This was to insure that the flogger would not hold back in meting out the punishment. Depending on the circumstances, if he failed to kill a man in forty lashes, the flogger would face death. In Roman times, it was deemed that if a flogger were to appropriately administer a punishment, he should be able to kill a man with forty lashes. They were whipped with a cat of nine tails (a whip with nine lashings embedded with bits of metal or bone).Īn old Roman law/tradition that said forty lashes were a death sentence. It was called 40 lashes minus one because it was assumed that 40 or more lashes would kill someone. It is ASSUMED that he was given 39 because it was customary to give 40 lashes minus one (or 39). Scripture doesn't say how many stripes Jesus received. Kelsi Mazzotta I don't believe that Pilate was thinking of the amount of known diseases when he sentenced Jesus. This is not to suggest that God does not heal our sickness but it is important to underscore the biblical significance of the atoning works of Christ and to put them into their appropriate theological perspective. Physical healing could not have been in exclusive view here given that the writer was clearly speaking about the redemptive works of the Messiah.Įven we believers suffer from or die of an earthly disease or from any other cause, as happens often, we are certain that our relationship with God will never be affected in any way. The Hebrew word used "raw-faw" (rapha) for "healed" is a compound word that broadly means wholesomeness of health. The healing brought by Jesus is therefore of a spiritual nature which restores the wholesomeness of our life in Christ. There can be no greater healing than the redemption of the human soul. Some bible teachers have taken Isaiah 53:5 out of its passage context and applied it to physical infirmities and diseases when in fact our spiritual infirmity is the theological lbasis for Christ's suffering and death and the shedding of his atoning blood was to cleanse our Adamic sin (an infirmity in itself) and to usher us into a new spiritual dimension where our enmity with God is removed forever (Romans 5:8). This is the principal purpose for which Jesus died. This is the helplessness of sin and the need for redemption from its condemnation and eternal separation from God. If anything Jesus died for the greatest human disease that man could ever suffer. There is also no scripture evidence that the lashes received by Christ each represented some known number of diseases that afflicted humanity in His time. For example, Isaiah 53:5 (KJV) says in regard to Christ, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed." The purposes of Jesus' sufferings are clearly defined by a number of messianic prophecies. The 39 lashes claim is therefore unbiblical (See John 19:1, Mark 5:15, Matthew 27:26 in relation to His scourging). Some commentators claim that a condemned criminal was normally given a certain number of lashes but scripture does not mention the number of lashes or scourgings in regard to the crucifixion of Jesus. These too are no less significant than lashes. Then the thorns placed on his head, nails driven through his hands and legs and being speared on his side. There are other forms of suffering he underwent including rejection by his people. Dewitt Bloodworth Pastor, Teacher Nowhere in Scripture is it recorded that Jesus received 39 lashes of the whip but the Bible does record that Jesus was scourged and that he physically suffered for our sins.
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