of blows given.
During
the flogging, the skin was stripped from the back, exposing a bloody
mass of muscle and bone. Extreme blood loss occurred from this beating,
weakening the victim. perhaps to the point of being unconscious.
Jesus'
beating was so severe that He was beyond recognition. Isaiah 52:14: ". .
. Just as there were many who were appalled at him - his appearance was
so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human
likeness".
ROMAN SOLDIERS MOCK AND BEAT JESUS
Matthew
27:28-30 (The soldiers) stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and
then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put
a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him.
"Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the
staff and struck him on the head again and again.
Unlike
the traditional crown which is depicted by an open ring, the actual
crown of thorns may have covered the entire scalp. Some sources say the
thorns may have been 1 to 2 inches long. The gospels state that the
Roman soldiers continued to beat Jesus on the head. The blows would
drive the thorns into the scalp (one of the most vascular areas of the
body) and forehead, causing severe bleeding.
For the beginning and concluding part of this update, read HERE