The Whip
I did a strange thing today. I made a cat of nine tails...the whip they used to scourge Jesus. I did it because we needed it for a video we are shooting for an upcoming worship service. I went to the craft store and picked up some leather strips and metal pieces and went home to work on it. I lashed nine strips together and wrapped the end with a leather handle. I fastened the metal pieces to the strips. I got some old nails and made some hooks to fasten to the ends of some of the strips. They might also have used bone or glass.
It was at this point that it occurred to me that at one time someone must have invented this awful thing. Fashioning it just as I have...and with what motive? To cause extreme agony. The process began to take on a different feel for me. I was not just making a prop for a video. It became a tool of torture. It made me wonder who made the original, used on the Lord. I struck my own hand lightly with it to feel a little of it's sting. It looked too new and unused, so I put some red paint on it and rubbed it in the dirt. That process was even more disturbing. “He was wounded for our transgressions...” How could anyone use one of these?
The video will be shot today...a Christmas tree...a family...the opening of 3 presents.
The nails, the crown of thorns, and the whip
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