A Tour Through John, Lesson 31

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/tour-john-lesson-31/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p>19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”</p><ul><li>Here Pilate's cruel streak comes out. Odd as this sounds, the scourging (v.1ff) appears to be a fresh strategy to set Jesus free (see v.12).</li><li><i>Note:</i> Jesus' crown (vv.2-3) may well have been made from the thorns of the date palm. These were up to 12 inches long. The radiate crown would have made Jesus look like a sun-god. This feature is common to Greco-Roman coinage.</li><li>The Romans had three degrees of corporal punishment:<ul><li><i>Fustigatio</i> (beating) -- the lightest punishment.</li><li><i>Flagellatio</i> (flogging) -- more severe.</li><li><i>Verberatio</i> (scourging) -- the most severe, often leading to death. This was the punishment Christ endured.</li></ul></li><li>The crown of thorns is painfully placed on his head, and a purple robe draped over him -- a mockery of his kingship (v.2).</li><li>Further, he is slapped in the face.</li><li>Jesus suffers grievous bodily injury. For a medical account of what Jesus was going through, click <a href="http://douglasjacoby.com/articles/5575" target="_blank">here</a>. (Note: this account is