27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Read Matthew 27:27-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In these few verses is one of the greatest truths that we can wrap our minds around.
While the whole crucifixion event has been glamorized and marked in time through Easter weekend, the profound truth found within this passage is often missed, glossed over, or plain ignored: Jesus came and endured some of the worst torture that has ever been imagined in the course of history’s timeline so that everyone in the universe (that includes us) will see and know how much God loves us!
In this passage, we see both the character of God/Jesus, as well as how twisted we as a species have become. No other group of creatures has used their imagination to come up with more painful ways to kill one another. It is likely that no other group of creatures have even had this thought.
Having the ability to think this way is a gift from God, but Satan has twisted God’s gift so far that we don’t ever stop and ponder how special free thought really is.
And to top it off, as we have used this imagination throughout history, often we have created great things, but we have also devised some really evil things as well. In one of the most evil times in history, Jesus steps in, and He endures the cruelest and most painful punishment ever as a way to show us God’s love for us.
It is incredible to think that our Creator would be willing to submit to us as His creation. The Gift-Giver allows those who received His gifts the freedom to turn against Him. I really don’t understand it at times, but God sustains the life of both the good and the bad in this age for a reason – and His reasons come from an eternal perspective.
God showed us His love from this eternal perspective as well. Jesus chose this point in history to step into because He wanted us to see how much God loves us – even while we are actively rebelling against Him.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.