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are the Christ, the son of God."
"Yes," replied Christ , "I am, and
in the future you will see me, the
son of mankind, sitting at the right
hand of God and returning in the
clouds of heaven."
Caiaphas ripped bis own clothing,
shouting at the top of his voice,
" Blasphemy, blasphemy!" In this
early morning kangaroo court, Jesus
Christ was charged with blasphemy
- of bringing from heaven the good
news of the Kingdom of God (see
Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22,
John 18).
The M ob Scene
A few of t he priests , with
Caiaphas, began to curse Jesus
Christ. Then a fat, ruddy-looking in–
dividual spit in Jesus' face. Others
began heaping verbal abuse on him.
Another struck him. The leaders of
the court soon ti red of this sport and
retired to an inner room.
Others carne to see tbe man who
had turned Jerusalem upside down.
Tbey wanted to see this man in the
fiesh.
Cautiously, they approached
Christ. Would he shoot fire out at
them or perform a miracle? "Are
you the Messiah? Are you really the
king over all those beggars you
preach to?" they cried. Nothing
happened. They grew bolder as
Christ remained silent.
The soldiers were growing more
and more indignant at this young
upstart who boldly yet quietly stood
his ground.
One of them swaggered up to
Christ, looked him in the eye and
arrogantly slapped him. "You rot–
ten, filthy, contemptible hypocrite.
You who will not bow to the high
priest , take that." With an open.
hand he slapped him again, first on
the right cheek, then on the left.
Other soldiers, encouraged by
that, tried a few jabs, kicks and ver–
bal tirades of their own. A young
soldier doubled up his fist , swung
wide and smashed Christ in the
stomach. He doubled over in pain.
Another soldier jerked him erect.
Soon they were all beating Christ.
PLAIN TRUTH May 1974
The merciless beating continued.
Then someone shouted, "Hey, why
not bliodfold him? He's a prophet.
Let's test him!" So blindfold him
they did. They laughed at him,
crying out derisively, "Who hit you
tha t time, prophet - come on
prophet, you can tell! "
Obscene names were a din in his
ears. Bleeding and bruised, he fell
on the fl oor time and again, only to
be pulled back to his feet for the
next onslaught. Would it never end?
Hour after hour it went on, with a
little rest now and then as they tired
of their new-found sport. The son of
God uttered not a word - only an
occasional groan escaped his lips.
A Visit to Pilate
Early in the morning, Christ was
taken to Pilate for the official Ro–
roan verdict. Perhaps twenty-seven
hours had gone by since he began
his day on the previous morning!
Pilate asked Christ, "Are you the
king of the Jews?" Jesus answered,
"Yes." After many questions, Pila te
turned to the chief priests and the
multitude and said,
"1
find no fault
with this man."
Someone indignantly asked ,
"What does he mean he can find no
fault with this man?" Another said,
"Th's man is from Galilee."
"What did you say? Is this roan
from Galilee?" exclaimed Pilate.
"Take him to Herod."
Herod granted an immediate au–
dience, being very anxious to see
Christ. Entering the room, he said,
"Would you care todo a miracle for
me?" Christ didn't answer. After
much ques tioning, Herod's patience
wore thin, and he ordered, "You
over there, strip him." Soon they
had Jesus Christ standing in the
nude. Then a soldier rushed in with
a beautiful king's robe. " Dress
him," said Herod. Then they began
to beat him again (Luke 23: 1-11).
Back to Pilate - t he
Death Penalty
Herod rendered no decision, but
sent Jesus back to Pilate. A large
mob gathered. They chanted: "Cru-
cify him! Crucify! Crucify! We de–
mand the death penalty!"
A messenger arrived with a note
from Pilate's wife. The note read ,
"Do not become involved with the
death of this man.
1
have had ter–
rible nightmares concerning
him
last night."
Pilate offered to release either Ba–
rabbas or Christ (Matthew 27 : 15-
18). The mob grew more restless,
screaming a ll the more, " Let him be
crucified, Jet him be crucified!"
Fearful of a riot, Pilate asked for
a basin of water. Standing before
the crowd, he washed his hands
saying, "I am innocent of the blood
of this person. The responsibility is
yours!" (Matthew 27:23-24.)
The mob yelled back. "His blood
be on us and on our children! "
Pilate then gave the order to pro–
ceed with the scourging. Two men
pushed Christ to the center of the
courtya rd. Pulling him over to a
bent position, they tied bis hands to
a ring imbedded in a post.
Two Kinds of Scourging
Two methods of scourging existed
at the time of Christ - the Jewish
and the Roman! The Jewish scourg–
ing amounted to forty stripes minus
one, administered with three leather
thongs. Only the very strong sur–
vived.
The Roman scourging was of a
far greater magnitude. They ca lled
it the "half-way death."
It
suppos–
edly stopped just shon of death.
Only the lowest criminal, the slave
or foreigner received the Roman
scourging.
lt
was administered by a
trained man called a
licwr.
(Hast–
ing's
Dictionary oj1he Bible,
vol. iv.
p,
419;
The Day Christ Died,
p.
302.)
The scourging ordered for Christ
was the Roman scourging.
The mob waited wi th anticipation
for the Roman lictor. Five minutes
passed, then ten. Footsteps echoed
across the courtyard. A hushed si–
lence fell over the crowd, and every
eye turned to the man carrying the
scourge.
It was a vicious looking thing.
ha~ing
long strips of Leather-like
19