Alright everybody, we're going to go ahead and get started in John chapter 19 if you would turn there with me. John 19 it says, So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. Then they said, Hail King of the Jews, and they struck him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then in verse five, Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, behold, the man. Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, you take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law and according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Verse eight, therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was more afraid and went out again into the Praetorium and said to the Jews, where, and said to Jesus rather, where are you from? Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Verse 11, Jesus answered, You could have no power at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. From that from then on, Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Verse 14, now it was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour, And he said to the Jews, behold your king. But they cried out away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. I want to talk to you here about these verses today. This is the Good Friday in the morning before the crucifixion. And first thing we see here, point number one, hail King of the Jews. In the first few verses, we see Pilate's failed attempt to release Jesus. You see, Pilate didn't want to crucify Jesus. Everything indicates that he didn't. Jesus even points to this fact in verse 11, where he says to him, he who delivered me to you, or therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Pilate knew that the Jews were up to no good, and he knew there was something different about Jesus. Jesus had already been through these kangaroo courts, these religious courts. A kangaroo court is a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded and perverted according to Webster Dictionary. Jesus was condemned, as we talked about last time, long before he was ever tried. Pilate didn't have an especially good relationship with the Jews due to some violent encounters he had had with them previously. But he sought to appease them somewhat in this passage. But at the same time, we see that he sought to get the last word in. In these first few verses, we see some important things concerning the sufferings of Jesus. The first thing is the scourging, if you look at verse one. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. I wanna talk to you about some of these sufferings that Jesus went through, the scourging. The actual goal of the scourging was really for Pilate to try to save Jesus's life. He wanted to wound him in such a way that he would look so pitiful that he'd be brought out to the Jews and they would think, oh no, he's harmless. There's no way that this man is our king. Pilate wanted to present the Jews such a pitiful man that they would have to relent from their death sentence. The scourging that Pilate had allowed Jesus to endure is something that was called the half death. The scourging was a terrible thing. In the synoptic record of Jesus' scourging, in Mark 15, verse 15, it says, so Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them and delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified. Matthew 27, 26 then says, Then he released Barabbas to them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified, and then John 19 one. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. Scourging practice looked something like this. Flogging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution, and only women and Roman senators or soldiers, except in cases of desertion, were exempt from scourging. The usual instrument was a short whip called a flagulum, or a cat of nine tails, which was comprised of several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones and metal are tied at intervals. For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers called lictors or by one who alternated positions. That means from going to one side of the victim to the other side. The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death. After the scourging, the soldiers often taunted their victims. Let me share with you the medical aspects of the scourging. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victims' back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs, sheep bones, and metal would cut into the skin and tissues. Then as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Organs may have been damaged by the flogging. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive on the cross. In this material, several different resources that I've looked to to compile the information that I have concerning the flogging and really the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus. Now, the scourging of Jesus at the Praetorium. Jesus was severely whipped. So severe was this that Peter, in 1 Peter 2, verse 24 says, by his stripes we are healed. The word translated stripes is singular in the original language. Thus, it could be better read by his bruise, we are healed. His back became a massive bruise with much loss of blood. Often such a scourging resulted in death. It is not known whether the number of lashes was limited to 39 or not when it came to Jesus, in accordance with the Jewish law. The Roman soldiers, amused by the weakened man who had claimed to be a king, began to mock him by placing a robe on his shoulders, a crown of thorns on his head, and a wooden staff as a scepter in his right hand. Next, they spat on Jesus and struck him on the head with the wooden staff. Moreover, when the soldiers tore the robe from Jesus' back, they probably reopened the scourging wounds. The severe scourging, with its intense pain and substantial blood loss, most probably left Jesus in a pre-shock state. Moreover, hematidrosis had rendered his skin particularly tender. This is what he endured when he was in the garden and he began to sweat blood. The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus's physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical. He had this crown of thorns on him as