The Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar

Today, Good Friday, Jesus continues His steady march toward death, bringing us ever closer to forgiveness and new life. On the eve of His suffering, Holy Thursday, Jesus had celebrated the Passover with His disciples, and then taken Peter, James, and John with Him to the garden of Gethsemane. There, He prayed in agony until His arrest.


We all know the story of the mock trial, of Pilate’s pronouncement, of the crowds screaming for the release of Barabas. We know of His condemnation, and we know of His grace and acceptance. At this point, His own desires obedient to His Father, Jesus is ready to finish His mission on earth. All that stands between Him and the eternal comfort of heaven is brutal torture and the weight of the world’s sinfulness. Jesus literally carried the weight of the world with Him to Calvary.

Apart from the humiliation of the trial, the first of these brutal tortures was the Scourging at the Pillar, the Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary.

1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. (John 19:1)


Historically, at that time, those who were sentenced to crucifixion were first flogged or scourged. They were tied to a low pillar, stripped, generally bent over, and beat mercilessly with a whip, drawing blood, and weakening them so that they could more easily be affixed to their cross. In this way, this initial humiliation was only part and parcel of the final humiliation Christ endured for us in dying like a criminal.

In considering the Passion of Christ, we must be ever aware of the considerable physical, bodily pain that the Lord endured for us in His humanity. But one could guess that this physical pain, felt in every fiber of the Lords’ body, paled in comparison to the mental and spiritual blows being delivered upon Him by our sins.

And yet He continues on, through the mockery and indignation of His “coronation,” trudging up the hill to His crucifixion. We are reminded in our own times of pain that Jesus understands. He has already endured more than we have, can, or could. His suffering was so that we would not have to repeat it. His suffering was pure, in sacrifice for our sins. When we suffer with Him, His purity of intent enters into us, and we are supported, uplifted, renewed.