I. Introduction
A. I borrowed parts of this message from Brian Menear of Path of Light Ministries from his series called Pathway To The Passion, perhaps a whole lot of this message
B. Let us begin by reading Matthew 27:26-31
1. This is as much of a description of the execution of Christ as we might find in Scripture
Matthew 27:26-31 (NKJV)
Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. {27} Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. {28} And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. {29} When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" {30} Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. {31} And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.
C. I borrowed this message from Brian Menear of Path of Light Ministries from his series called Pathway To The Passion.
1. Brian called this message, “Scourging & Crucifixion”
D. His introduction would parallel my own introduction:
1. So far in this series we have looked at Jesus at the Last Supper, in the Garden at Gethsemane, Peters denial, and how his arrest and trials were illegal.
2. Though the Gospels give us a good picture of the events of the last day of Christ, they do not give great details as to the amount of suffering he endured shortly before and during the Crucifixion.
3. We are going to begin a walk down the same path Jesus walked.
a. It was not a pleasant path but must be understood to better understand what God has done for us.
(1) Lets begin by turning to Deuteronomy 25:1 - 3
II. Body
A. We begin by focusing on Jesus’ scourging
Deuteronomy 25:1-3 (NKJV)
"If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, {2} "then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. {3} "Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.
1. Jews were afraid of breaking the law so typically they would give only 39 lashes and be very careful to count.
a. The lash was a regular lash.
b. I mentioned Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Rock Opera, “Jesus Christ, Superstar”
(1) In that Opera, you can the count the lashes in the whipping of Jesus, 39 lashes
2. This indicates a good grasp of Jewish law
a. But, Jesus was not sentenced to a lashing by a Jewish court
(1) Nor was Jesus whipped by a Jewish executioner
b. Jesus was sentenced to the flogging by the Roman governor
(1) Jesus was flogged by a Roman executioner
3. Roman scourging was very different.
a. There was no set amount of lashes to be given.
(1) The prisoner was flogged until the executioner could no long raise his arm
b. It was not uncommon for people to die during this punishment.
c. Some say that the victims were stripped naked, bent over a stump with hands and ankles shackled to the stump.
(1) Some commentators say that Jesus was hung like a side of beef to be whipped
(2) Many old master painting show Jesus tied or chained to a pillar exposing His back
(3) If someone became unconscious during it, they were revived and the punishment continued.
(a) The Romans usually called their flogging “halfway death”
(b) The instrument used was called a flagellum
(c) What we might say is a cat-o-nine-tails
(d) It was about 18’ long with leather thongs at the end of it. In these thongs were pieces of glass, bone, and sharp metal.
(e) The purpose of the cat-o-nine-tails was to reduce the body to strips of raw flesh and massive bleeding wounds
(f) The purpose of the scourging was to inflict as much pain as possible
(g) Most Hollywood movies do not give an accurate depiction of this
i) The closest was probably Mel Gibson’s “The Passion”, but even as graphic as it was probably does not compare to the real thing
4. Aside the flogging, they heaped many other indignities upon our Lord
a. The soldiers put the scarlet robe on Jesus
(1) Now this was after the flogging so that the robe absorbed the blood from Jesus wounds
(a) And as the soldiers continued to abuse Jesus the bloody robe dried and stuck to His raw flesh
i) Remember this
b. They put the crown of thorns on Jesus head and put a reed in His hand as a mock scepter
(1) These thorns would pierce His flesh to the bone of His skull
(2) Blood running down His face
(a) Possibly into His eyes
(b) Disfiguring His countenance even more
(c) They spit in Jesus face
(d) Then they took the reed and hit Jesus head
i) Probably forcing the thorns deeper into His skull
(e) And when the soldiers had all had their fun with Jesus
i) They ripped the scarlet robe off Him and put His own clothing back on Him
ii) Imagine what it was like, the scarlet robe having dried on His bloody back, now being ripped off
iii) Reopening a mirid of wounds, causing more blood to flow
c. Then they lead Him away
B. Crucifixion
1. Jesus was then led away to be crucified
a. As usual He would have been paraded through the streets of Jerusalem out to Golgotha
b. Crucifixion was meant to be public
c. Most artist paintings depict Jesus carrying the entire cross through the streets of Jerusalem
(1) Jesus physically would not have been able to carry the entire cross
(2) No doubt he would have been severely weakened by the scourging and probably dehydration from blood loss
(a) Lets turn to Matthew 27:32 & 33
d. The upright beam itself would have been about eight feet long
(1) It was probably taken in advance to the crucifixion site by Roman soldiers
(2) Jesus would have carried the smaller cross-beam section.
Matthew 27:32-33 (NKJV)
Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. {33} And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,
2. Just as Simon helped carry Jesus’ cross, we to are to carry a cross for Jesus
a. Turn to Luke 9:23, these are Jesus’ words to us
Luke 9:23 (NKJV)
Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
(1) And in Matthew 10:38
b. Jesus talks about worth
Matthew 10:38 (NKJV)
"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
(1) We are to die to self
(2) We are to reckon our old way as dead
c. Our task is not to be paraded to Calvary
(1) Our task is to spread the message of the Gospels.
(2) In the modern world we have come to look at the cross as a thing of beauty. In artwork, jewelry, and as a symbol of what Jesus did for us. People in Jesus’ time had a totally different view of what the cross meant. To them the cross was a symbol of Roman oppression, of pain and suffering, and of death. I think they might be puzzled at our modern view of the cross.
