Journey Through the Cross

40 Devotions on the Greatest Event of All Time

Day 20: Scourged (part 2)

“Little Death”, the Roman scourge screamed through the air and took another vicious bite from the back of the Son of God.

…Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:7

What? No screams, cries, begging or prayers?

Did the Victim feel it? The clenched jaw and labored breath said He did. And the Perfect Man’s perfect nervous system insured that the pain was realized in ways that far exceeded the ability of mere mortals.

So it was only by a great force of will that Jesus stifled the groan of agony that welled up within His Spirit.

But greater still was the force of will that kept Him at the whipping post.

“Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” Matthew 26:53

Upon every lash of the scourge a shockwave of white hot pain would scream at Him, “Get out of here!”

Did Satan tempt Him to leave? He was surely there, and it was his hour. His recent host, Judas, had been scraped hollow and tossed aside for the sport of his minions so Satan could move freely about and enjoy his greatest moment. He wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Sneering and mocking he taunted the Savior.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Burns like a mountain of fire, don’t you think?

“Go ahead and leave, run, stop the pain. They are not worth it; look at how they treat you. Just leave them to me. I’ll take care of them.”

Satan couldn’t lose. If Christ were to request of His Father those twelve legions of the Heavenly Host, or if He simply vanished, Satan would have absolute control over all humanity; there would be no Savior and no salvation.

And if He stayed…

The soldier redoubled his efforts and continued his pattern down the length of the Lord’s body until the entire right side of His back hung in tatters.

And upon every lash of the scourge, Christ determined to stay.

“I gave my back to those who struck Me…” Isaiah 50:6

But the more He didn’t cry out… or die, the more they would beat Him. So the soldier changed positions and began the process anew on the left shoulder.

“The plowers plowed on my back: they made their furrows long.” Psalm 129:3

It takes a lot to pour out the ocean of God’s love. And though His skin was now torn to ribbons, His heart and soul were still far from empty.

So, check His pulse, listen to His breathing, look at His eyes. Can He take more? Yes? Then turn Him around on the post and start again on the front of His naked, quivering body.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Healed, “rapha”, this was our need.

Christ plainly saw from the whipping post that He wasn’t the only one tasting Death. All humanity had been whipped and beaten, ripped and tortured, until we were nothing but a quivering mass of need.

How many wounds had we suffered? How many bruises had gone untended? How many millennia had we been chastened at the raging hand of the cruelest of taskmasters? How many of us, intended by our Creator to live eternally, had had our lives snuffed out?

So it was on the whipping post, at the scourging, that the Great Physician won for us the blessings of healing in all its wondrous forms.

How much healing is in the open wounds of Christ? What can sin, Satan and death destroy that He cannot cure? What broken heart cannot be mended, or what tear cannot be wiped away? What sorrow cannot be lifted, or what grief cannot be remedied?

What of our wounds by His wounds cannot be healed?

But the price for our healing and the depths of our need were, like the ocean of His love, without measure.

The Lord Jesus fastened His eyes on those who were both the cause of His pain and the joy of His heart.

“O Lord, are we still beautiful?

Will You still pursue us?

We have fallen so very far,

But if You catch us…”

How far would He be willing to fall for us?

He steeled Himself against a new onslaught of the scourge, knowing full well that this physical hell was but the prelude to the holocaust yet to come, and He drank deeply from the Cup.

…and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Scripture References:

John 19:1

Deuteronomy 25:3

2 Corinthians 11:24

Isaiah 53:4-7

Matthew 26:53

Ps 22:6-8

Isaiah 50:6

Psalm 129:3

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Journey Through the Cross Day 21 “Scourged” (2)