We are continuing to talk about the cross today, and the events around it, and I want to draw your attention today to what they did to Jesus before He was crucified.

They started by scourging Him. By removing His shirt and laying him over with bound hands and then taking a whip with little shards in the end of it and whipping Him with it, over and over.

Up until very recently, scourging or whipping or caning was a common form of punishment. Perhaps you’ve read a book or seen a movie where someone in some ancient land or maybe a sailor on a ship was whipped or caned. Very often, the person doesn’t survive the whipping or they lay for weeks in pain from it. Sometimes they are given scars or welts from the ordeal that they bear for the rest of their life.

But Roman scourging was worse than this, because the roman scourge was done with the infamous cat of nine tails, which was designed to rip the flesh off of a person. They called these roman scourging “the half death.”

Imagine a meek man as Christ was receiving such a punishment. You would look away. Even if you didn’t like the man, it would probably bring you to tears and stir in you some emotion.

But that is not what happened to Christ. After He was scourged, He was mocked. They took a wreath made out of thorns and forced it onto His head. They took a purple robe and put it on his bloody back. They mocked Him and spat on him. They bowed to Him in mockery. They beat took the mock scepter they had put in His hand and beat Him in the head with it.

There was no need for this. Jesus didn’t resist them. Jesus didn’t fight back. Jesus didn’t deserve any of this torture. He was headed to the cross. They had no personal beef with Christ. So why did they do it?

They did it because they could. They did it because they wanted to.

Do you want to understand the depths of human depravity? Look at what they did to Christ. Cast next to His perfect innocence we humans do not stack up so well do we?

I’m reminded of Romans 3, where Paul says “there is none righteous, no not one” and then goes on to say:

Romans 3:13-18 - KJV
13. Their throat

is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps

is under their lips:

14. Whose mouth

is full of cursing and bitterness:

15. Their feet

are swift to shed blood:

16. Destruction and misery

are in their ways:

17. And the way of peace have they not known:

18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

If you doubt this, look what they did to Christ!

And then think of this, Christ knew it. God knew before Christ ever came just how wicked we men can be, and Jesus came “not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.“ (John 3:17)

The wicked sin of the men who mocked Jesus, as well as my wicked sin and the wicked sin of everyone else was placed on our Lord at the cross - and He did it for you. He did it for me.

To wrap this up, let me read John 3:18:

John 3:18 - KJV
18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Christ came to bear our sin, if we believe we are not condemned, but if we refuse to believe we are condemned. Believe on Christ.