Matthew 27:26

Under Mosaic Law the Jews could not scourge someone with more than 40 lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:24). However here the Romans, not the Jews, were scourging Jesus. They had no limit on the number of lashes they could impose on a prisoner. They customarily used a leather whip with pieces of bone and or metal embedded in the thongs, a flagellum. Scourging with this whip often turned human flesh into pulp and exposed the bones and internal organs. [Note: Josephus, The Wars . . ., 2:21:5; 6:5:3.] People frequently died from this type of flogging. The Romans used it to weaken prisoners before crucifixion. After this beating, Pilate sent Jesus to die (cf. Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 53:12). This scourging fulfilled Jesus’ words in Matthew 20:19.

"Judas yielded to the devil in his great sin (John 13:2; John 13:27); Peter yielded to the flesh when he denied his Lord; but Pilate yielded to the world and listened to the crowd." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:101.]

Matthew’s account of the trial before Pilate makes Jesus’ innocence clear. [Note: See R. Larry Overstreet, "Roman Law and the Trial of Jesus," Bibliotheca Sacra JOH 135:540 (October-December 1978):323-32.] As in the religious trial, Jesus stood before an unjust judge whose personal prejudices guided him rather than justice. The self-sacrifice of the Suffering Servant also comes through in this trial. No one took Jesus’ life from Him as a martyr. He laid it down for others in self-sacrifice.