Pilate at this point was trying everything in his power to placate the Jewish masses to save Jesus' life, as he knew Jesus was innocent and he knew that Jesus was being murdered via the Sanhedrin over political and religious power struggle. But, he was still a Roman, and so, he also knew the human's physiology very well, as the Romans became masters of understanding it in the worst ways possible.
So Pilate decides to try to save Jesus' live by having him whipped within an inch of losing it, and leaving him within the hands of his elite flogging troops.
The floggers were highly feared, with good reason. They had an array of differing whipping weapons at their disposal to inflict the most damage to cause as little or as much massive damage to their victims as possible.
A flogging crew usually consisted of a soldier keeping stock of the array of whipping weapons neatly arranged and guarded for two to three different floggers to use at the same time. There were usually multiple whipping weapons of the same type available to the floggers. Each flogger used one weapon at one time, and switched off as they saw fit.
Weapons included simple long, switchback reeds of debarked tree limb saplings, to single strapped leather rawhide whips, like early forms of modern day bullwhips used and made famous by today North American cattlemen, but having pieces of glass, rocks, or metal shards on their ends, and of course, the infamous and highly devastating and feared Roman Cat of Nine Tails: a wooden club with night leather rawhide strands attached throughout each strand pieces of broken glass, metal shards, thorns, rock shrapnel and nails. The Cat of Nine Tails was the favorite of most floggers because of its unique ability to do such devastating damage in such a short amount of time.
When Jesus was whipped, they probably started out slowly and worked they're way up to the Cat of Nine Tails to draw out the torture. Floggers loved to torture their victims. Romans were famous for their cruelty.
Jesus would have been chained too a wooden post that would have given him only a little support and many splinters, and stunk of old blood. He would have been whipped naked. The floggers would begin with the saplings, hitting with all their strength, slicing into his flesh long line by line, each strike a shock to the body.
After a while of the saplings, the floggers would move onto the rawhide straps with chunks of debris on the end. Again, hitting with all their strength, these whips would not only cause cuts into the flesh. They would rip chunks of flesh off, as well due to the debris at the end. This would take Christ's breath from him in a new type of excruciating shock. Blood would really start to flow now.
About now the floggers would take a break for a bit of a rest, as Jesus would probably be either limp on the wooden pole, or lying on the ground motionless from the beating.
Another guard would restand Jesus and resupport him on the pole as the floggers finally readied the cat o' nine tails whips for the final crescendo of flogging. The worst of it. This would be so bad, Jesus would not be able to breathe from the shock of pain and fiery nerve damage from flesh being ripped off of him in huge chunks and tears by the devastating cast o' nine tails whips that dig deep into his body, wrapping clear around him from all sides by the floggers, and refusing to let go as they pull back on the whips without taking back his flesh with them as they finally get the whip straps to release.
Blood would be flowing everywhere. Chunks of flesh wound be hanging off the whips and off Christ's body like shredded hamburger. Christ would no longer be conscious or standing from the abuse.
And that is when the floggers would stop, checking his life signs, making sure they flog him within an inch of his life. Then they would deliver him back to Pilate.
And so the prophecy now has been fulfilled. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Is. 53:5)
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