Reflection: Jesus was taken to Herod’s palace, out into the courtyard, as entertainment for the whole company of guards on duty there. They watch on with bloodlust and idle amusement, as we see humanity at its worst.
They strip Jesus down to his undergarments and dress him in a robe. Next they weave together a wreath, like the one worn by Caesar. They make it out of razor sharp thorns from and crush
it down onto Jesus’ head. They place a staff in Jesus’ right hand. And then they kneel in front of him, calling out, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
But this isn’t enough. They spit on him. Rip the staff out of his hand and hit him in the head with it, time and time again. Then they dress him again in a half-hearted attempt to try and cover-up something of what they’d done. And Jesus, the one who’d healed thousands, is led bleeding and bloodied and almost unrecognisable away to a Roman cross.
And so we see that Jesus is the one of whom Isaiah said, some seven hundred years before, “He was despised and
rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain… But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 3- 5)
Question: How does this description of what happened to Jesus make you feel? If you, too, are fighting tears, how can Isaiah’s words bring you hope?
Prayer: We praise you, God, for our Suffering Servant Jesus Christ, who could look upon some of
the soldiers who did this to him and say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Amen.
We are reading the Bible with Paul White until 7th April.