This chapter contains several sections including the trial, mocking, beating, and crucifixion of Jesus.
“And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” (v28-31)
This is only one of the heartbreaking scenes in this chapter – the people mock, humiliate, and beat Jesus, prior to making Him carry His cross toward Calvary. Mocking Jesus / God seems to be a popular activity since the very beginning. Satan has always mocked God, and we unfortunately join him.
I can’t help but think we still mock God in many ways, shapes and forms, to this day. Though we can’t literally spit in His face, we can still do this figuratively by warping God’s words, promises, and will to fit that of this world.
So many things in our culture have been specifically designed to mock God, whether we realize it or not. One prime example is the rainbow – this beautiful creation of brilliant color and elegance was created by God as a symbol of His covenant promises to us (see Gen 9:8-17). It has since been warped and twisted into a symbol of celebrating homosexuality, which the Bible clearly indicates is a sin.
In my opinion, this is a form of mocking God: taking something of His which is supposed to be beautiful in form and meaning, and twisting it into a grotesque abomination for sin and debauchery. The rainbow is only one example. How about how we’ve broken the institution of marriage, relationships, families, and this planet?
We can’t go into these topics or more in detail at this time, however, I strongly urge us to consider God’s original purposes for His creation and how we are behaving as stewards. Are we respecting God’s original intents and instructions in all areas of our lives, or are we mocking Him with our conduct, spitting in His face by our blatant disregard / disobedience? I’m not sure about you, but I’m ashamed to admit that I easily fall into that second category, and pray that God helps us as a people move to the other end of the spectrum, where we duly honor and respect Him and His creation.
Father God, Magnificent Creator, Author of the Universe, Sovereign Authority Over All, we humbly request Your forgiveness. We as a people have sinned greatly against You, mocking Your name and promises for all of history. We beg for Your grace and mercy as we begin to realize we’re no better than those who literally spit in the face of Jesus. Please cleanse our hearts, open our eyes, and help us to honor Your holy name for all of eternity. May we begin to respect You and Your creation, and refrain from causing further damage to Your (and our) reputations (as Christ followers). In the holy and righteous name of Jesus we ask this, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training