3. More about crucifixion
a. Death by crucifixion was meant as a slow, humiliating and agonizing way to die
b. Some records indicate people living for as long as 9 days
c. Crucifixions were meant to serve as a warning to anyone who witnessed them
(1) “This is what happens when you challenge Roman”
(2) “This is what happens when you break the law”
(3) This is what happens when you make trouble for us”
(4) Much in the same way in the age of pirates that bodies were hung at the entrance of a towns harbor to serve as a warning
d. Where did crucifixion come from?
(1) Crucifixion was not invented by the Romans
(2) It actually predates them by several hundred years
(a) One story is that the Philistines invented crucifixion
(b) Another is the Persians
(c) The method was passed from the Persians or perhaps the Philistines, to the Egyptians, and eventually to the Romans
e. Method of crucifixion
(1) Story number one: Jesus would have been laid down on the crossbeam. The executioner would hammer nails into both wrists after finding the spot where they would not pierce any vital artery. The crossbeam would then be lifted up to the eight foot post. A sign stating what he was guilty of would be placed above his head. Both feet would then be pushed up right foot over the left and a single nail driven through both feet. The Romans had learned about proper placement of the feet. This allowed the victim to push themselves up, otherwise death would be too quick for their satisfaction. The position of the body would make it very difficult to breath. The person being crucified would have keep pushing themselves up and down in order to be able to breath. Eventually the body would be overcome by exhaustion and the person would die from suffocation.
Jesus hung on the cross for six hours until his death.
(2) Story number two: The entire cross was laid upon the ground and Jesus was secured to the cross. Ropes around His upper arms, nails through His hands and feet. The cross was then raised and slammed into the prepared hole in the ground. This shocked the victim causing great pain. The rest is like story number one.
(a) Now lets turn to Matthew 27:34-44
C. Obedience in the face of mocking and jeering
Matthew 27:34-40 (NKJV)
they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. {35} Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." {36} Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. {37} And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. {38} Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. {39} And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads {40} and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." {41} Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, {42} "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. {43} "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" {44} Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
1. J Vernon McGee wrote that in the four gospels it is mentioned that Jesus was crucified.
a. There is no descriptive essay in the Bible
b. The Apostles wrote about what went on around the cross
c. But not much about the cross or crucifixion
2. The sour wine mixed with gall was a pain killer, well, a pain reducer
a. Like taking a small dose of morphine
b. Jesus refused to take the wine
c. Ryrie’s notes says, “Jesus refused it, preferring to meet His death with all His faculties unimpaired”
d. This was given to prolong the experience not to ease the suffering
3. The priests and scribes mocked, “let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him”
4. Jesus’ act of not coming down from the cross was not a display of weakness or proof that he was not the Son of God
a. It was proof of his perfect obedience to Gods plan for him
(1) Turn to Acts 3:18
b. He could have come down if he wanted to and silenced every person there, but he choose to fulfill his mission to save us instead of himself.
(1) In Peter’s first sermon after Jesus ascended he said,
Acts 3:18 (NKJV)
"But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
(2) Turn to Isaiah 53:10 - 11
c. What was Peter talking about, he was talking about the prophets
Isaiah 53:10 - 11 (NKJV)
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. {11} He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
(1) Lets go up to Isaiah 53:5
d. He was sacrificed for us
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
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.
e. There are six varieties of wounds that a person can receive in their body.
(1) Abrasive wound - Where the skin is scraped off.
(a) This can result from stumbling or by carrying a rough object or by a glancing blow
(2) Blunt force trauma - caused by a heavy blow
(3) Incised wound - produced by a knife or spear or other sharp instrument.
(4) Lacerated wound - where the flesh is torn open leaving jagged edges.
(5) Penetrating wound - where the flesh is pierced right through.
(6) Punctured wound - made by a pointed or spiked instrument
f. Jesus suffered all these wounds. Yes, Jesus suffered real physical pain.
(1) But what Jesus suffered physically by itself does not give the power to the cross.
(2) We must add with it the spiritual pain and suffering that Jesus endured on the cross
(3) This is what made Jesus’ death on the cross different than any other
(4) At the cross we see a man at his worst, but God at his best
(5) When Jesus was on the cross, you were on his mind
g. We now can understand better how much Jesus suffered and endured
(1) Turn to John 3:16 - 18
(2) But you still may be asking yourself why God did this?
John 3:16-18 (NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. {18} "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(3) An article in a National Geographic magazine provides a penetrating picture of God’s love for us. After a forest fire raged through a section of Yellowstone Park, one of the rangers found the charred body of a bird at the base of a smoking tree stump. When he knocked it with a stick, three tiny little birds scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The remains of a half burnt nest nearby told the rest of the story. When the raging flames spread up the tree, the half burnt nest fell to the ground and the mother lay near it so her young birds could find protection under her wings. As the flames flared around her, she gave her life that her babies might live....
(4) Jesus loves us in this same way
(5) Jesus gave up his life to please his Father
(6) Jesus gave up his life so that we may live
(7) Jesus gave up his life so that you may live
(8) How many will give up their life for him?
(a) Will I?
(b) Will you?
(c) Is Jesus worthy?
