John 19:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Meanwhile Christ, amid so many and such great insults, stood silent, as He had done during the interrogation, and answered nothing. Do not only hear this, but keep it continually in your mind. When you see the Master of the universe and of all the angels insulted by soldiers in word and deed, and bearing everything in silence, do the same yourself. Pilate called Christ the King of the Jews. Therefore they place on Him the garment of mockery.

They have power to free and deliver us from the just consequences within us of our apostasy from God. As the giving of His flesh to death by Him who knew no sin was sufficient for our life to abolish the death of all, for One died for all (2 Cor 5:14), so also it is right to think this. These sufferings of the Lord on our behalf are sufficient to free all from scourges and insults. Otherwise, how is it that “by His wound we are healed,” as it is written (Is 53:5)? For we all went astray, each “in his own way,” as the blessed prophet Isaiah says. “And the Lord delivered Him over for our sins, and He suffers for us” (Is 53:6, 4). He was weakened because of our transgressions and gave His back “to scourges, and His cheeks to blows,” as He Himself says in one place (Is 50:6). Therefore the soldiers took Jesus as some false claimant to power and mocked Him in soldierly fashion. Thus the crown of thorns is placed upon Him, descending over the upper part of His forehead, as a sign of earthly kingship. The purple garment is, as it were, an image and symbol of royal purple, but it also becomes a cause for laughter. For they came with the words, “Hail, King of the Jews.” Yet I have known some who much prefer to see in the crown of thorns an indication of the multitude of idolaters. In time they were received through faith in Him as a crown for Christ. They liken the Gentiles to barren and useless thorns because they have no fruit of piety. Usually they are more fit as food for the all-consuming fire, like field straw or the wild thorn that grows without cultivation. The scarlet cloak, or “purple garment,” they say, signifies His future reign over the whole world. Everything is acceptable that does not go beyond the bounds of right reason and is not useless for faith. Therefore such an interpretation should not be rejected, for it contains a very subtle observation.

It was once said to Abraham, "Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them" (Gen 15:5).

You too, listener, look with your mind toward heaven, from which a bloody rain pours down upon the Body of Christ. It pours down upon Him who "numbers the multitude of the stars and calls them all by names" (Ps 146:4).

Count, if you can count, the stars, that is, His wounds. They covered His whole Body from head to foot and made it, as it were, one continuous wound.

"There is no healing in My flesh" (Ps 37:4). The skin is torn away, the body has collapsed, and almost only the bones remain.

O spectacle, nowhere seen, nowhere heard, nowhere sufficiently lamented. The Father "chastens the one whom He loves" (Heb 12:6).

God the Father, do You so chastise Your Son that from head to foot there is no uninjured place in Him?

Is this, is this, merciful God, how You show Your mercy to Your Only-begotten and beloved Son, that You have placed Him among fierce dogs and savage lions (Ps 21:14, 17)?

Is this Your good pleasure, O Father, that man should mock Your Son? Can this be Your will, that Your pre-eternal Word should be bound to a pillar?

Now, bound Word, You have no other refuge but the pillar. O Son of God, bound, beaten, and wounded.

The Word of God is shattered, spat upon, and tortured. The heavenly Seed is trampled underfoot, destroyed by the hands of merciless barbarians.

Christ called Himself "the Bread of life" (Jn 6:35), and behold, this Bread has fallen to hungry dogs. He says, "Many dogs surrounded Me; an assembly of the wicked encircled Me" (Ps 21:17).

They tear this Bread with the teeth of their savagery. They cut Him, striking Him with hands, scourges, and rods. They break Him, striking with feet and hands.

"They spat in His face and struck Him" (Mt 26:67). Blood flows in streams from the Fountain of life. Flesh falls in pieces from His holy bones.

Drops of His holy Blood fly throughout the praetorium. He falls to the ground at the pillar, having no strength to stand because of the wounds.

Even there they rain cruel blows down from above. They inflict wound upon wound. They trample Him with their feet and tear Him by the hair.

They try to show as much savagery as possible, taking turns with one another.

Where are Your legions of Angels, Creator of Angels (see Mt 26:53)? Where are Your fiery Seraphim, our God, "a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29)?

Where is Your strength, heavenly Samson? All have recoiled from You. The apostles have left You. The Angels have withdrawn. God the Father has delivered You to death.

You have help from no one and defense from no one. You have no one who would show mercy to You, stand for You at the judgment, and prove Your innocence.

Where are you all, dead, lame, blind, leprous, and infirm, who received life and healing from Christ the Giver of life?

Why do you not defend your Benefactor? Why do you not stand up for your Healer? Why do you not testify to His power and might?

Or have you forgotten how many benefactions He did for you?

All these sufferings, listeners, Christ voluntarily deigned to endure for us. In the Old Covenant it was appointed that every man who was guilty of anything should receive forty lashes (Deut 25:1-3).

Here, however, in relation to You, Lawgiver Christ, this law is not kept, although You did not err in anything and committed no sin.

They inflict not forty wounds, but a countless multitude. You say, "Those who wound gathered against Me, and I was scourged all day" (Ps 34:15; Ps 72:14).

"And they added to the pain of My wounds" (Ps 68:27). Where then is the fulfillment of your words, Psalmist: "No evil shall come near You, nor shall a wound draw near Your Body" (Ps 90:10)?

No. Here are countless wounds inflicted on the Sinless One.

You marveled, Habakkuk, seeing God among the living creatures (see Hab 3:2). Look upon Him here among so many lions and be horrified.

You asked, holy Job, "Who is the father of rain?" (Job 38:28). I ask: how long will this bloody rain flow, and the rivers of the innocent Blood of our Savior?

