Station Twelve
William Bouguereau:The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 1880 (oil on canvas 309 x 212 cm)
Matthew 27:26-31
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
On the table in front of you is a small replica of the whip that they might of used in order to flog Jesus. Notice that it has bits of bone and bits of metal tied into the strands. As the person who was flogging Jesus hurled that whip against Jesus’ back the bits of bone and metal would have dug in and would have torn skin away. It would have been excruciating. And then after that to have the guards put a robe on top of his sore bleeding back, and to push a crown of thorns into his head. Jesus suffered. Is there anything that we have gone through that is worse than what happened to Jesus? It does not matter what you have been through, Jesus understands. That’s one of the great things that the Bible tells us: that Jesus took on flesh and blood. He lived this life. He felt the pain. And because he lived as one of us, we can approach him because he understands!
We do not have a written prayer for this station, simply ask God what he would want you to learn from this and spend a few moments listening.
