The scripture in the New Testament in the gospel of Matthew 27:11-26 as well as Mark 15:1-15 talks about the night in which our Lord and Savior Jesus was be trade by one of his disciples name Judas of Iscariot. Both gospels talk about Jesus being flogged or scourged after Pilate committed him to be crucified. One essential difference between Mark’s version and Matthew’s however, is that Mark suggests the ‘envy’ of the chief priests as being their primary motive is seeing that Jesus be put away. The priests presumed that if the mob could be incited fervently enough to achieve Pilates sanction and/or allowance of scourging, torture, and mockery, the fate of this mysterious and threatening ‘Jesus” would be sealed. In Biblical times, a person condemned to crucifixion was usually first scourged with a whip of leather thongs, typically with bits of metal or bone attached. The scourging tore into the victim’s flesh and greatly weakened him before the victim was subjected to the even greater torture of hanging from a cross. Jesus was scourge forty times minus one by the Roman soldiers. Can you even try to image the pain that Jesus endure for you and me. Have you ever had crack hands or feet, that bleed and the pain was so intense, well I had that happen to me within the last month. With the winter cold my feet became dry, I never thought about it until one of my heels crack open and bleed, the pain was so bad I had trouble walking on it. At first I couldn’t understand what I had done to it and why the pain was so bad until I went to put some cream on and look at it and then I realize the skin had crack open. The first thing that came to my mine was this, the pain that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ endure for me, I often wonder why, it is because of his love for me his child. As you go back to the Old Testament Isaiah foretold what would happen:
Isaiah Chapter 53:1-7
Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shears is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
My friends if you have ever wonder sometime in your own life if anyone would or could ever love you in spite of your short comings. I am here to tell you Jesus does, you don’t need to be smart enough, rich enough, you don’t need to be short or tall, thin or not, he loves you just the same. Jesus loves you so much because you are his child, just as much as any parent would love their own child, he loves you. All you need to do is to believe that he loves you enough to die on the cross, he was beaten for you and me, a crown of thorns place on his head, he spread out his arms to show all of us how much he loves us, so that one day we all can live with him eternally, and that is good news.
Grace and Peace to you my friends
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