Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
Mark 15 talks about Jesus’ crucifixion. After being tortured, he was forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, crucifixion hill.
Beaten and whipped by Roman soldiers, Jesus was too weak and slow, so a passer-by was conscripted to help.
Pilate nailed a sign to the cross that said “The King of the Jews”. What a sneering and cynical statement, expressing Pilate’s loathing for the endless religious and political squabbling in this backwater of the Roman empire.
Jesus was not a real king like Caesar. He had no path to power, he showed no strength against enemies, he found no guards or wisdom to protect himself.
Jesus’ trial and crucifixion was a public spectacle, a bit like reality television today. A chance for voyeurs to watch people scheming and arguing and airing dirty laundry. An opportunity to be fascinated and disgusted and entertained by human foibles and gratuitous cruelty.
Some watchers said to Jesus, “Did you say you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days? What’s your plan now?” (v. 29).
The religious leaders said, “He posed as messiah and king. He saved others. Can he save himself?” (v. 32).
The soldiers threw lots to decide who got his clothes.
Jesus was naked and alone on the cross.
Let’s pray.
O father, Jesus’ story is full of irony.
John’s gospel tells us that the temple Jesus would destroy and rebuild was his body. But after the crucifixion, that body was soon buried.
The religious leaders maneuvered the king of the Jews onto a cross, proving he had no credible claim as a religious leader, that he had no special relationship to God, burying any hope he had of starting a new religion.
Despite coming to build your kingdom, God, Jesus perished under Jewish conspiracies and Roman politics.
A few women who loved him and disciples who had abandoned him watched him die. What else could they do?
O father, Pilate and the religious leaders are long gone. Jesus’ cross has turned to dust. Archeologists excavate Roman ruins and ancient Jewish garbage dumps. But Jesus lives.
The sign under which he died is the sign under which we live. We meet and serve him. We pray to him for forgiveness and salvation. We trust his kingship in our lives, our churches, our world. We wait as he builds your kingdom, O God.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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