Verse 24
The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause they so shouted against him.
This affords a glimpse of the brutal culture in which a "confession" was tortured out of any hapless wretch who happened to be accused or the center of any disturbance. For a description of this torture, as inflicted in those days, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 27:26.
Brooks Foss Westcott informs us:
Recent investigations at Jerusalem have disclosed what may have been the scene of the punishment (of Jesus). It is a subterranean chamber, discovered by Captain Warren, on what Mr. Ferguson holds to be the site of Antonio - Pilate's Praetorium - "stands a truncated column, no part of the construction, for the chamber is vaulted above the pillar, but just such a pillar as criminals would be tied to be scourged. It cannot be later than the time of Herod."[25]
If Westcott is correct, then this is the same pillar where Paul was bound; and there is something moving in the thought that here the great apostle was bound to the very device upon which our Lord so shamefully suffered.
Be the first to react on this!
