“And Pilate willing to content the people. . . delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hail, called Prætorium, and they called together the whole band.” Mark 15:15, 1615And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. 16And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. (Mark 15:15‑16).
THE Evangelist speaking of Pilate says, he “delivered Jesus when he had scourged Him,” and, as, of course, Pilate was not the executor of this infamous sentence himself, it devolved on his myrmidons, the Roman soldiery, to carry it out. Scourging was a custom almost peculiar to the Romans, and even they rarely scourged except when they crucified. The scourging which our Lord received was a most severe and barbarous infliction, and perhaps the utmost efforts of our imagination will underrate the torture it produced. The Roman scourge was formed of thongs twisted together; and in order to increase the severity of the lash, small cubic pieces of bone were woven into it; such was the implement with which the soldiery inflicted their sanguinary flagellation. That these unfortunate men were brutal and ignorant, by profession and custom, we may well Burnish, for the sequel in the following verses gives us an insight into their hearts, in the treatment our blessed Lord sustained at their hands. “And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head. And began to salute him, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’ And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.”
The mockery of a royal robe, crown, and scepter, with attitude of feigned homage, follow the scourging, and these certainly were not part of Pilate’s sentence. From the cruel and satanic depths of their own hearts the soldiers devised these insults, followed by taunts, spitting and buffeting. Yet for the sake of wretched, worthless, and brutal human nature, the Son of God endured “this contradiction of sinners.”
Perhaps, my unconverted reader, you are one who can truthfully plead, that you possess a humane disposition, and sympathetic heart; and would shrink with horror and aversion from such wanton insult to so harmless and innocent a Being, as these soldiers knew the “King of the Jews” to be. Possibly! yet the word of God tells us “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)). There are many who would shrink from open cruelty to a victim; yet in their hearts are at enmity against God, and the holy name of Jesus is often on their lips mingled with curses and imprecations; while those servants of His who endeavor to honor Him in their lives, become the objects of their bitterest persecution and hatred, I have heard of dear godly men in the ranks of our Army, who, when they are seen to bend the knee in prayer, instantly become the butt of their company; and oaths and coarse laughter, frequently accompanied by a shower of belts, boots, and other missiles are hurled in derision at the kneeling ones.
Now what is this but a repetition on a fainter scale, (and perhaps more in accordance with circumstances and modern manners), of the scene of mockery we have just been considering in Pilate’s Prætorium? It is still quite possible to deride the Redeemer in the person of His humblest follower. Ah, poor sinner! when you come “to consider your ways,” and look into your heart, do not you see that it is at best but a reflection of the dark natures of the soldiery of that awful period.
But, “COME NOW, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)). Perhaps you ask “How can this wondrous change be accomplished?” By the precious cleansing lifeblood of the Son of God, “Who came to minister, and to give his LIFE a ransom for many,” (Mark 10:1515Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. (Mark 10:15)), for “the blood is the life:” and, “without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)). “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul!” (Lev. 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11).)
Let us pass from the Prætorium to Calvary and gaze upon that spectacle which transpired, when on the cross Jesus made atonement to a holy God for us, and took the sinner’s place, to endure in our stead, the righteous wrath of an offended God. See the soldiers! some drive the nails into His sacred hands and feet, from whence flows that blood which could wash their souls whiter than snow. Unhappy men! the blood of Jesus on their hands and garments, while they were unconscious of its priceless value, and eternal efficacy to cleanse from all sin! Next greedy of what personal advantage they could reap in this horrid work of murder, they seize His garments, and make shares of them; till, struck by the woven fineness of His seamless vest they gamble for a prize, to touch but the hem of which, would have brought healing to a believing sufferer.
Then, “Sitting down they keep guard over him there.” (Matt. 27:3636And sitting down they watched him there; (Matthew 27:36). New translation).
But above the diabolical spirit which pervaded this hour, when the power of the prince of darkness reigned paramount, the voice of the crucified Christ rises in accents of divine appeal, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
Thus was His blood poured out, sprinkled, spilled—and what is spilled we know can never be taken up again—that which He paid to God for our ransom, He never took back. If He had taken His blood into the tomb, there would be now no cleansing fountain to wash us clean: redemption would not have been complete, if the price had not been paid in blood.
