SHARING BREAD
27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the
Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it
on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and
mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on
the head again and again. 31 After
they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him.
Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matt
27:27-31 (NIV)
Clearly, the Prophet Isiah’s words were being fulfilled in
our verses for today:
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows,
and familiar with suffering. Like one
from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3 (NIV)
The Words of the Lord Jesus earlier in Matthew which, btw,
Peter had rebuked Him for stating were being fulfilled here as well:
21 From
that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life. 22 Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall
never happen to you!” Matt 16:21-22
(NIV)
Surrounded by throngs of Roman soldiers – around 600 – they
stripped the One Who spoke the world into being, the Author of life, the One
Who holds the stars in place and calls them each by name, the great I AM. They mockingly shoved a twisted crown of thorns
upon His holy head and placed a staff into his omnipotent right hand – kneeling
before Him and ridiculing Him. With one
word from His righteous lips He could have laid low the earth – struck dead His
adversaries – called down legions of angels – whatever He desired yet chose to
willingly endure the penalty that we all deserved without uttering even a Word. Jesus knew everything was under His power,
His sovereign authority, His origin and coming destiny yet He here forgoes His Deity
rights and acquiesces to His Father’s plan for our good and His glory. John writes in his gospel:
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under
his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; John 13:3 (NIV)
“Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of
Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and
it shook the very foundations of hell.
There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and
irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross – He made it
possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing
relationship with God. He made
redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every
person to have fellowship with God…..The heart of salvation is the Cross of
Christ. The reason salvation is so easy
to obtain is that it cost God so much.
The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous
collision and where the way to life was opened.
But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of
God.”
Oswald Chambers
The storm continued as the hour of darkness reigned:
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open
his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Isaiah 53:7 (NIV)
He spoke nothing to defend Himself. He did not stop those opposing Him. He willingly submitted to the jeers, to the
scorn, to the torture and to the death – all the while entrusting Himself to
Him Who judges justly. He had full
knowledge this was mankind’s only hope of salvation and sadly, this was His
thank you note from them:
23 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. 24 He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have
returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:23-25 (NIV)
“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give Thee back the life I owe, that in
Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my
flickering torch to Thee. My heart
restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter
fairer be. O joy that seekest me through
pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee. I
trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn
shall tearless be. O cross that liftest
up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee.
I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red,
life that shall endless be.” George Matheson
What I glean from this:
· The Lord Jesus was despised and
rejected by man when He walked this earth – He still is in some souls.
· Jesus willingly gave His life
for me.
· Jesus entrusted Himself to
Him who judges justly and so should I.
