Matthew 27:27-29; 31-40; 45-56
The governor’s soldiers led Jesus into the fortress and brought together the rest of the troops. They stripped off Jesus' clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. They made a crown out of thorn branches and placed it on his head, and they put a stick in his right hand. The soldiers knelt down and pretended to worship him. They made fun of him and shouted, “Hey, you king of the Jews!” Then they spit on him. They took the stick from him and beat him on the head with it.
When the soldiers had finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the robe. They put his own clothes back on him and led him off to be nailed to a cross. On the way they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross.
They came to a place named Golgotha, which means “Place of a Skull.” There they gave Jesus some wine mixed with a drug to ease the pain. But when Jesus tasted what it was, he refused to drink it.
The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes. Then they sat down to guard him. Above his head they put a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” The soldiers also nailed two criminals on crosses, one to the right of Jesus and the other to his left.
People who passed by said terrible things about Jesus. They shook their heads and shouted, “So you’re the one who claimed you could tear down the temple and build it again in three days! If you are God’s Son, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
At noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until three o’clock. Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them at once ran and grabbed a sponge. He soaked it in wine, then put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. Others said, “Wait! Let’s see if Elijah will come and save him.” Once again Jesus shouted, and then he died.
At once the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and rocks split apart. Graves opened, and many of God’s people were raised to life. Then after Jesus had risen to life, they came out of their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many people. The officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus felt the earthquake and saw everything else that happened. They were frightened and said, “This man really was God’s Son!”
Many women had come with Jesus from Galilee to be of help to him, and they were there, looking on at a distance. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John were some of these women.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I just watched a video of a kindergarten program in which the daughter of one of MY kindergarten students portrayed a “cloud”. It was adorable, and amazingly, all of the “raindrops”, “clouds”, and other characters performed well. No one had a meltdown or left the stage…and the children even sang on key for the most part in front of a packed house!
I’ve been to dance recitals and other events where one or more of the participants did not fare so well. Children screamed and cried…teenagers and adults forgot their lines or “froze” on stage, as the crowd looked on…sometimes sympathetically, and other times with laughs, heckling, or ridicule. Recently, someone even threw a shoe at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she gave a public speech!
I also heard lately that the reason public executions were outlawed in America is because they drew large crowds that were difficult to manage. Apparently, we humans are natural-born gawkers…for anything and everything. And sadly, sometimes the gorier the event, the better - in the eyes of many!
So it should come as no surprise that a crowd gathered to see Jesus persecuted and crucified… to witness His public humiliation and mutilation…to mock Him, taunt Him, and yes – to spit on Him. In He Chose the Nails, pastor-author Max Lucado writes about how spitting on someone doesn’t physically hurt them… it is purely an act to “degrade the soul”. And many apparently felt the need to degrade Jesus that day.
Imagine how it must have felt to be stripped and beaten before the masses, including your mother and your closest friends and family members – both male and female. Imagine having to watch their anguish as you suffered. It wasn’t bad enough to be flogged and tortured…some felt the need to try to trick Him with “water” that was a mix of wine and vinegar. Imagine how that liquid must have stung as it touched Jesus’ open wounds. I encourage you to read the account of the crucifixion in all four Gospels…Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19. One of these reports indicates that the soldiers broke the legs of the criminals on either side to hasten their death. But when they came to Jesus, He appeared to have already died…so they left his legs intact. But they pierced his side with a spear and caused the blood and water to pour out of him. And I’m sure many in the crowd cheered at this sight.
All of this decimated our LORD’s body…and degraded His soul. And those who taunted Him and suggested that He climb down and save Himself were right about one thing...Jesus could have chosen to do exactly that! But He stayed… He suffered…He endured. Because your name…and mine…and the names of millions of others were on His tongue and etched into His heart. He loves us so much that He could not succumb to the devil’s final attempt to entice Him.
In the darkness of that horrific day…in the brutality and loneliness of this revolting, gruesome, ghastly, incomprehensibly inhuman abuse…Jesus stayed on that cross…for me…and for you. No One else could have done what He did. No One else will ever love you this much. What have you done for Him lately?
©2014 Debbie Robus
