Rosary: The Scourging at the Pillar

The Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary

Mar 14, 2024

The Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: The Scourging at the Pillar

Feast Day: Good Friday in Holy Week

Matthew 27:24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 Then the people as a whole answered, “His Blood be on us and on our children!” 26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed Him over to be crucified.

1 Peter 2:21 For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps. 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. 23 Who, when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not: but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly. 24 Who His own self bore our sins in His Body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

This second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary highlights the Scourging at the Pillar when Christ was flagellated for our sins. For those who may not know, the Romans did not just whip someone with a cord, but instead used a flagellum which was a whip with small pieces of metal or bone at the ends. These were added to severely increase the pain and trauma caused by a regular whip. They dug into and tore out pieces of flesh. It was horrific and cruel.

Mankind is so depraved and evil that we not only demanded that our Messiah be crucified, but we also demanded that He be scourged. We demanded to inflict torturous pain upon He who came to reconcile us to God. The Incarnate Word came and dwelt among us and we decided to treat Him this way. (Make no mistake about it, yours and my sins were the reason for His scourging and we participated in that scourging through our sins.) Yet out of those whippings and stripes, those were the very things that led to our healing and salvation. God used our own evil in His plan of salvation so that our evil against Him was the very thing He used to offer salvation to us.

Mark 15:6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed Him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the Man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed Him over to be crucified. 16 Then the soldiers led Him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.

Just a few days prior, on Palm Sunday, Our Lord rode into Jerusalem as the King of the Jews and King of Kings. Yet just five days later mankind is inflicting pain and suffering upon Him who was hailed as He rode in peacefully on a donkey. He offered to us nothing but peace and salvation. Mankind responded with evil and malice. We rejected Our Lord as King and subjected the Messiah to our lashes.

John 18:28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” 30 They answered, “If this Man were not a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” 32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when He indicated the kind of death He was to die.)

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not from this world. If My Kingdom were from this world, My followers would be fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My Kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate asked Him, “So You are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” 38 Pilate asked Him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against Him. 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 40 They shouted in reply, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His Head, and they dressed Him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking Him on the Face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no case against Him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the Crown of Thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the Man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; I find no case against Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have power to release You, and power to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over Me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” 16 Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.

Here mankind has multiple opportunities to repent of their evil and accept Christ as Lord and King. Yet every single time we rejected Him. We did not want the Messiah to save us. Instead we rejected Him as our King and then decided to kill Him instead. And not only did we decide to kill Him, but we added on the Scourging at the Pillar because we are so sick and evil. He was going to be crucified, yet that was not enough. We had to make Him suffer even more.

By this point in Our Lord’s Passion, He had already suffered through the Agony in the Garden where He was sweating drops of His Blood because the suffering was so great. He had also been subjected to hours of beatings, mockery and people spitting on Him in His arrest, imprisonment and trial. That still wasn’t enough. We still needed to inflict even more suffering on Him so we scourged Him.

Luke 23:6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the Man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that He was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see Him for a long time, because he had heard about Him and was hoping to see Him perform some sign. 9 He questioned Him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing Him. 11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated Him with contempt and mocked Him; then he put an elegant robe on Him, and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.

13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this Man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined Him in your presence and have not found this Man guilty of any of your charges against Him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us. Indeed, He has done nothing to deserve death. 16 I will therefore have Him flogged and release Him.”

Never become the person who tries to placate evil by committing a lesser evil. Pilate knows that Our Lord is innocent. Yet he attempted to satisfy the bloodlust of the chief priests, leaders and the people by having Our Lord, the King of Kings, scourged in a brutal fashion. He attempted to commit a lesser evil to prevent a greater one. Yet even this was never going to be enough because sin is never placated. Cowardice in this fashion only invites in more evil and eventually you will succumb to the greater evil and commit it anyway. Stand up with the power of Christ and reject all evil and all sin.