The Mocking of Jesus - Devotional # 2 Tuesday of Holy Week 2012

Mark 15:16-201

The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they ^*called together the whole Roman  cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

They kept beating His head with a ¹reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they ^*led Him out to crucify Him.

The soldiers mocked Jesus because they did not believe that He was truly a King. They only recognized Caesar as their King and thought that it would be ridiculous that the man standing before them was also a King. But Jesus was a King. His kingdom was not of this world. His kingdom was also not like this world. The way heaven operates and the way the world operates are two different things altogether. However Jesus does not force his kingdom upon the world. He gives us his offering to follow Him and serve Him. These soldiers were not the least bit interested because their eyes were only set on earthly things. So they missed out on the greatest gift they could every receive. The gift of salvation which Jesus came to offer all who would put their trust in Him.

Gift Of Eternal Life
If someone gives you a gift,
you just say "thank you"
not "will you take it back if I don't do
everything you want me to"

God's gift is eternal life to those
who call and believe on Jesus' name
Eternal means forever,
it's not a keep and lose game

A gift is something you didn't pay for,
but someone else paid for it instead
Eternal life was paid for by Jesus
when he died and rose again from the dead

It's easy to receive this gift,
with no strings attached or terms of contract
The bible says just call upon the name of the Lord
and believe he died for you as a fact
The gift was very costly with the price Jesus paid,
but it is freely offered for us to take
To receive it just call upon the name of the Lord in faith
since your eternal destiny is at stake

Now it's up to you and the choice is yours
whether to accept or reject this gift of life for eternity
God loves you so much,
for you to accept it is his plea

Once you receive this gift
it can never be lost or taken away
It will last forever and ever
because it is eternal and will never decay

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, S. Mk 15:16-20

The Trial of Jesus - Holy Week Devotional # 1 - Monday April 2nd, 2012

The situation surrounding Jesus became more intense. He had won popular support from the people with whom He had ministered. The crowds around Him had grown so large that the Pharisees and Sadducee feared that they would lose the following of the crowds. They were concerned that they Temple tax business would suffer. They feared that this popular carpenter from Nazareth might replace them as the most popular of religions so they had to move quickly. After deliberating all night as to what to do, the Jewish leaders led him to Pilate to build the case against Jesus. Pilate tried to control the situation. He did not want a Jewish uprising to take place. So he decided to flog Jesus and release Him. He had hoped that by punishing Jesus, the people would turn against the Pharisees and Saducees, and demand His release. The outcome did not turn out the way Pilate had hoped. Dr. Thomas Constable writes this about the flogging: "There were three forms of flogging that the Romans administered. The lightest of these, the fustigatio, was a light beating that only hooligans experienced. The second, the flagellatio, was a severe beating that criminals who were guilty of more serious crimes received. The third, the verberatio, was the most brutal. The worst criminals including those sentenced to crucifixion underwent it.⁵⁶¹ Evidently Jesus received the first or second of these beatings at this time, namely before His sentencing. He received the third type after His sentencing (v. 16; cf. Matt. 27:26; Mark 15:15)."

The entire episode was a charade. It was ridiculous before the sight of God. However, this only goes to display the depth of God's love for us. To not only send His one and only Son to die for us in our place, but to put up with great mockery and the blasphemy of man! Jesus truly loved us, He took the nails for us so that we might live. 1 John 4:9: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

The Trial Of Jesus

Dot Wilson

After the blind were healed, and the crippled did walk,
Some men were jealous, and then there was talk.
This man, Jesus, the reason for fame?
The Son of God? What an outrageous claim!

He's just a man, watch him and know.
It's blasphemy, that's what! Arrest him! Now! Go!
Thirty pieces of silver bought Jesus that day.
Betrayed by a kiss, they took Him away!

They tried Him, they thought they had it down pat!
But some said He did this, others said He did that!
They finally agreed, they said with a nod.
He blasphemed when He said, He's the Son of God!

The custom of the day was to set someone free.
Pilate said, "This Jesus, is who it should be!"
The people said, "No, release Barabbas to us!"
They kept on until they raised quite a fuss!

Father God, thank you for sending your Son to die for us. Thank you for doing what needed to be done when we did not know what we needed to have done. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

⁵⁶¹ 561. Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 597.

Tom Constable: Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible. Galaxie Software, 2003; 2003, S. Jn 19:1