DID THE ROMANS GIVE JESUS 39 LASHES?

1. Did The Romans Give Jesus 39 Lashes?

a) Many people assume that he would have received 39 lashes because that is the number specified by Paul with reference to his own experience at the hands of the Jews around the same time period (see 2 Corinthians 11:24). The number 39 would have been important to them because there was an old law stating that the maximum number of lashes a man could receive as punishment was 40 (see Deuteronomy 25:1-3). In an attempt to ensure they did not accidentally exceed this law through a miscount, the Jews would have instead stopped at the count of 39.

b) There is actually no biblical reference regarding the number of lashes Jesus received. We know only that he was “scourged” by the Romans prior to crucifixion.

c) It's also worth noting that scourging was always a legal preliminary to a Roman execution. But a Roman scourging was so brutal that it could easily kill a person. And they still wanted them to have enough strength to suffer the crucifixion. So they often dialed it back some so the victim could still live long enough on the cross to suffer.

d) But in Jesus' case, He was ordered scourged before he was sentenced to death. So when the Roman soldiers scourged Him, they were probably under the impression that they didn't need to hold back since He wasn't going to be executed. So, they could make it particularly brutal with Him.

e) The prophet Isaiah stated that it would be so bad that Jesus did not even look like a human anymore and said He was so disgusting that nobody would even look upon him.

f) Pilate had the hopes that when the people saw what rough shape Jesus was in afterwards, they would drop their case as he was certain even if Jesus was guilty of something, He would certainly never do that again after that.

g) But that's not what the Jewish leaders wanted. They wanted Him dead...so they insisted on it until Pilate sentence Him to die.

h) Jesus took a real beating even before the cross. And He took it for you and me. His suffering and sacrifice paid for our sins. And because of that, now all one needs to do is accept God's free gift of eternal life by having faith in Jesus. And that's it...it's completely free because of what Christ did for us.