The days of Lent are fast approaching their end, and leading us closer to their main focus; the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, before we reach the peak, the summit, to claim the “Crown of Glory”, our Redeemer has first to wear the “Crown of Thorns”.
In these last days we should dedicate time, to meditate and reflect on the Passion and Death of our Saviour.
To meditate on this, ‘The Greatest Tragedy in the History of Humanity,’ we should read about the sufferings and illtreatment, our Lord, Jesus suffered at the hands of His enemies … according to various learned sources: The Gospel, The contemporary History, Findings from the Shroud, Medical Studies, Archaeological Remains and Interpretations by artists.
Let us read, stop at times, meditate. Let each and everyone of us thank the Saviour for HE suffered all this … JUST for ME, personally.
Let us Pray:
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
Christ has undergone Flagellation
Flagellation, the whipping with chords, always took place when a person was condemned to death, as a preliminary (according to Josephus Flavius and Livy), whether the sentence was for crucifixion or for beheading.
At times Flagellation was carried out as a separate punishment. The Roman Law stated that all senators, women and soldiers were exempt from this cruel treatment of Flagellation.
The victim would be tied from both hands to a column, hanging without letting the feet touch the ground. Thus the poor victim’s body would be swayed from one side to the other with every beating, according to Plautus. Yet this was not the way they scourged Jesus, as evident from the Shroud.
The Roman author Cicero tells us that during the Flagellation and during the carrying of the cross (patibulum), the victim would be stripped naked, and remain thus all the way till the point of crucifixion.
Regarding the ‘nakedness’ we have to say that as a rule, in those days they used to wear a ’loincloth’, our modern boxer shorts or underpants. A person in his loin cloth would be considered as naked.
The Flagellation used to be carried out by two men, one on either side, alternating in their whipping. They used a whip called “Flagrum’. It used to have a wooden handle of about half a metre long, to hold it from, with three long strands. At the end of each strand were fixed two big lead balls, and in each leaden ball were embedded sharp pieces of bone taken from the ankle of lambs. Wherever they hit, these, sharp pointed bones used to tear off the skin, the flesh of the victim.
The overall effect of the Flagellation was ‘loss of much blood’, a haemorrhage, which lowered the physical resistance of the victim. The beatings given to Jesus are all visible on the Turin Shroud. Now, according to the Jewish Law, they were allowed to give only forty strokes. But, the Pharisees, being kind and gentle, not to exceed the forty mark, gave only thirty nine strokes.
Whereas the Romans had no fixed limit, they used to go on beating until in the Centurion’s judgement, the victim would have just enough strength left, just enough energy, to carry the patibulum to the point of Crucifixion.
Let us Pray:
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
Let us meditate, and think…I should have been the one to be scourged, because it is I who has committed so many sins, not Jesus. Jesus took my place. Do we ever stop to THANK the Lord Jesus for taking my place … whilst I keep on sinning.
Thank you, Jesus, help me to appreciate , not by paying lip service, BUT by stopping from sinning and offending YOU.
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