Dear soldier in the weary campaign of life! you can be washed in that fountain and healed by those wounds! Lift up your eyes like the dying malefactor to that awful cross, and its expiring victim, and know of a surety, that the blood which flowed from His pierced brow, His nail-bound hands, and that side riven by a soldier’s spear, is still of full efficacy to blot out your sins forever; and give you a divine ground of acceptance with God: for Jesus has now entered into the holiest, “having made peace by the blood of his cross.” He is not dead, He is risen! No longer is He in the tomb guarded by Roman sentinels; for, to manifest full proof of His resurrection, the angel of the LORD descended and rolled away the stone, at whose presence the keepers shook, and became as dead men (Matt. 28).
In the morning they scourged and crucified Him, and at night they sat down to watch His tomb! I have sometimes wondered were these men who trembled and fainted in a death swoon, some of that band, who two days before set at naught and mocked the Lord Jesus. As superstitious Romans—and the Romans were very superstitious—what terror must have filled their souls when that radiant angel from the host of heaven rolled back the stone and sat on it.
But, dear reader! in spite of this divine miracle, we find the soldiers, when their fears had passed away, taking a bribe from the chief priests to say, that while they slept, His disciples had stolen the Body. It was death to a Roman to sleep at his post; even amongst the Jews it entailed a severe penalty, for we read of Herod commanding the keepers to be put to death when the angel of the LORD delivered Peter out of prison. (Acts 3:1919Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19)). Supposing they had been overpowered with drowsiness, profound indeed must that sleep have been, which would render the night-watch so insensible, as to be unconscious of the breaking of the sealed stone, and the rolling of it away, for we are told it was a “great stone.” Alas! there are many in the present day who like these sentinels have had solemn warnings of the evil and soul deluding course they are pursuing, yet still harden their hearts, until, perhaps when really sleeping in the drowsy lull of sin, they will be met face to face by the terrible angel of death, and for them there will be no escape. The cross and tomb of Jesus may have been a subject of life-long mockery, and in an hour when they are not aware, they will fall into the power of the Prince of darkness.
I remember hearing an incident which occurred to my father when a young man, and officer in a cavalry regiment. He was returning one Lord’s day morning from guard at the Castle; the charger on which he rode was highbred and restive; something on the route startled it, and it became unmanageable, finally rushing impetuously down several streets, until suddenly turning a corner, it was confronted by a large city church. The doorway was high and vaulted, and stood open, as it was the hour for service; the fiery animal probably mistaking it for a barrack gateway, darted in, still carrying its rider in his saddle. The surprise and shock experienced by the congregation may be imagined, at seeing a horse covered with foam, and a man in helmet, uniform, and sword equipment in their midst; but the still and unusual appearance of the place completely quieted the horse; and my father described his feelings as those of the deepest shame and distress, when he dismounted in the aisle, and endeavored to apologize for what he had neither foreseen, nor been able to prevent, for he feared the assembly might imagine that he had purposely ridden in, to mock the preacher and play a wild soldier’s prank. Although he was then an unconverted man he had much respect for the Word of God and all godly persons.
This little incident seems to me a faint picture of what might at any moment happen to those, who in the morning of life give a loose rein to that fiery steed sin: urged on by passion, in an unguarded moment it may master many, who now think they keep it in with strong hand and decent bridle, and where it will lead them they can never surmise, until they find themselves unexpectedly, (not face to face with a human preacher of heavenly glad tidings), but in the awful presence of Him who is Himself, the Living Word, “the Word made flesh!” that Saviour whom they set at naught in the careless bye-past of their lives.
One word more ere parting. Let me ask you to look on another, and very different picture, in which that young officer of whom I have been speaking rises to memory. A man in the prime of life, lies pale and pain-worn on a sick couch; a disease so subtle and critical that the physicians cannot specify its seat or duration, has been for three years undermining a constitution naturally energetic and robust; but the sufferer has cast his burden of in and pain at the foot of the cross, and when the death angel comes to release him, peace, not shame will be his portion. I stood one night at his bedside—childlike, to receive his goodnight kiss; for I was then but a child. He was winding his watch, and I had to wait until he finished, and placed it under his pillow. How well I recollect the circumstance! But time was over with him, and he never needed to refer to that watch again to know the hour. I passed from his room, and in the morning awoke fatherless.
Two hours after that last “goodnight,” his soul was required of him. Rupture of the chief blood vessel of the heart, had suddenly and unexpectedly taken place. He became unconscious, and in less than half an hour had moaned his life away. Thank God! I believe only his human life!
“Brief life is here our portion,
Brief sorrow, short-lived care;
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life is there!”
Dear reader! may your last night-watch find you reconciled to God; and washed in the blood of Jesus, resting in that divine Substitute on whom, “THE LORD hath laid the iniquity of us ALL!”
K. B. K.