Already He grows weak. Already He silently sheds tears. Already He wishes to bow His head.

Yet He has no place, who by His almighty power is "everywhere present and fills all things."

"That servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, and did things worthy of punishment, shall be beaten with few" (Lk 12:47-48).

You Yourself, Christ the Savior, said this. You fulfilled His will in everything and were obedient to Him in all things.

"He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death" (Phil 2:8). You did nothing worthy of wounds, yet You endure unbearable and innumerable wounds.

Why is this? You endure wounds so that our sinful wounds may be healed. You bear all this for our sins: "He suffered for our sins" (1 Pet 3:18).

We, O Christ, deserve those countless wounds which You now patiently bear. We sinned, and You endure the punishment for these sins.

O how great is Your love, Lover of mankind.

They could accuse him of having caused this disturbance by an inappropriate defense of some Galilean Teacher. Under the pressure of these feelings, Pilate decided to end the further dispute with the people. He would satisfy their thirst for blood by the scourging of the Innocent One, which he had already promised. He still hoped to limit himself to this one torture of the Sufferer. He still thought that by this concession to popular fury he would free Him from death on the cross. But, as it turned out, concession only increased the insolence and demands of the savage crowd, guided by the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees. Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered Him to be scourged. The scourging of Jesus, to which Pilate ordered Him subjected to please the Sanhedrin and the brutalized crowd, was assigned by the Romans for grave crimes, and mostly for slaves. The scourges were made from cords and straps, and sharp pieces of bone and metal were set into their ends. The number of blows was not fixed. It depended on the number of soldiers doing the scourging and on their zeal. This torture was so agonizing and dangerous to the life of the one scourged that many died under the scourges. To such a punishment Pilate ordered Him subjected in whom he found no fault. Having heard Pilate’s order, the soldiers led Jesus inside the courtyard and gathered the whole cohort to scourge Him. A cohort was a tenth part of a Roman legion and numbered from four hundred to six hundred men. The Evangelists do not give the horrifying details of the scourging, because in that time of Roman rule they were sufficiently known to all. The soldiers stripped Jesus of His garments and began the execution, which for them was a pleasant amusement. According to custom, the one scourged was tied to a pillar in a bent position. Then the soldiers struck his bare back with scourges. From the first blows the body was torn, and blood flowed abundantly from the wounds. As man, Jesus suffered from this terrible torture, but no one heard from Him either groan or complaint.

By this punishment the governor, as we shall see, hoped entirely to calm the ferocity of His enemies. Scourging, flagellatio, by which Pilate thought to replace the death penalty, was one of the most shameful and agonizing punishments. The Romans inflicted it for grave crimes, mostly on slaves and on those who did not have the rights of Roman citizenship. In Jewish synagogues men were also punished with rods, but the set number of blows was small. The punished man did not even lose civil honor. The Romans, by contrast, subjected men to scourging for grave crimes, usually before carrying out the death sentence. The number of blows and the other details were not fixed by law. They were left to the humanity or inhumanity of the soldiers, who among the Romans carried out all executions. The scourges were made of cords or straps, into which sharp pieces of bone or metal were woven at intervals. Often the condemned died under the scourges. By such a punishment Pilate wished to show indulgence both to His enemies and to His accusers. Having received the order, the soldiers attending Pilate took Jesus Christ from the Lithostrotos and led Him into the Praetorium, the procurator’s courtyard, where such punishments were carried out. Then they summoned a large part of the military band, or cohort, consisting of six hundred to one thousand men. For scourging was something like entertainment for these coarse men. The Evangelists do not mention that the Lord’s most pure body was tied to a pillar during the scourging. But the widespread tradition affirms that it was. Cruel in itself, the scourging was now still crueler. Each soldier wished to make the supposed opponent of Caesar, the deity of the Praetorians, feel the strength of his hand.

This difference in the narratives is explained by the fact that the first Evangelists give a shorter account of Pilate’s trial, summarizing its order. John, supplementing their accounts, narrates more distinctly and presents the very order of the trial in more particular features. “He ordered Him to be scourged.” “Pilate scourges Him, wishing at least by this to calm and soften their fury. Since he could not free Him by words, he scourges Him, hoping by this to limit their frenzy. He also permits them to put a cloak on Him and place a crown upon Him, with the aim of appeasing their anger” (Theophylact; cf. Chrysostom).

Scourging usually served as preparation for capital punishment. Therefore the Sanhedrin was now glad that it was so near its goal. But Pilate, as we shall see, intended to incline the Jews to be satisfied with this concession to their desires. This meant that Pilate committed injustice in order to achieve a good end. Miserable calculation of a judge. Among the Jews there was also a scourging that was fairly bearable (Deut 25:2-3; 2 Cor 11:24). But Christ Jesus was given over to Roman soldiers for scourging. This was a scourging corresponding to pagan cruelty. Among the Romans scourging was as shameful as it was cruel. It was inflicted properly upon slaves. The Evangelists do not describe the details of the scourging that Christ Jesus endured. But the name given to this punishment by the Evangelists shows that the scourging of Jesus Christ was of the cruelest kind. This also agreed with Pilate’s dispositions. Usually the one being punished was tied to a pillar. The number of blows with scourges was not fixed by law. Pagan law gave room to cruelty and arbitrariness. Therefore many died under the blows of scourges. The martyrs of Smyrna in the second century were so beaten with scourges down to the veins and arteries that the structure of the body and the very inward parts of the belly were visible. Blessed Jerome wrote that he had been shown the pillar, watered with the Lord’s blood, to which He had been bound and beaten. Chrysostom also knew of a wooden pillar in Jerusalem where Jesus had been bound and scourged.