We are not exactly sure at what point Thursday ends and Friday begins, but last night I mentioned the soldiers coming to the arrest Jesus. Even though Jesus went willingly, He was illegally bound. It was illegal because He had not been convicted. In fact, He hadn’t even been formally charged.
Both the Jews and the Romans were very strict about their rules but over the next few hours they would break 43 specific laws. Jesus was condemned despite never being convicted or formally sentenced.
The soldiers stripped Him and placed a purple robe and crimson cloak around His body. They then scourged Him. This act was generally done to get the truth out of someone or to punish them, but Jesus’ punishment was death. The tool they would have used had a short handle with leather strips. Some of the strips would have had metal stones, a lead ball, rocks, or glass attached to the end. Jesus would have been bound to a stake while they beat Him. We do not know for sure how many times Jesus was lashed but we do know His flesh was ripped, He was bleeding, and He was in excruciating pain.
The soldiers then placed a crown of thorns onto His head. This would have caused great pain and suffering. They put it on and took it off several times. They placed a reed in Jesus’ right hand and bowed to Him pretending to worship Him. They spit on Him and slapped Him repeatedly.
The soldiers changed His clothes again, which would have been very painful, and gave Him a cross to carry.
He would then be nailed to this cross in such a way to suspend His body by the arms resulting in a slow suffocation. He was probably tied to the cross first so that they could place the nails in His hands. The nails would have been made of iron and been 7-9 inches long. They would have first been driven through wooden disks to avoid the heads going through His flesh. A 3rd nail would have been driven through both feet and hammered inside His Achilles tendons.
A sign was placed above His head on the cross to mock Him, which read “This is Jesus of Nazareth – King of the Jews”.
Jesus suffered greatly…and He did it for you.
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