- Mar 4, 2021
- 2 min read

Lent '21 Day 16: Scourging at the Pillar

(#FG034)

We journey with Christ; re - living the days of His Passion, Death and Resurrection - over these 40 days of Lent.

"Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him"

(John 19:1, NIV)

Scourging at the Pillar | Mercy Chronicles

“The Romans used three forms of bodily chastisement with sticks or whips: fustigatio (beating), flagellatio (flogging), and verberatio (scourging) –in ascending gradation. Beating was used as a corrective punishment in itself, but severer punishment was part of the capital sentence.”

Flogging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution, and only women and Roman senators or soldiers (except in eases of desertion) were exempt. The usual instrument was a short whip (flagellum) with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. Occasionally, staves also were used.

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 (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. 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 victim.

We meditate on this event in Christ's life through Visio Divina - a form of divine seeing in which we prayerfully invite God to speak to our hearts as we look at an image.

Simply be present to the image and allow it to speak to your heart, without any particular agenda.

How do you feel looking at the image?
If you had to describe the image in a sentence or two silently to yourself, what would you say?
If you were in the image, where would you place yourself ?
Do you get a glimpse of the sacred from this image? Is God speaking to you in this image?
Does a name for God arise for you from this image? In silence, sit with what you have received.