The scourging of the Savior was done by you and for you

“By His stripes we are healed.“ Isaiah 53:6.

Scourging. Unless you understand that the scourging was done by you, then you will never understand what the scourging has done for you.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John don’t go into much detail about the physical nature of the scourging. Everybody knew what it was. All we have in Matthew 27 is this: “But after having Jesus scourged, he [Pilate] handed Him over to be crucified.”

About 20 years ago an American citizen, Michael Fay, was caught vandalizing in Singapore. He was sentenced to be caned on his backside with a flexible bamboo rod. The sentence was reduced from 6 blows to 4. And the American public was outraged. Rightly so. About a mere 4 blows. What Jesus endured makes that almost insignificant.

But sometimes when we read the story of the scourging of Jesus it becomes simply part of the landscape. The horror of it – the abuse of it – too often isn't fully felt… unless you see it on the big screen.

The scene of the scourging in The Passion of the Christ was sobering and stunning. But as I read historian’s accounts of ancient Roman scourging, even the scenes from The Passion of the Christ do not adequately depict the pain, the horror, the abuse, and the suffering that the Lord Jesus Christ endured.

Scourged. The word comes from Latin. Excoriare is a compound word. Ex means “off” and corium means “skin.” So, scourging literally means “off with the skin.”

Soldiers took their places slightly behind Jesus. In their hands, they carried a short whip - with strips of heavy leather stained with the blood of previous victims.  Attached on each strip at various intervals were metal and stone pellets, little pieces of sharp bone and glass.    

The shrapnel on the ends of the leather cords tore easily through Jesus’ flesh. The small balls of lead made large, deep bruises ready to be broken open later by other blows. Another soldier. Another blow. The leather and the shards of bone were once again embedded into the skin, while a few wrapped around toward the front of Jesus. Next, the swipe of the whip severed muscle tissue in the back of His thighs. His legs were destined to be reduced to bloody masses of disfigured flesh.

Again and again, the soldiers swung the scourge. Another leather strand struck the same spot hit earlier, tearing deeper into the tissue leaving oozing slashes on Jesus’ body. The first hits produced bleeding that leaked from the capillaries and veins. But as the flogging continued, the whip tore into the underlying skeletal muscles to produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Bone began to show. 

On and on the beating went. The blood wasn’t oozing out now. Some arteries in the underlying muscles were damaged and the blood began to spurt with every heartbeat. The skin on the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn tissue. 

Finally, they cut Him loose and He fell to the ground. In Isaiah 52 we read these words about Jesus: “So marred from the form of man was His aspect, that His appearance was not as that of a son of a man.” People were appalled to look at Him.

Jesus knew this was coming. In Matthew chapter 20 Jesus is speaking to His disciples. "We're going to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered… to be mocked and flogged – scourged…"

How could Jesus know it was coming?

The scourging was predicted in Isaiah 50. The prophet puts words into the mouth of the Suffering Servant, "I gave My back to those who strike…”

When Jesus read those words, He came to the realization that this prophecy was about Him.

Don’t miss this. Jesus gave His back to the smiters. He gave it. He's the one in charge.

Don't see this as some kind of tragic accident. Was it abuse on a cosmic scale? Yes! Are the ones who used the scourge guilty? Yes!

But they were not in charge. Jesus was. Jesus gave His back to those who would smite it.

So, we have to ask the question: Why? Why would He do such a thing?

An old spiritual published in 1899 asked the question, "Were you there?" Would you have found yourself with the scourge in hand?

When we think of all the things we have done, when we think of all of our rebellion, when we think of all of our sin, when we think of how we have defied and rejected God's love, when we look at our hands we see a scourge.

He gave His back to be smitten because of our sin, because He wanted us healed from our sin. And when you think about it that way, it puts the scourge right in our hands.

By His stripes you are healed.

That hit was for your anger. That blow was for your greed. That stripe was for your lust. Again and again He is beaten and bruised and battered and bloodied for your selfishness, your lies, your addictions. And for mine.

An old hymn says it well…

I, I alone have done the deed, Tis I Thy sacred flesh have torn;

My sins have caused Thee, Lord, to bleed, Used the scourge, affixed the thorn.

(Paul Gerhardt, tr. by John Wesley)

Unless you understand that the scourging was done by you then you will never understand what the scourging has done for you.

Were you there? Yes. With scourge in hand. The scourging was done by you.

But there's more.

The scourging was done for you. You should have been scourged. I should have been scourged. We are the guilty ones.

Imagine yourself tied to the post. Your hands are bound. Your arms are stretched. Your back is exposed. And here comes the whip.

But you feel nothing. Suddenly, you recognize that you have been shielded. You are protected. You are covered. You have a refuge. It's Jesus.

Blow after blow that you should have taken for your rebellion, your disobedience, your transgressions, your wickedness, your selfishness, and your greed have fallen onto the shoulders and back and legs of Christ. He is suffering in your place.

We are between the pillar and the Lord Jesus Christ who stretches the gift of His body around us, protecting us from the lash of judgment. He absorbs the sting of humiliation on His back. He receives the pain that we, by all rights, should have received. And because He took the stripes – the wounds – you don't have to.

By His stripes you are healed. He heals us from the practice of sin and He heals us from the punishment of sin. He heals us from the power of sin and He heals us from the penalty of sin. 

When we realize that the scourging was done by us, it is motivation for us to forsake of our sin. Why would I want to add more blows to the back of Someone who loves me that much to take the punishment in my place? The scourging is motivation for us toward greater holiness, greater righteousness, greater hatred of our sin. 

And when we understand that the scourging was done for us, then we run to Christ – to be embraced by Him and to seek His shelter. Who wouldn't want to be embraced and protected by Someone who loves us enough to shelter us from sin's penalty?

So, what can the scourging produce in us? It is fuel for us to forsake our sin and to seek His shelter. 

Unless you understand that the scourging was done by you then you will never understand what the scourging has done for you. 

Never forget it. 

By His stripes we are healed.