Hands of Brutality - Preview
They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29)
When Pilate received Jesus from the Sanhedrin, accused of inciting riots and claiming to be a king, Pilate didn’t seem to take this claim seriously. Instead, he had his soldiers beat Jesus to prepare him for crucifixion. They beat him and then mocked him by putting a crown of thorns on his head and a staff in his hand. They didn’t realize that they were mocking not only the king of the Jews but the King of kings, the one who built the world and rules it all.
We would never mock Jesus as a king, right? We would never beat Jesus and abuse him verbally and socially, would we? How about when we verbally or socially abuse others, who also belong to Jesus. When we say and do things that are degrading towards another human being, we mock the one who made them. When we treat someone as lesser than us, we abuse the one who died for them.
But that is why he needed to be beaten and crucified, to pay for those times when we have looked down on others and abused them. He went to that cross to take away the sin that had abused us for far too long. He was lifted up on the cross so that we might be cleansed of our hatred towards others and instead live lives that are pleasing to our God, and loving toward our neighbors. He loved us so that we might also have love. Amen.
The song for today is “Love them like Jesus” by Casting Crowns