June 8, 2003
in 2003
The Place of the Skull
As a boy, when I read in the Bible that Pilate had Jesus “scourged” I didn’t understand that word. I remember asking my Pastor, Brother Fred, what that word meant. He could have replied it meant to “be beaten” and he would have been technically correct. Instead he gave me an answer I’ll never forget. He said, “David, that was when a cruel Roman soldier turned the bare back of Jesus into hamburger meat.” Don’t forget—at any moment during His torture He could have escaped. He could have said, “God these people aren’t worth this kind of pain and suffering. He told Peter He could have called 12 legions of angels to rescue Him. But He didn’t—because He loves us.