Theme:       The man who flogged Jesus at the time of his arrest and crucifixion explains what took place and, from a personal perspective, tells of how his exposure to Jesus changed his life.

Servant Director Karen Dickson says: “Very powerful.  Demanding for an actor, but I’m sure it would be quite an effective piece.”

Bible Reference:      Luke 23:/p>

Cast:         1 male

Set, Sound, Costumes:       standard

Special Instructions:   Actor’s voice, countenance and attitude change from self-confident at the beginning to broken and remorseful at the end.

Time:        8 minutes

Sample of script:

actor is sitting onstage holding his head, eyes closed, looking down

sighs, shakes head, moans

Stop!

Stop the voices!

Stop the images in my mind!

The smell of shredded flesh and fresh blood!

The splatter of blood, pieces of warm flesh flying about, landing on unprotected bodies within range.

Mostly landing on my body, my hands, my face.

I can not take it anymore!

Why am I here?

Why am I doing what I am doing?

What caused me to hate this job, a job in which I had found so much sense of accomplishment, even joy?

I joined the Roman military aspiring to be a responsible soldier, hopefully one day to achieve a high rank, perhaps one day a centurion in charge of 100 soldiers. I was dispatched to Jerusalem, anxious to succeed and grow.

And I worked hard, accepted difficult assignments, keeping the difficult Jews under control. But here in this appalling cesspool of humanity known as Jerusalem . . . things are different, and a man does what he has to do.

Then I was drafted . . . . willingly at first . . . . to be in charge of flagellation.

Flagellation . . .

Flogging . . .

Flogging prescribed by law, usually after an accused was found guilty by a judge. Sometimes after a speedily assembled case was decided more through the accused’s financial and social standing than the facts of the case.

Sometimes flogging is enacted as a warning to the offender that he not repeat his crime, kind of a “flog and release” application.

Other times the flogging, (technically in these cases known as scourging), was delivered prior to the criminal being crucified, “flog and crucify” in this case.

In both cases flogging was designed to exact maximum pain and suffering, yet at the same time the “flogger” needs to be careful not to damage essential internal organs. The victim in “flog and release” serves as a walking reminder to others to avoid the indiscretions of the perpetrator, this effect was largely nullified should the offender be unable to function to some degree.

Further, the person doing the flogging must ensure that he does not over-apply the flogging to the point where the criminal dies in the act, particularly important in those cases where the criminal is to be sent on to the crucifixion cross. Crucifixion is a deterrent to others, and to be meaningful the criminal on the cross must be seen to be in pain and obviously still alive. A crucifixion is a crowd pleasing event, crowds expect to be treated to screaming, cursing and writhing in pain. It is my duty to ensure this joy is not taken away from spectators.

I admit to being very good in my craft, using the whip. The whips I fashion myself, from fine leather strips. I take into account the size and stature of the criminal, and, of course, whether male or female. The leather strips must be strong enough to withstand 50 or more lashings in the case of a male, 20 to 30 for a female.

The intent is to split the skin and to continue whipping until bones are laid bare. To do this efficiently I normally attach small metal pieces to the end of the lash, creating maximum lacerations and removal of flesh.

Then came the time of the Jewish Passover feast. Some estimate between 200,000 and one million people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and emotions, passions and jealousies soared. The Jewish people left little doubt of their hatred of we, the Romans, feeling they were in effect slaves in their own land. And that basically is true.

But we the Romans, stationed in the area were not entirely united. Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas each had their responsibilities under Rome, but division of power was neither well defined nor set in stone, changing frequently at the whim of politicians in Rome. Therefore Pilate and Herod were constantly waging their own little battles for supremacy.

The Jewish population also had factions within. The temple leaders, led by chief priest Caiaphas, while unquestionably under the control of we, the Romans, were trying to show at least the image of having some power. But a new force was gaining support, led by an itinerant preacher, Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth. Some followers of Jesus believed he was in fact a son of their God, a Messiah sent to earth to lead their people. Whether Jesus was or was not mattered little to we, the Romans, but was crucial to the status and credibility of Caiaphas and his lot.

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