Tag Archives: mocked

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE LAST STRAW – 64

Bible Study, ,

“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭35‬-‭37‬, ‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Couldn’t they leave Jesus alone to die in peace! In the agony of His physical suffering, did He have to listen to these final words of abuse…rebellion…rejection of their Creator and Redeemer…in such a torrent of contempt?

This was mankind’s…humanity’s…God’s once perfect sons’ and daughters’, these representing the entire human race…absolute cancellation of their God! Wiping their hands of Him, they were declaring, “We are done with Him!” …spewing out of their mouths, the fountainhead of their hearts, the final words of contempt towards their Creator. They had finally and successfully rid the earth of Him…or had they?

In three short days, the tables would be turned. The one they ridiculed in death, believing that this was His end, would step out of the sealed tomb in an indestructible resurrection body and a glorified state that would forever condemn them to their place in the fires of hell. 

Jesus had warned them, many 

times, that judgment was coming…and that He would be the judge…but they did not believe Him. Exactly as they had repudiated His teaching, His assurances of mercy, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life, His declaration and demonstration of His Father’s covenant love and faithfulness, so they rejected that His death was an atoning sacrifice for sin. In their eyes, He was nothing but a blasphemer and He deserved to die!

The first day of the week, the first glimmer of dawn, peeked from the eastern horison, heralding the fulfilment of the greatest prophecy ever uttered.  A lone figure stepped through the massive stone barrier that had sealed Him in the tomb, into the increasing brightness of a new day…a new era…a new dispensation…the New Covenant! 

This day in history brought to light the truth and reality of the words He had uttered with His dying breath. In the midst of the cacophony of their ridicule and contempt…perhaps even lost in the hullabaloo of their fervent abuse, He prayed…“Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!” 

Through His agony He spoke….Not for Him…that was settled before time. To the Father for them.  If it were not for mercy, they would have sealed their own  fate that day…but Pentecost was coming. A new day was about to dawn over Israel…over the world…when the blood that flowed from His broken body would become a fountain of forgiveness and cleansing for the whole world. 

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The words of affirmation from the lips of Jesus would become the glorious reality of His claim on earth. 

“At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭66‬-‭71‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The day of Pentecost came, the day of reckoning for His executioners. What He had predicted…what they had repudiated…happened! The Holy Spirit fell in power and authority to confirm and fulfil His every word. 

Peter wielded the sword of the Word and struck with truth. 

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 

…But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬, ‭32‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine the horror in the conscience of the many among the crowd that day who had bayed for His blood…who had poured contempt on His person…who had celebrated His death with sneers and insults. He was alive! He was exalted to God’s right hand! He was crowned king and judge of all!

One sentence, one prayer, uttered from a heart of compassion, from lips sticky and coated with His own blood…”Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!” Did the Father hear Him…above the din?

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭37‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The cruel death His tormentors had inflicted on the “enemy” of their position, their comfortable self-righteousness, their power and authority, turned out to be, for them…not judgment or condemnation but mercy and forgiveness!  

Three thousand turned that day…back to God’s path, to God’s way. The cross of suffering had become the gateway to redemption, to wholeness, to the bosom of the Father, to the everlasting love of the God they had scorned, never to be separated from Him again. .

They had no idea what they were doing when they, the representatives of the whole world, Jews and Gentiles,  condemned the Son of God to death and had Him nailed to a piece of wood.  They had opened the door to heaven and to the kingdom of God. 

Such is the marvel of God’s sovereignty!

To be continued…

Who Killed Jesus?

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WHO KILLED JESUS?

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on Him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on Him. And they began to call out to Him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’

Again and again they struck Him on the head with a staff and spit on Him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to Him. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him. (Mark 15: 16-20)

Imagine the scene! Jesus was a stranger to the Roman soldiers. O, they may have heard about Him, even encountered Him in Jerusalem, but what did they know about Him as a person? What had they heard about Him? Anything suspicious, or sinister and evil that prompted their vicious attack on Him? No, only good, except perhaps from the religious hierarchy who were so prejudiced against Him that there was no end of their criticism and lies about Him.

So why did they behave in this atrocious manner towards Jesus when they had no axe to grind with Him? Were they simply giving vent to the basest in their human nature? Were they trained to hate by their role as Roman soldiers? Had they picked up the offence of their Jewish subjects and used the opportunity to sympathise with their Jewish allies in the Sanhedrin? Were they using the opportunity to discharge their hatred of the Jews on this innocent Jew who did not fight back?

As we go through the story of the crucifixion, it does not take us long to realise that every section of society was against Him. Those who masterminded the plot, carried out the mockery of a trial and stirred up the crowd to condemn Him; the mob who arrested Him and treated Him like a common criminal; the Roman soldiers who mocked and abused Him; the crowd who yelled for His death; Pilate who sentenced Him on to death on behalf of Rome in spite of His innocence; those who carried out the sentence with callous contempt – they were all representative of the human race for whom He paid the ultimate price.

Before we protest our innocence, we must remember that we are all part of the reason why He was there. None of those who were physically involved in His murder can carry the blame alone. They stand for every member of the human race who was condemned to death for treason against the God of heaven.

Jesus’ response stands in sharp contrast to the behaviour of those who had anything to do with Him during the final hours of His life. Why did He not resist? Why did He not defend Himself? Why did He not protest His innocence and fight to preserve His life? Why did His disciples and those He had ministered to for three years not stand up for Him and challenge the authorities for the illegality of their actions? Why did He not prove His power by calling for heavenly backup as He could have done? Why the foolishness of the cross?

There was only one way to defeat the devil and expose the treacherous deceit he had perpetrated on the human race. His modus operandi for perpetuating evil was through hatred, retaliation and revenge. You hurt me, and I will hurt you back. You hit me once and I will hit you ten times. By swallowing the devil’s lie in the Garden of Eden, mankind through Adam, has destroyed the unity God intended between us and Him. True to his fallen nature, he has kept sin going and escalated it from one generation to the next.

What was the solution? Wickedness could only be brought to an end by one who had no sin of His own, and who absorbed everything the human race could throw at Him without retaliation, and with love and forgiveness.

When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. ‘He Himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’ (1 Peter 2: 23-24)

Who killed Jesus? We all did because:

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53: 6)

We cannot distance ourselves from those who treated Him with cruelty and contempt and crucified Him. We were there, siding with them because it was our sin that brought Him to that moment. And it was our sin that His death paid for so that we can go free.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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