Monday, August 5, 2024

PT-3 "The Ignorant Wicked" (Matt. 27:27-37)

 

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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