the suffering christ 774 DISCOURSE III The Scourging of the Sinner Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged [H]im. (Jn 19:1) Once, having departed with the divine permission, “Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job” (Job 2:7), that man, not only the most blessed, but also the most just under the sun, “with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” Who could gaze with dry eyes upon such misfortune of the most well-known and holiest Prince? Who would not be moved to compassion by that foul pus flowing forth from every part of his body? The friends of Job fulfilled their obligation admirably well. For, when they came to visit him, “they raised their voices and wept; and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward Heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:12-13). Behold! Before our eyes, Christians, a more dreadful spectacle is daily observed: The Son of God was far more violently wounded. The Leader of all the just, that King and Source of all the saints, that Head of all the Elect, who, descending from Heaven, put on human flesh to veil the Majesty of His divinity, so that He might allow the cruelty of the most degenerate of men, who were instruments of the demons, to torture Him more freely. Look upon Him, the most forsaken of men (cf. Is 53:4), mangled from the heel of the foot, all through the body up to the crown of the head (cf. Job 2:7); look upon Him, and meanwhile, as I describe in detail His most dreadful scourging, make ready loving tears for cleansing the wounds. For the scourges, by which He was struck, have especially come from your and my sins. 1. Alas! Where shall I begin? Or what shall I utter regarding the incredible slaughter of our Lord and Savior? Let me employ here at the beginning a few words of the pious Patriarch of Venice, St.
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