BEATEN
BLOODY
Twelfth
of twelve in Lamb of God Parallel Bible Series
Isaiah
50:6, Matthew 27:26
Isaiah
50:6: “I offered my back to those who
beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.”
Matthew
27:26: “Then he [Pilate] released
Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus
flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.”
The
Passion of the Christ movie by Mel Gibson stirred up a commotion about
Anti-Semitism. That means that the movie
shows Jewish people in a bad, or negative light. How could the Jewish people have tortured and
crucified their Christ? This is a
grown-up discussion. My intent is to use
Bible Scripture to show people that everything that happened to Jesus was
preordained.
Matthew 27:26 above, uses the word “flogged” to describe the whipping
Pilate ordered. “Flogged” doesn’t sound
so bad. But it was. My study Bible says, “Roman floggings were so
brutal that sometimes the victim died before crucifixion.” Then it references Mark 15:15, where the note
is more descriptive:
“The Romans used a whip made of
several strips of leather into which were embedded (near the ends) pieces of
bone and lead. The Jews limited the
number of strips to a maximum of forty (40 but in practice, 39, in case of a
miscount). Romans didn’t limit the
number of strips used. So, victims of
Roman floggings often did not survive.”
The whipping Jesus received in the
movie was realistic; it really happened that way. It’s just brutal to watch. Christians cringe at seeing ruthless violence
against our Savior. (Not for kids’ eyes.) It certainly leaves one fuming. This part of the movie isn’t
Anti-Semitic. The movie is just horribly
true.
But the crowd that gathered that day
were Jewish people. The chief priests
and elders of the Jewish religion urged the crowd to answer the way they hoped
would resolve their “Jesus problem”. It
was no secret that they schemed to have Jesus killed.
When Pilate offered to release
Barabbas (full name was Jesus Barabbas) or Jesus who is called the Christ, the
chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas’ release. They further urged to have Jesus executed
(Matthew 27:1-23). The crowd made no
mistake in demanding Barabbas’ release.
(He was sort of a hero among the Jews, having formed a rebellion against
the Romans. See Luke 23:19 and John
18:40).
Take
Home Nugget
The passage that often
validates blaming the Jews is Matthew 27:25:
“All the people answered, ‘Let His blood be on us and on our children.’”
And it is! They actually asked to be held accountable
for Jesus’ death! Anti-Sematic? You decide.
Lord, help us to guard our tongues. Stop us from saying words that calls for our
being oppressed and harassed.
J.D.
Griffith
A
personal, private lesson experience with our staff
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