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The SCOURGING …Flogged…Crucified… Mark 15:15, Lesson Five, DVD C16 http://jwwealand.wordpress.com/ No matter which version you read, Jesus knew
about the scourging as well as the crucifixion before it happened, Matthew
20:18-19. The obvious pursuit of Pilate to enforce his authority in
pronouncing Jesus innocent is best seen in commanding the scourge. If Pilate could punish Jesus within an inch
of his life, then surely The Jewish Sanhedrin would be content to believe
Jesus would be silenced. Pilate had no idea how much the Sanhedrin hated
Jesus, neither did Pilate understand the power of Jesus. From The Jews point
of view, Flogging is truly senseless suffering which would accomplish nothing
but more pain. But from The Lord’s perspective, this is the whole point of
bearing the consequences of sin. The Cross accomplished an end to the job of
sacrificing, however, the Scourge was truly furthering weight on to the
burden of suffering as a sacrifice. We have no idea how
much our sins weigh. We think it is the immediate consequence, but we are too
short-sighted to see what other pain or problems are caused from our sin. An
obvious example is the teenager who causes an accident while drinking. The
future problems are insurmountable in anyone’s estimation of the future. Does
that teenager really want to pay for all the weight of his sinful action from
one night of foolishness? No court or jail could truly make him, because no
person alive can see the future problems that will arise from his crime. We are aware of the consequences, we see it
in songs like the old theme tune of Barretta, “Don’t do the crime, if you
can’t do the time”. Yet we continue struggling with sin that lives in us,
Romans 7:18-25. Only Jesus is able to bear the full weight of all our sins,
and scourging was one of the many ways, Jesus demonstrated his ability to
suffer and yet win. While in comparison, we lose. It is only his victory over
sin, that gives us hope. This is why Jesus was ‘passionate’ about winning
over the battle of sin & death. For this joy that was set before Him,
Heb. 12:1-3 & 2:9-11. Without Jesus
bearing the full consequences of all our sins, The Father could never justify
forgiving us. Forgiving us would never be the right thing to do, unless the
wrongs were put right by God The Father. No matter how much we suffer for our
own sin, it doesn’t correct the wrong we have done. That is why the word
forGIVEness has the word GIVE in it. God gives up the right to take vengeance
on us when he forgives us, and He can only do that, when looking at the blood
of Christ, because that pain is what paid for our wrongs and makes it ‘fair’
for The Father to reprieve us of our punishment. See Ephesians 1:7 & Matthew 26:28. This
is trying to understand the idea of atonement. What is truly
amazing about the suffering of Christ is that His Spirit still feels our
pain. Christ suffered more than even his enemies wanted him to. Paul teaches
us that Christ’s sufferings are still ongoing in Colossians 1:24, because our
Christian living brings us into suffering, 1st Peter 2:20-21, and since His
Spirit is with us, does more than just see the sin committed against us, He
feels it. The world sins against us, and we sin against each other. Therefore
when Christians suffer because of sin, Christ’s
Spirit is present and is suffering with us. In fact, the pain is filling the
body of Christ up, and when it is full, God will end our struggle with sin
and the Judgment will come. God will not tolerate persecution of His people
forever. But we must thank Him daily for tolerating the violent abuse against
His Son. |