The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Scourging at the Pillar/The Crowning with Thorns (Part 2)

[I've been praying and meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary lately, as they have really been on my mind as I prepare for Gianna's birth. The Mysteries, which include Jesus' agony in the garden, the scouring at the pillar, crowning with thorns, carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion, don't really seem like a traditional kind of prayer for someone who will be giving birth soon (more normal would be "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" or "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." etc...), but these meditations have brought me great peace and happiness and I'd like to share bits of those thoughts with you. ]


The Second Sorrowful Mystery--The Scouring at the Pillar
The Third Sorrowful Mystery--The Crowning with Thorns
 (Matthew 27:26-31, Mk 15:1-2, Luke 23:16-25, John 18:36-19:1)
After Jesus is handed over to be killed he is bought to Ciaphas, the high priest, who finds him guilty. Then, as morning breaks, Jesus is bound and led to Pilate. Pilate questions Jesus and was basically uncomfortable about the whole situation, eventually saying that he "finds no guilt in him".  

Since it was the feast day of the Passover, Pilate offers to release a prisoner, either Jesus or Barrabas,   but the crowd shouts for Barabbas to be released and as for Jesus they yell "Crucify him, crucify him” and Pilate caves to the pressure, and leads Jesus to be scourged. 

Jesus was stripped of his clothes and tied to a pillar, surrounded by a blood thirsty mob who was shouting and encouraging the Roman soldiers as they lashed Him with leather whips tipped with sharp stones or bone. The soldiers put a scarlet robe on him, a reed in His right hand, and adorned his head with a crown of thorns. They mocked Jesus saying “Hail, king of the Jews!” (Mt 27:29) and spat upon him. 

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When I read these verses in the Bible, they take up such a short space in time (for me). It seems like everything happens to Jesus to quickly. Betrayed. Found guilty. Handed over. Stripped, scourged, and mocked. Seems so quick. But in reality, it says that he wasn't even handed over to Pilate until morning. I wonder how much time had passed, if there was much down time between these "events". I have no doubt that Jesus used this time to pray and to gain strength from God to endure what lay ahead. 

It reminds me of how birth is portrayed on TV. All of a sudden a woman's water breaks, she's in immediate pain and the baby is "ready to come out", she rushes to the hospital, scream, scream, scream, and BOOM! Baby is born. The reality is much...slower. And who knows, for me, it could be days of slow, puttering labor, or could be a more regular, even paced labor. The point is, it won't happen like it does on TV, just like Jesus wasn't handed over and crucified in the span of 5 sentences. He experienced all of these things in real time, real life, with real pain and emotions. These horrible injustices that Jesus faced were his painful and cruel "stops" along the way to his ultimate glory in the Resurrection. Again, the idea that through suffering, comes new life. When I think about the time lapse between Agony in the Garden and when Jesus actually carries his physical cross, I think of the process of labor--contractions, moments of relief in between, and all the other stops along the way. I hope I remember to use those moments in between to pray like I know Jesus did.

When Jesus is stripped of his clothes and is exposed and naked, I always think back to to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness after the fall. Their nakedness was like their shame. For Jesus though, rather than bringing us shame, brings about our redemption and new life in Him through this nakedness. New life and nakedness seem to "go together". 

The act of being stripped of clothes seems like such a vulnerable thing to me. There's no where to hide. I imagine that's what labor will be like--being stripped down to nothing (yes this is figuratively or emotionally...but probably also literally) and completely vulnerable, all my normal comforts will be gone. I won't be able to hide behind a computer screen and type what I'm feeling during birth--it will be me, in the moment, raw, exposed, primal, like so many women before me.

Jesus was fully human, and no doubt there were times that he called out in pain, feeling like it was too much. But he endured, knowing that the end far surpassed the means. Every tear Jesus shed, every blow He endured, every drop of blood that flowed, every moment of ridicule…all this, without protesting this “cup” that was given to him. “…he opened not his mouth, he was like a lamb led to slaughter…” (Isaiah 53:7). Every second of pain was for our freedom, to deliver us from evil and to be born anew in Him. 

So too, will I doubtless cry out in pain...a lot maybe...but I know that when the pain ends, there will be new life...a small, precious, innocent baby girl. The pain will be gone, and there will be much rejoicing. 

Thank you Jesus for enduring the pain and ridicule of the crowd and the Roman soldiers for us and our salvation. Help me to also to endure pain in childbirth, in a way that will glorify your own suffering.

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Did you miss the previous posts?
Read Introduction to the Sorrowful Mysteries
The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden (Part 1)