Let’s talk about the beating of Jesus. Not the soft version many people imagine.
Because the cross did not start at Calvary.
The suffering began long before the nails ever touched His hands.
When Jesus was handed over to be crucified, the Roman soldiers first scourged Him.
This was not a simple whipping.
The Romans used a weapon called a flagrum or flagellum. It was a whip with multiple leather strands. At the end of each strand were pieces of bone, metal, and sharp hooks designed to tear flesh.
The purpose was not just punishment.
It was destruction of the body.
The victim was tied to a post, stretched so the back was exposed. Each strike caused the metal and bone to dig into the skin. When the whip was pulled back, it ripped flesh away from the body.
Early historians and medical researchers describe that Roman scourging often exposed muscle tissue and sometimes even bone.
Isaiah prophesied this hundreds of years before it happened.
Isaiah 52:14 says
“His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being.”
