The Defining Moments of Christ's PassionSýnishorn

The Horrors of a Roman Scourging

Matthew 27:26 tells us that Pontius Pilate “...had scourged Jesus…” before he delivered Him to be crucified. The word “scourged” is the Greek word phragello, which was one of the most horrific words used in the ancient world because of the terrible images that immediately came to mind when a person heard it.

When a decision was made to scourge an individual, the victim was stripped completely naked so his entire flesh would be open and uncovered to the beating action of the torturer’s whip. Then the victim was bound to a two-foot-high scourging post. His hands were tied over his head to a metal ring, and his wrists were securely shackled to that ring to restrain his body from any form of movement.

The Romans took special delight in the fact that they were “the best” at punishing a victim in this brutal manner. Once the victim was harnessed to the post and stretched over it, the Roman soldier began to put him through unimaginable torture.

The scourge whip itself consisted of a short, wooden handle with several 18- to 24-inch-long straps of leather protruding from it. The ends of these pieces of leather were equipped with sharp pieces of metal, wire, glass, and jagged fragments of bone. This was considered to be one of the most feared and deadly weapons of the Roman world, and even the most hardened criminal recoiled from the prospect of submitting to the vicious beating of a Roman scourge.

Most often, two torturers were utilized to carry out this punishment, simultaneously lashing the victim from both sides. As these dual whips struck the victim, the leather straps with their sharp, jagged objects extended over his entire back. Each piece of metal, wire, bone, or glass cut deeply through the victim’s skin and into his flesh, shredding his muscles and sinews.

Every time the torturers struck a victim, the straps of leather attached to the wooden handle would cause multiple lashes as the sharp objects at the end of each strap sank into the flesh and then raked across the victim’s body. Then the torturer would jerk his whip back, pulling it hard to tear whole pieces of human flesh from the body. The victim’s back, buttocks, backs of his legs, stomach, upper chest, and face would soon be disfigured by the slashing blows of the scourging whip.

Historical records describe a victim’s back as being so mutilated after a Roman scourging that his spine was actually exposed. If the scourging wasn’t stopped, the slicing of the whip would eventually peel the victim’s flesh off his own body. The victim would begin to experience a profuse loss of blood and bodily fluids. Because of the massive loss of bodily fluids, victims would experience excruciating thirst, often fainting from the pain and eventually going into shock. Frequently, the victim’s heartbeat would become so irregular that he would go into cardiac arrest.

This was a Roman scourging.

Every time I think about the scourging Jesus received that day, I think of the promise God makes to us in Isaiah 53:5, which says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” In this verse, God declared that the price for our healing would be paid by the stripes that were laid across Jesus’ back by the scourging whip.

If you need healing in your body, you have every right to go to God and ask for healing to come flooding into your system. Jesus went through this agony for you, so don’t let the devil tell you that it is God’s will for you to be sick or weak! Consider the pain Jesus endured to bear your sicknesses that day — isn’t that enough evidence to convince you how much He wants you to be physically well?

Think About It:

Do you need healing? Think about the horrific scourging Jesus willfully endured so you could have every right to go before God and confidently expect to obtain your healing. Then honor the gift of Jesus’ life by gratefully receiving His healing provision for your physical body!