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The Real Passion: The Mocking of the Mock King And you think you've had bad days? Think about this—it is reported that the average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00. At a special ceremony, two of the animals that were the most expensive to save were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, a killer whale surfaced and ate both of them! I am hoping you didn't find that funny—ironic, yes, but not funny. Romans 8:22 tells us, in reference to the state of this fallen world, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." As a result of sin in this world, everything is subjected to dying and death—and it's not funny! There is nothing entertaining about anyone's bad day, even if it's Pontius Pilate's. Pilate had them before. Throughout his time as governor of Judea, he had done several things to offend the Jews—from bringing the Roman standards with Tiberius' image on them into the Holy City…to using the temple offerings for city works projects. No one could say, however, that he hadn't brought many of his "bad days" upon himself. This day was probably his worst yet. Early in the morning, a Jew—one of his least favorite people—was brought before him for judgment. Something about Him being a King. Check it out for yourself—between our text in Matthew 27 and the other three Gospel accounts, Pontius Pilate tries no fewer than four times to acquit Jesus and set Him free. He knew He was innocent, and said so—often. Normally, this vicious and vindictive ruler would have taken less than two seconds to end such a trial with the death penalty. But not on this day—this Man was Truth Himself, and he knew it. He was between a rock and a hard place—Luke 23:20 tells us he was "willing to release Jesus," but Mark 15:15 declares that Pilate was also, "willing to content the people." This would be no normal day! God Himself was working on this pagan's heart, even to the point of being willing to personally subject Himself to all that this tyrant and his minions could throw at Him. But what would that prove? That, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) The whole world, not just the Jews—even Pontius Pilate; even you; even me! Amid cries for crucifixion, "when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man: see ye to it."(vs. 24) It is amazing—earlier in the chapter, when Judas, the one who had betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, regretted that he had done so, declared Jesus to be innocent—free from guilt and without any penalty. (By the way, even though verse 3, in the KJV, states that Judas "repented himself," the actual Greek word means to simply regret some action and be sorry for it. True repentance is far more than that—it is hatred towards sin and returning to God—he didn’t repent to God, but to himself) Now, Pilate is claiming his own innocence, as well as Jesus'. His wife had warned him earlier, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man," (vs. 19), and now, Pilate himself also calls Jesus "just"—intimating, in the Greek, that "rightness" just exudes from this man, allowing Him alone to make the rules. In other words, both Pilate and his wife recognized that Jesus' life had been conditioned by a standard—not theirs, but a far higher one. And did you notice?—when Judas runs to the chief priests, they retort, "What is that to us? See thou to that." (vs. 4) Now, Pilate echoes that sentiment with similar words, "see ye to it." Do you see what is happening? These two episodes are put side-by-side to clearly manifest the mercy of God. Throughout his time with Jesus on this earth, Judas had refused to yield his life to the rule of Truth, and now, in the end, down he goes. Pontius Pilate had refused to yield to the laws of God concerning the place of the Roman standards, thereby conditioning himself to continue in his stubborn pride and arrogance against God's standards. He thought he could just wash his hands and the guilt would no longer be his. Not so! When Pilate declared his innocence, the Jewish mob answered in unison, "His blood be on us, and on our children." (vs. 25) While many today try to suggest that it is best to distance the Jewish people from this event, they do so even to the point of calling the Scriptures erroneous. They have to, if they are going to take such a stand, for the Bible is very clear that the Jews of 2,000 years ago had an obvious role in the physical death of Jesus. There is no way the Romans would have crucified Jesus if He hadn't been brought to them by the Jewish leadership. Even John, the Jewish Gospel writer and beloved disciple, declares, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." (1:11) But, remember, His physical death is only part of the story. Jesus wasn’t killed or murdered or even martyred—He gave His life as a ransom for many. If God was going to take away sin, Someone without sin would need to take it upon Himself and then suffer the wrath of God against it. The focus shouldn't be who killed Jesus, but on the very One who would yield Himself for the sake of the glory of God and for the salvation of each one of us. We must see far beyond the figure of a bleeding man on a cross. We don't have to go beyond Scripture to know the truth of that event. Matthew, inspired by the Holy Spirit, put it in so few words—"Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified." (vs. 26) No long and drawn out descriptions of the whip or the nails; no slow-motion beatings and torture; no ghastly emphasis on the "ghastliness" of the event. Oh, yes, it was bloody, no doubt—even more so than any depiction can conjure up, but that is not the picture the Holy Spirit chose to dwell on. Why? I believe it is precisely just that—the WHY? This was all happening because of His claim to be King. The Jews didn't like it, the Romans didn't like it, and the vast majority of the world today doesn’t like it, either! Hence, the mocking of the mock king! This poor, miserable excuse for a human being wants to be king, so let's give Him a kingdom. A whole band of Roman soldiers—possibly a cohort of 600, a tenth of a legion—were ready, willing, and able to pretend to be that "kingdom." So they ripped off His own robe, and covered Him in scarlet. Their intention was to mock His royalty, but did they know this?—the Greek word, "kokkinos," refers to a grain full of worms, or maggots, whose fluids, when crushed, produced a remarkable crimson dye—red as blood. The mock king, in their eyes, was nothing but a maggot, waiting to be smashed. Oddly enough, Jesus had described Himself similarly as a grain that must fall to the ground and be buried in order to bring forth good and ripe fruit. (John 12:24) His "loyal" subjects then braided a crown of thorns for Him, and put a flimsy reed into His hand—a mock scepter. And the mocking continued, "they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head. And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him." (vss. 29b-31) Oh, what a picture of yielding! A man conditioned by the power of the Holy Spirit to give absolutely everything to His own people, even though they had refused to receive Him. How ironic that now much of the Church receives Him not! Is not the real passion of the Christ seen when His own Church insists on it's own way? Oh, how many ways each day do we mock Him, by pretending to bow the knee in submission and worship? How many times do we whack Him over the head with the only scepter we allow Him to hold—our own understanding? How often do we change His clothes, like a little girl playing with paper dolls, giving Him "rule" and taking it away at our own whim? Don't we do all of these things as we refuse to yield absolutely everything to His control, day in and day out? Don’t we mock Him as we run to Him for help on the bad days, and ignore His sovereignty on the "good" ones? Praise God, it didn't end there with a mock king on a mock throne. The true King went the whole way—not just to, but through the cross; through the tomb; and piercing through to the right hand of the Father—to reign in Glory forevermore. Hallelujah! Jesus' yielding to the Father's will produced a very good fruit—His resurrection life available to be lived right now in every aspect of our yielded lives. No mockery in that! King of kings and Lord of lords—glory, Hallelujah! Praise God—Jesus Christ is risen today…Yes, He is risen indeed! Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
