Jesus crucified (3)
[Mark 15:21-32]
When Jesus was suffering on the cross, people laughed at Him, insulted Him, mocked Him, and cursed Him. Who mocked, insulted, mocked, and cursed the crucified Jesus? Those passing by insulted Jesus. Look at Mark 15:29-30: “Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, ‘Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!’” The chief priests mocked Jesus. Look at Mark 15:31-32: “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” The scribes also mocked Jesus. Look at Mark 15:31 – “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves ….” Look at Matthew 27:41 – “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying.” Even the elders mocked Jesus. Look at Matthew 27:41-43: “In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, I am the Son of God.’” As members of the Sanhedrin, Jewish leaders, officials, laughed at Jesus. Look at Luke 23:35 – “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.’” Even the soldiers mocked Jesus. Look at Luke 23:36-37: “The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!’” The robbers insulted Jesus. Look at Matthew 27:44 – “The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.” These seven classes [(1) Those passing by, (2) the chief priests, (3) the scribes, (4) the elders, (5) the Sanhedrin members, (6) the soldiers, (7) the robbers] mocked and insulted Jesus who was crucified. What was the content of their mocking and insulting the crucified Jesus? The content was, ‘You save yourself and come down from the cross.’ In other words, the content was to Jesus to save Himself and not die on the cross, but to live. This is Satan's work. Satan did not want Jesus to die on the cross. To be more specific, Satan did not want Jesus to die on the cross, bearing all our sins. It is because Satan never wants us to be forgiven of our sins and be saved.
Jesus was tempted by Satan (the devil) three times before He began His ministry (Lk. 4:1-13), and He was tempted three times when He was nailed to the cross to finish (to complete) His ministry (based only on the gospel of Luke). These are the three temptations that Jesus received when He was crucified: (1) First temptation: “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One’” (23:35), (2) Second temptation: “The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!’” (vv.36-37), (3) Third temptation: “One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’” (v. 39) The purpose of these three temptations of Satan is for Jesus to save Himself on the cross and live without dying. In other words, Satan never wanted Jesus to die on the cross, bearing our sins. That was why Satan used the rulers (v. 35), the soldiers (v. 36), and one of the criminals who hung on the cross (v. 39) to tempt Jesus three times to save Himself. What lesson does this fact teach us? Satan constantly tempts us from the beginning to the end while we live on this earth. Satan laughs at us, mocks us, slanders us and tempts us to live according to the will of man rather than die according to the will of God. Satan's step-by-step temptation first tempts us with people who are more distant from us, like the rulers, then tempts us with people who are closer to us, like the soldiers, and finally tempts us with people who are closer to us, even with people like the one of the crucified criminals. Satan tempts us through these three types of people, and in my view, the most fatal temptation is to tempt us through our closest family members. For example, in Job's case, when he was suffering, his wife said to him, "Curse God and die, do you still hold fast to your integrity?" (Job 2:9) ” He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said” (v. 10).
Why was Jesus crucified ridiculed, mocked, and insulted? It was because of our sins. Jesus suffered all the ridicule, mock, and insults we deserve. The Bible has already prophesied in Psalms 22:6-8 that Jesus would become like this: “But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, ‘Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.’” God's will is to save those whom God has first loved, chosen, called, justified, and glorified (Rom. 8:30). Jesus suffered all the humiliation on the cross to accomplish this will of God.
Jesus suffered all humiliation and suffering on the cross for us who deserved the punishment of sin “while we were still helpless” (Rom. 5:6), “while we were yet sinners” (v. 8), and “while we were enemies (with God)” (v. 10). Therefore, we must shed tears of gratitude and emotion when facing Jesus, who suffered all kinds of humiliation and suffering on the cross. These are the lyrics verses 4 and 5 for “Alas! And Did my Savior Bleed”: (v. 4) Thus might I hide my blushing face While His dear cross appears; Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes to tears. (v. 5) But drops of grief can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe! Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'Tis all that I can do. Amen. When we look at Jesus who was crucified and suffered all the humiliation and suffering, we are thankful that He took all our sins and received all the punishment and died on the cross. We must live for the Lord by devoting our bodies, minds, and lives while shedding tears of thanksgiving. However, we know this fact in our head, but it seems that we do not know it well in our heart. The reason is because our hearts have become like flint (Zech. 7:12), and our foreheads have also become like the hardest stone, harder thank flint (Ezek. 3:9). What should we do? This is the lyric 2 of the hymn “My Lord Has Garments so Wondrous Find”: His life had also its sorrows sore, For aloes had a part; And when I think of the cross He bore, My eyes with teardrops start. We must humbly face the cross of the Lord with faith. We must pray to the Lord while meditating deeply on all the humiliations and sufferings He has received on our behalf. Therefore, we must shed tears of dedication as well as tears of gratitude by offering our bodies as sacrifices to the Lord, who have received amazing love while realizing and getting to know the Lord's growing grace, throwing away all the vain greed and arrogance of the world. And since our hearts are drawn to the cross of the Lord who was despised, so that who must receive the honor, glory, and all authority alone, we must carry the cross of contempt and go without a name, without light, and serve the Lord with thanksgiving.