Jesus is scourged

Consummatum est. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Our Lenten meditations continue with posts taken from a Simple Exposition of the Circumstances of the Passion of Jesus Christ (1761) by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.

I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the end of the relevant paragraph.

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.

This grace I ask of thee to-day: obtain for me a continual remembrance of the passion of Jesus, and of thine also, and a tender devotion to them.

Jesus is scourged at the pillar

The scourging. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Then, therefore, Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.[1] Seeing that the two means that he had taken of saving the innocent Jesus from the Jews—namely, sending him to Herod, and proposing him along with Barabbas—had failed, he tried another; he ordered the Saviour to be scourged, intending afterwards to dismiss him. You have, he said, presented unto me this man . . . and behold, I, having examined Him before you, find no cause in this man. . . . No, nor Herod, neither. . . . I will chastise Him, therefore, and release Him.[2] You have accused this man as a criminal before me; but I find no guilt in him, neither has Herod found any. However, to satisfy you, I will chastise him and will afterwards release him. O God! what an injustice! He declares Jesus Christ perfectly innocent: I find no cause in this man; and afterwards condemns him to be chastised. O my Jesus, Thou art innocent, but I am guilty; and since Thou dost wish to make satisfaction to the divine justice for my sins, it is not unjust; no, it is just that Thou be punished.




[1] [1] Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him.
Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Jesum, et flagellavit. [John 19]

[2] [14] Said to them: You have presented unto me this man, as one that perverteth the people; and behold I, having examined him before you, find no cause in this man, in those things wherein you accuse him.
dixit ad illos : Obtulistis mihi hunc hominem, quasi avertentem populum, et ecce ego coram vobis interrogans, nullam causam inveni in homine isto ex his in quibus eum accusatis.
[15] No, nor Herod neither. For I sent you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him.
Sed neque Herodes : nam remisi vos ad illum, et ecce nihil dignum morte actum est ei. [Luke 23]

The scourging. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

What, O Pilate, is the chastisement to which thou dost condemn this innocent? Dost thou condemn him to be scourged? Dost thou sentence an innocent man to a punishment so cruel and so shameful? Yes, he commanded him to be scourged. Then therefore Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.[3]

Behold, O my soul, how, after this most iniquitous order, the officers of justice seize with fury the meek Lamb, conduct him amid shouts and yells of triumph to the hall, and bind him to the pillar. And what does Jesus do? With humble submission he accepts this painful and ignominious punishment in satisfaction for our sins. Behold how they take the lash in their hands, and when the signal is given, raise their arms, and begin to scourge every part of his sacred body. O executioners, you have erred; this man is not guilty, it is I that have deserved these scourges.





[3] [1] Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him.
Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Jesum, et flagellavit. [John 19]

The virginal body of Jesus first appears all livid, and then begins to send forth blood from every member. Alas! the executioners, after having lacerated the whole body, continue without mercy to lash the wounds already inflicted, and to add pain to pain. They have added to the grief of My wounds.

[3] [27] Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.
Quoniam quem tu percussisti persecuti sunt, et super dolorem vulnerum meorum addiderunt. [Ps 68]

O my soul, wilt thou be one of those who look with indifference on thy God torn with
scourges? Reflect on his sufferings, but still more on the love with which thy sweet Lord submits to so excruciating a torture for thy sake. In his scourging, Jesus certainly thought of thee. O God! had he borne but a single stripe for thy sake, thou shouldst burn with love for him, and say, A God has suffered to be struck for my sake. But for the atonement of thy sins he has, as Isaias foretold, permitted all his flesh to be mangled: He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins.[4] Alas! says the same Prophet, the most beautiful of men no longer appears beautiful. There is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness; and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness.[5] The scourges have so deformed him that he can be no longer recognized: His look was, as it were, hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not. [6]

[4] [5] But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.
Ipse autem vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras, attritus est propter scelera nostra; disciplina pacis nostrae super eum, et livore ejus sanati sumus. [Isai 53] 

[5] [2] And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him:
Et ascendet sicut virgultum coram eo; et sicut radix de terra sitienti. Non est species ei, neque decor, et vidimus eum, et non erat aspectus, et desideravimus eum;  [Isai 53]

[6] [6] Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
despectum, et novissimum virorum, virum dolorum, et scientem infirmitatem; et quasi absconditus vultus ejus et despectus, unde nec reputavimus eum.  [Isai 53]

He is reduced to such a degree of misery that he appears to be a leper covered with wounds from head to foot; such the manner in which God wished to see him maltreated and humbled: And we have thought Him, as it were, a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. [7] And why? Because this loving Redeemer wished to suffer the pains that were due to us. Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. 4829 Blessed forever be Thy mercy, O my Jesus, who didst voluntarily submit to torments in order to deliver me from eternal torments. Oh! miserable and unhappy the soul that loves not Thee, O God of love!

[7] [4] Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted.
Vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et dolores nostros ipse portavit; et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum, et percussum a Deo, et humiliatum.   [Isai 53]

But what does our amiable Saviour do while the executioners scourge him so cruelly? He neither speaks, nor complains, nor sighs; but patiently offers all to God to appease his anger against us. Like a Iamb without voice before his shearer, so openeth He not His mouth. [8] Ah, my Jesus, innocent Lamb, these barbarians shear Thee not of wool, but of Thy skin and flesh. But behold the baptism of blood which Thou didst so ardently desire when Thou didst say, I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straightened until it be accomplished? [9] Go, my soul, and wash thyself in the precious blood with which that fortunate floor is bathed. And, O my sweet Saviour, how can I any longer doubt of Thy love, when I see Thee wounded and mangled for my sake? I know that every wound in Thy body is a most certain testimony of the affection Thou hast for me. I hear every wound demanding my love. A single drop of Thy blood was sufficient to save me: but Thou dost wish to give me the entire of it without reserve, that I might give myself to Thee entirely and without reserve. Yes, my Jesus, I give my whole being to Thee without any reserve; assist me and help me to be faithful to Thee.

[8] [32] And the place of the scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb without voice before his shearer, so openeth he not his mouth.
Locus autem Scripturae, quem legebat, erat hic : Tamquam ovis ad occisionem ductus est : et sicus agnus coram tondente se, sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum. [Acts 8] 

[9] [50] And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?
Baptismo autem habeo baptizari : et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur? [Luke 12]