well, as we see in John 19. A crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. Listen to these passages in Genesis chapter three, verses 17 and 18. When we think about the curse that would come upon the land and there would be thorns that man would now have to deal with, we see the curse of sin. And here we find Jesus having a crown of thorns, bearing the curse of sin in a real tangible way. In Isaiah 1, 18, concerning the scarlet robe, the Bible says, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. When Jesus took that robe on and it was placed upon him, it is really a very real picture of what God did to his son when he put our sin upon him on the cross. He became sin for us. And though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, Isaiah says. Your sins can be as white as snow, but I want you to know now, if you are in your sin, they are like scarlet. You're guilty, guilty, guilty before God. but because of the intercession of Christ, that he is our one mediator. He is our advocate before the father and our propitiation before God. You can be forgiven through faith in him, through believing in the sacrifice of the son of God. They not only scourged him, they not only put a crown of thorns on him, but they also struck him. They took the reed from his hand and then they struck him on the head. In verse three, we see they struck him with their hands. We find in verse two that they had put the robe and all on him. They struck him with their hands in verse three. And they cried out, hell, king of the Jews, mocking him. I've considered it, and I'll just speak a moment about this, is the humiliation of Christ in this passage. But have you ever considered the way that they spat upon him? It was no doubt not just a little spit from a distance or just a little, but I would imagine this is a throat-clearing spit that they spat upon him. All of these soldiers, their spit On the son of God, they're slapping and beating the son of God and being blindfolded. He had no idea which way the hits would come from. The scourging, the mockery. Why did he endure all of that? Why did he take it? He could have called the angels to his rescue. Why? Why? He was innocent. Why? The answer is he did it because of our sin. Read Isaiah 53, because of our transgressions, because of our iniquities, because the chastening for our peace was upon him. because all we like sheep had gone astray. That's why Jesus did it. That's why he suffered. That's why he allowed this to be done to him. Jesus before the high priest had been beaten and spat upon, been made fun of, Matthew 26, verses 67 and 68. Mark 14, verse 65, before the high priest, and they said, prophesy, prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one who struck you? Before Pilate. In Matthew 27, 27 through 31, talks all about the things that we just read here in John's gospel, even to more detail, how they put that reed in his hand and then they took that reed out of his hand struck him on the head with it, with a crown of thorns, driving it even further into his scalp. The pain was excruciating. And then we find here that Pilate brings him out. In verse five, he says, behold, the man, here he is. You see, Pilate had a resolve to release Jesus. That's what he wanted to do. But there were things going on that Pilate did not understand. He comes to Jesus, they ask him more questions as we've seen that he already asked him eight questions. But he says, are you in verse 10, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin." God ultimately did this. In the book of Acts, verse chapter four, verse 27 and 28, the Bible says, for truly your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose is determined before to be done. We see men treating Jesus in a terrible way, but we've got to know and we should know from scripture that it's God who was doing this. It pleased the Lord to crush him, to crush his only begotten son. It was for that purpose he was sent into the world. It pleased the Lord to do that. Jesus knew this. Pilate could not understand it. But Jesus came and was obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And so Pilate comes out again in verse 12, seeking to release him. But the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. Now it's really important to realize this because this is like Along with the crowd going crazy, this is the breaking point because Pilate here realizes that if he does not crucify Jesus, word is going to get back to Caesar, that Pilate is supporting and allowing another man who claims to be king to continue to live without any consequences. So the Jews here back Caesar, Pilate rather, into a corner to where he has no choice but to crucify Christ, to pronounce judgment upon him. We find in the other gospel, I think Matthew, that Pilate here washed his hands of this. And he said, his blood be upon you. And the people cried out, his blood be upon us and upon our children. And so it was, so it is. Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation day in verse 14. Preparation day of the Passover in about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold, your king. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. I don't know, those are some of the saddest words in the Bible, but this isn't the first time God's been rejected as king. You can turn back over to 1 Samuel, and there when the people wanted a king, and they sought after one, the same thing happened there. Because in chapter verse 12, it says, and when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, no, but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king. You see, when they asked for the first king, they had their king. And here they do the same, even though to a greater degree. The Jews did that, but I ask you in closing, as my time runs out, are you rejecting Jesus as king? Are you rejecting God as king, your creator? Or are you today bowing your knee to him and saying, Lord, I believe in your son, and I thank you for your great love with which you've loved us, that he has died for my sins. And I believe, Lord. I pray that you have believed today. Jesus has done this to win for himself a people, to redeem for himself a people to God.