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.
Clearly, the Prophet Isiah’s words were being fulfilled in our verses for today:
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3 (NIV)
The Words of the Lord Jesus earlier in Matthew which, btw, Peter had rebuked Him for stating were being fulfilled here as well:
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Matt 16:21-22 (NIV)
Surrounded by throngs of Roman soldiers – around 600 – they stripped the One Who spoke the world into being, the Author of life, the One Who holds the stars in place and calls them each by name, the great I AM. They mockingly shoved a twisted crown of thorns upon His holy head and placed a staff into his omnipotent right hand – kneeling before Him and ridiculing Him. With one word from His righteous lips He could have laid low the earth – struck dead His adversaries – called down legions of angels – whatever He desired yet chose to willingly endure the penalty that we all deserved without uttering even a Word. Jesus knew everything was under His power, His sovereign authority, His origin and coming destiny yet He here forgoes His Deity rights and acquiesces to His Father’s plan for our good and His glory. John writes in his gospel:
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; John 13:3 (NIV)
“Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross – He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God...The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.” Oswald Chambers
The storm continued as the hour of darkness reigned:
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 (NIV)
He spoke nothing to defend Himself. He did not stop those opposing Him. He willingly submitted to the jeers, to the scorn, to the torture and to the death – all the while entrusting Himself to Him Who judges justly. He had full knowledge this was mankind’s only hope of salvation and sadly, this was His thank you note from them:
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:23-25 (NIV)
“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter fairer be. O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be. O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee. I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.” George Matheson