He was despised and forsaken of men - Forsaken for us

Mark 15:1-39 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. ² Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” ³ The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. ⁴ Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” ⁵ But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

⁶ Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷ The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸ The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹ Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹² Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴ But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵ Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

¹⁶ The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. ¹⁷ They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; ¹⁸ and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. ²⁰ After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.

²¹ They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

²² Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³ They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. ²⁵ It was the third hour when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷ They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁸ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.” ²⁹ 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, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ 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. ³² 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.

³³ When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵ When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” ³⁷ And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. ³⁸ And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

We see the persecution of Christians increasing around the world. Even in this country, those who follow and represent Christ are no longer honored and esteemed, but rather are mocked, ridiculed and disdained. It seems at times that our society is concerned with the rights and the fair treatment of everyone except Christians. Yet as bad as it may be or seem, we should remember what Jesus did for us. We should remember that He suffered not only ridicule, but physical pain and even a painful death, for our sake. Today’s text says:   They called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.  After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.     Even before that, in Mark 14:61-65, when Jesus was arrested and stood before the chief priests, it says:  Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.     In today’s text, even as Jesus suffered the agony of the cross, many still mocked and ridiculed Him. It says:  They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.” 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!” 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.

None of this took Jesus by surprise. He knew from the beginning what was in store for Him. Jesus knew well all the scriptures concerning Him. Isaiah 53 says:  He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.  Jesus knew how great His suffering would be and He did it willingly for us.

Jesus also knew who He was. Those who witnessed His suffering and crucifixion were also aware. The text says:  Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”    What the centurion didn’t know is that this was not the end of Jesus, the Son of God. It was a new beginning for the world, that: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)   If we would be persecuted, mocked or ridiculed for the sake of Christ, we at least know that because of Him, because of what He endured for us we have already overcome all that the world can bring against us. Hebrews 12:1-4 says:  since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.

Lord Jesus Christ thank You for enduring the ridicule and the pain of the cross. May I never lose sight, may I continually keep my eyes fixed on You. May I see and know the joy that You know, that through Your suffering I too can come to the very presence of the Father. As Hebrews 4:16 says:   Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Regardless of what the world may do to me, there is grace for my every need. Holy Spirit, if I would be arrested and persecuted for Jesus sake, may I, as Jesus said, depend on You to speak the words I need to say as a witness and testimony of the love of God and Christ. Your grace is sufficient for me.   Amen.