The Mockers

The journey now becomes a story washed in our tears.  How can we read what was done to our Savior and not be moved to weep tears of deep sorrow?  Can we be so callous as not to be moved and stirred in the inner parts of our heart?  How is it possible now to read and behold Him and not be overcome with emotions that swell up to the point of overflowing the very banks of our soul?  "Oh, God, have mercy on us now if we can read and contemplate and see Your Son, our Savior, and not be overwhelmed by salty tears and a broken heart."

 

The Word reads, "Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him..."  Who cannot remember the pain of being taunted and made fun of by the cruel words of others?  Mocking is the insult that declares life is unimportant.  Mocking seeks to make people feel as if life is wasted and useless.  Mocking declares what has been done is of no value.  They mocked Jesus.  They heaped ridicule and hurtful words upon Him, words that were shouted to demean and devalue.  And while they sought to break His spirit, they tortured His body by beating it with a whip made to gash and leave the flesh tattered and bleeding.

 

Mocked and beaten.  Mocked and beaten for you and me.  And even worse was still to come.  How can we watch from a distance and not be moved in the depths of our soul?  How can we behold the One they tried to break and not see the reality of our own sins, sins which carried Him to that place.  "Ah, but Father, it was not our  sins, but my sins, and mine alone...Father, Father God, look at me with mercy...know my sorrow...forgive me...please, Father God, forgive me for my sins which took Him to that terrible place."