Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers

The point: Attempt to place yourself imaginatively in the scene of Jesus's suffering, acknowledging your own complicity in His pain.

Martin quotes the Negro spiritual 'Were you there?' to encourage listeners to use sanctified imagination and place themselves at the scene of Jesus's suffering, making the events vivid and personal.

to these elements of our Lord's treatment, and John gives us a differing perspective in John 19, in terms of Pilate's continual interaction with Jesus, even at the time the soldiers are venting their own wickedness, and their wicked disposition upon the Lord Jesus. As Mark records these facts, he uses mostly what we call historical present tense verbs, and imperfect tense verbs, which are intended to do two things to the reader. By the constant use of the historical present, Mark wants us to make every effort to proclaim, to place ourselves in the actual situation, to stand, as it were, by the...

8:20 - 9:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first stage of the soldiers' treatment is detailed: Jesus's mock coronation. This includes clothing Him with a rough, smelly purple garment, plaiting and pressing a crown of…

The rough, coarse purple garment thrown on Jesus is compared to an old, scratchy woolen blanket that one would never put next to bare skin, emphasizing the discomfort and pain it would have caused His scourged back.

rather probably what was done is one of them took from his own back blanket it would be much like some of the old rough woolen blankets some of us can remember having to use in cold winter months that we would never put next to our bare skin it was always the last blanket to go on top of the pile and you were very careful to pull the sheet up enough to fold back over the edge of it for if it just even came under your throat you'd wake up with a red rash from the rubbing of that rough coarse blanket well if you can picture material something like those blankets some of us knew in our childhood ...

23:08 - 24:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second stage is the mock homage: verbally greeting Him as 'Hail, King of the Jews,' and physically smiting His head with the reed, spitting upon Him, and bowing their knees in…

The act of spitting is described as a perversion of the kiss of submission, suggesting soldiers approached as if to kiss Him in homage, only to spit in His face, highlighting the depth of their contempt.

and it says they were spitting upon him that universal symbol of utter contempt to sneer with a curled lip is a universal expression of contempt to turn away with a grunt is in most cases a symbol of contempt but to spit in a man's face is the highest and universe expression of the deepest form of contempt you see the act of kissing would have been proper kiss the son psalm 2 says and could it be and several commentators suggest that in carrying our mockery what they did is one by one as though they kiss him with the kiss of acknowledged submission and homage and when their face got close enou...

36:14 - 37:22 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who was the instrument of speaking worlds into being, out of the womb of nothing, his Father to send, legions of angels, these Roman legionnaires, have spoken to them, as it were, back into oblivion. Yet he endures in…

The faith of the nation marching around Jericho's walls is used as an example of dramatic faith, contrasting it with the quiet, heroic faith of Jesus in His suffering.

When we see the faith of the nation marching around Jericho's walls, and the walls come tumbling down, we see faith in what we might call its dramatic expressions. And many of the other expressions, the expressions of faith described in Hebrews 11. But here we see the glory of the strong, heroic faith of our Lord. In Isaiah 50, the servant of Jehovah is speaking, the Lord Jesus.

47:30 - 48:00 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For the Lord Jehovah will help me. Therefore, I not been confounded. Therefore, set my face like a flint. And that I shall not be put to shame.

The temporary shame Jesus endured is illustrated by comparing His disfigured face to a prizefighter's face, emphasizing the ugliness and humiliation He experienced.

Ah, yes, he was put to temporary shame with the spittle of dozens, if not several hundreds of soldiers dripping down, mingled with the blood that was coursing down from the thorn wounds, having to make its way over the contusions from the previous blows with the hands. He made any pride. A prizefighter that looked ugly at the end of a prizefight looked handsome.

51:55 - 52:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He said, as spitting upon someone is the ultimate expression of contempt, it is we who deserve to be spat upon by God. We have so defaced the image in which he made us.

Calvin's comment that we deserve to be spat upon by God for defacing His image is quoted to explain that Christ vicariously took this shame upon Himself for our sins.

The concrete symbol of his real work for sinners. And Calvin had an interesting comment about the spittle. He said, as spitting upon someone is the ultimate expression of contempt, it is we who deserve to be spat upon by God. We have so defaced the image in which he made us.

61:46 - 62:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to Jesus now, while the door of mercy is open, regardless of how you have treated Him, for His blood can cleanse and pardon.

Martin speculates about a soldier who mocked Jesus later coming to faith at the cross, illustrating that no sin committed against Jesus is beyond the cleansing power of His blood.

soldiers did mock obeisance you will do ill obeisance to the son of God oh come now while the door of mercy is open fall at his feet and cry with that poor beggar son of David oh come now have mercy on me bow to him as your rightful sovereign and only savior for my friend you will bow and I take no delight in saying that you will bow too late too late I wonder I wonder and here it's only imagination I wonder that soldier who stood by the cross later on and beholding the meekness of the son of God and the unnatural events in the heavens and the way in which he was in complete control even in hi...

67:27 - 68:55 Read in full sermon