The perspective of Pilate being blackmailed by the Jewish leaders sheds a lot of light on this section for me. It is so crazy that he would have Jesus flogged and pretty much give the Roman soldiers license to do whatever
Pilate had Jesus scourged in hopes that a scourging would be enough to make the Jews happy.
He felt that he might avoid having to give the veredict of the cross by giving the verdict of scourging. Once again, that is what no one can do. No one cancompromise with Jesus; no one can serve two masters. We are either for Jesus or against Him. “ – William Barclay, commentary on John v. 2, p. 281
A lot of people think they can torture Jesus or His credibility or His BODY and that will be enough, but at some point everyone is forced to make a LIFE AND DEATH decision about what to do with Jesus. Just like Pilate had Jesus flogged, I know many people that will complain about churches or hypocrite Christians so that they will never have to come do a deep, inner, personal, self-realized conviction about Jesus.
Pilate presented a bloodied and unrecognizable Jesus to the crowd and said, “I find no fault in this man!†WHAT‽
Many times people like to talk about an issue, like Pilate talks here about what kind of King Jesus is, and then stop and think that is enough. I’m just going to talk about conservatism in government, right to life, eating healthy, or leadership, and that is going to convey my faith and my relationship with Christ. All of those things might be a part of the conversation, but they are not the point.
Remember the others that wanted to talk to Jesus about such things:
The woman at the well wanted to talk worship locations and what will happen when the Messiah comes.
The rich young ruler wanted to talk about which law was the most important.
The lawyer wanted to know who his neighbor was.
Zebedee’s wife wanted to know seating arrangements.
The Pharisees and Zealots wanted to know where their taxes should go.
The demons wanted to know where He was going to throw them.
Jesus ALWAYS brought it back to HIMSELF.
Even with hair and teeth missing, bruised and hurt beyond what most of us will ever experience, His conversation was all about Pilate, Jesus, and the Father.
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May we throw away our methodical outlines to better living and financial plans and run after Jesus, and encourage everyone else to do the same.