Saturday, August 3, 2024

PT-1 (of many) "The Ignorant Wicked" (Matt. 27:27-37)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/3/2024 9:08 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: PT-1 “The Ignorant Wicked”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 27:27-37

 

            Message of the verses:  27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

 

            “32 As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.

  

             “33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. 35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. 37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’”

 

            We begin what will take us many days to get through this section.  Now I just posted on my other blog a section from Colossians 3:16 and in that post I mentioned that at that time, (May of 2017) I was studying also the book of John and spent weeks going over the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and spoke of the emotions that I had when I studied the crucifixion, and as I have been studying the crucifixion from Matthew’s gospel these same emotions have come upon me.  This is a difficult section of verses to study when you realize that you are the one that caused Jesus Christ to go through what He went through to save me from my sins.  I should have been the one hanging there on the cross, but because of the great love that Christ has for me He took my place there on that awful cross and in the three dark hours when the Father was separated from Jesus He was taking my punishment in those three hours so that I did not have to take it.  There is no greater love than when a man lays his life down for a friend.

 

            MacArthur begins this very long section by writing “The ignorant wicked were the callous Roman soldiers who actually performed the crucifixion under orders from Pilate, who finally had succumbed to the intimidation of the Jewish religious leaders.  The Roman governor had publicly declared Jesus’ innocence several times, but for fear of a riot that almost certainly would have cost his career and possibly his life, he capitulated to the execution.  He had perverted Roman justice by agreeing to convict a man whom no one was able to legitimately charge with a crime against the state.  He had sinned against his own convictions, integrity, and conscience, and against the truth.  He bargained his eternal soul for temporary security.”

 

            Now as we think of the Jewish leaders who even in a worse way had perverted not only scriptural principles of justice but their own rabbinical traditions.  Now although they had been unable to properly charge Jesus with sin against God, they were very determined to destroy Him, whatever the cost to Scripture, justice, or righteousness.

 

            Now as we look at verse 26 “Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified,” we can see that the soldiers were under Pilate’s orders to scourge and crucify Jesus, however they exhibited their own wickedness by far exceeding what basic duty required.  As they took into the Praetorium, they decided to make public sport of their prisoner and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him in order to watch.

 

            Lord willing we will continue looking at this awful scene in the next SD.

 

8/3/2024 9:31 AM

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