"Look! The Man!"

IMPRESSED by Jesus' demeanor and recognizing his innocence, Pilate pursues another way to release him. "You have a custom," he tells the crowds, "that I should release a man to you at the Passover." Barabbas, a notorious murderer, is also being held as prisoner, so Pilate asks: "Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus the so-called Christ?" Persuaded by the chief priests who have stirred them up, the people ask for Barabbas to be released but for Jesus to be killed. Not giving up, Pilate responds, asking again: "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" "Barabbas," they shout. "What, then, shall I do with Jesus the so-called Christ?" Pilate asks in dismay. With one deafening roar, they answer: "Let him be impaled!" "Impaled! Impale him!"

Knowing that they are demanding the death of an innocent man, Pilate pleads: "Why, what bad thing did this man do? I found nothing deserving of death in him: I will therefore chastise and release him!" Despite his attempts, the enraged crowd, egged on by their religious leaders, keep yelling: "Let him be impaled!" Worked into a frenzy by the priests, the crowd wants blood. And to think, only five days before, some of them were probably among those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as King! All the while, Jesus' disciples, if they are present, remain silent and inconspicuous.

Pilate, seeing his appeals are doing no good but, rather, that an uproar is arising, takes water and washes his hands before the crowd, and says: "I am innocent of the blood of this man. You yourselves must see to it." At that , the people answer: "His blood came upon us and upon our children." So, in accord with their demands-and wishing to satisfy the crowd more than to do what he knows is right-Pilate releases Barabbas to them. He takes Jesus and has him stripped and then scourged. This was no ordinary whipping. The Journal of the American Medical Association describes the Roman practice of scourging: "The usual instrument was a short whip (flagrum or flagelum) 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. . . . As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim's back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear ribbons of bleeding flesh."

Next time: Conclusion of "Look! The Man!"

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991