SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/5/2024 9:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “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.’”
I continue quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary
as I begin my SD for today: “Pilate did
not initiate the mockery, but neither did he oppose it. Despite his half-hearted efforts to acquit
Jesus, Pilate was noted for cruelty and mercilessness. Having ordered Jesus’ scouring and
crucifixion, he would hardly have had qualms about the relatively mild abuse of
mockery. It is possible that the
soldiers performed their derisive actions under the governor’s amused eye. The soldiers probably shared their commander’s
hatred of Jews and took this opportunity to vent their malice on a Jew
condemned by fellow Jews. With every
nerve in agony and His body quivering in pain, Jesus became the object of a
fiendish game.
“Jesus
was either naked or nearly naked for the scouring, after which He was probably
clothed with His seamless inner garment.
First, the soldiers stripped Him of that garment and put a scarlet robe
on Him, still further irritating His exposed, bleeding flesh. The scarlet robe probably belonged to one of
the soldiers, who used it to keep warm while standing guard on cold
nights. Mark and John report that the
robe was purple (Mark 15:17; John 19:2), suggesting that the actual scarlet color
was the closet the soldiers could come to purple, the traditional color of
royalty.
“Although
it was far from the soldiers’ intent, the use of scarlet was reminiscent of
Isaiah’s declaration that ‘through your sins are as scarlet, they will be as
white as snow; thought they are red like crimson, they will be like wool’ (Isa.
1:18). Just as the soldiers clothed Jesus in the scarlet robe,
He willingly clothed Himself in the scarlet sins of the world in order that
those who believe in Him might be freed from that sin.
“To
add to the pain as well as to the ridicule, after weaving a crown of thorns, the
soldiers put it on His head. Many kinds
of thorns were prevalent in Palestine at that time, and the particular variety
used is unknown. The purpose was to
mimic the wealth that Caesar wore on official occasions and that could be seen
on Roman coins that bore his image. As
the mock crown was pressed on His head, blood ran down from the new wounds to
mingle with the blood that already covered the rest of His body. Like the scarlet robe, the crown of thorns
became an unintended symbol of the sins that Jesus was about to take upon
Himself. After the Fall, thorns and
thistles became painful reminders of the curse that sin had brought to the
world (Gen. 3:18), the curse from which the world ever since had longed to be
freed (Rom. 8:22).” “For we know that
the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until
now.”
“Jesus’ face was now even more unrecognizable and
His pain more intense. But still not
content, the soldiers next placed a reed in His right hand. Like the robe and the crown of thorns, the reed
was meant to represent royalty, mimicking a monarch’s scepter, the symbol of
his authority and power. Such a scepter
could also be seen in Caesar’s hand on Roman coins.
“To
complete the sarcastic taunt, the soldiers even kneeled down before Him and
mocked Him saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’
The Jewish religious leaders had mocked Jesus as a prophet (Matt.
26:68), and now the Roman soldiers mocked Him as a king. Then, just as the Jews had done, they spat on
Him, casting on Him what was considered the ultimate indignity.
“Next
in their brutal amusement they took the reed from His hand and, to further
ridicule His supposed authority, began to beat Him on the head, which was
already swollen, lacerated, and bleeding.
It was as if to say, ‘Your kingliness is a joke. Look how easily we strip You of Your dignity
and Your authority. We beat You with
Your own scepter. Where is Your
power? Where is Your royal army to
defend You from Your enemies?’ From John
we learn that they struck Jesus with their fists as well as with the reed (John
19:3).” “and they began to come
up to Him and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps in
the face.”
One day Christ will wield a true scepter, a rod of
iron with which He will rule the world, including His subdued enemies (Rev.
19:15).” “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He
treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” Then the
tables will be turned, and the mocking and derision will be by God on the
ungodly. Then He who sits in the heavens
will laugh, and the Lord will scoff at them (Ps. 2:4).” “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord
scoffs at them.”
“But in His incarnation, Jesus’ humiliation was
essential to God’s plan for the Son, ‘who emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant and being make in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross’ (Phil. 2:7-8).”
We will stop here, and Lord willing continue quoting
from MacArthur’s commentary in the next SD, as he describes things from these
verses that are very informative and certainly makes me think more about what
Christ went through in order to pay for my sins.
8/5/2024 10:53 AM
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