Obviously Pilate knew that Jesus was an innocent man, and yet going against sound judgement he basically gave in to the demands of all the people in the crowd, just so as to avoid a riot. The next phrase is quite shocking from the Jewish people, “His blood be upon us and our children!” This phrase has often been wrongly used as a reason why Jewish people down through the centuries since AD33 have suffered so much hostility and persecution. But in reality, it was the generation from AD 33 to AD 70 that really experienced the effects of this statement, and it was particularly fulfilled in the years between AD 66 and AD70. The last verse, v.26 speaks of Jesus’ scourging. Not much is said about what a Roman scourging entailed, but historical details leave us in no doubt about how horrific a Roman scourging was. The fact that Jesus back was given stripes by the Roman whip, has been the basis for those who teach healing based on Isa. 53:4-5, Matt.8:17 and 1 Pet.2:24. In reality the writers of Isaiah and 1 Peter were not really thinking about divine healing of sick bodies, but on the other hand Matthew clearly saw this as being fulfilled when he witnessed Jesus casting out demons and healing all who were sick. To watch the video from today, just click on this link!