Wednesday, March 25th

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Wednesday, March 25

Luke 23:32-39

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Many years ago my wife and I, along with my brother and his family, spent six months living in Bolivia as part of a short term mission experience. Part of what my brother and I did while in Bolivia was play basketball for a local semi-professional team in Santa Cruz. We both had played college ball in our day so joining the team for that season helped us build friendships as well as learn more of the culture in which we were living.

Part of that culture, especially in the athletic world, was “machismo.” Machismo is a kind of aggressive male pride that Bolivian men sometimes took to an extreme. We learned that there was one thing that Bolivian men simply would not endure, and that was any form of being mocked.

Now, no one likes to be mocked, but in Bolivia any form of mockery was a dangerous offense. We lost one of our best players to a season-long suspension when, after an opposing player whispered a one word insult to his masculinity, he spit in the opponents face and touched off a near brawl on the court. Nothing was as painful or humiliating to him as being mocked as a man.

Luke tells us that Jesus was mocked by at least three different groups of people. He writes:

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

He was mocked by the “rulers,” that is, the religious leaders who taunted him as they turned one of their own over to the Roman authorities.

Luke continues:

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

He was mocked by pagan Roman soldiers who seemed to be making sport of the whole thing. One gets the sense that these hardened professional soldiers found it amusing to be handed a pathetic prisoner that some called a “king.” Both Matthew and John tell us that the soldiers went so far as to put a mock crown of thorns on his head, a purple robe around his shoulders and a staff in his hand. They fell on their knees and pretended to worship him; all in mocking sport (Matthew 27; John 19).

Luke writes:

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

He was even mocked by one of the criminals being crucified by his side.

That Jesus, who the Bible says was the very eternal Word of God become flesh, did not call upon the power that rightfully belonged to him to consume each and every mocking fool with fire and brimstone from hell itself is, in itself, a testament to his divine nature. Because, if I had been in his place, with his power and authority, the mockers would have been torched long before now.

But Jesus prayed for those who mocked him; Jesus forgave those who spit on him; Jesus loved even those who hated him.

And in doing so he fulfilled what was written by Isaiah the prophet some 700 years beforehand:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
 yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
 and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
 so he opened not his mouth. 

Isaiah 53:7

Pastor Brian Coffey