And they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again. Mark 10:34
As Jesus and the disciples were making their way toward Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid, knowing the intentions of the Jewish leaders to have Him put to death. Jesus explained to them in today’s text what was going to happen to Him. He first told of what the Jews would do, condemning Him to death and delivering Him to the gentiles. And then He described what the gentiles would do.
We cannot totally blame the Jews for His death, for it was the gentiles who carried out the unjust execution. It was an evil governor who submitted to the wishes of the Jewish leaders. It was a cruel and callous squadron of soldiers who scourged Jesus and led Him to Golgotha and carried out the crucifixion, gambling for His articles of clothing.
As we gather today to remember Him, we also remember a time when our desire was not to worship Him. How kind and loving He was, to allow such inhuman treatment so that we could be saved. We rejoice today that we view Him as our Saviour.
The final words of Jesus explanation to His disciples was regarding His resurrection. We gather today on the first day of the week because that is the day in which He rose triumphant over not only the forces and effects of sin and all evil, but also over the misdeeds done by our representatives.
Bless Him today, for His glorious resurrection! Bless Him today for giving to us the victory that He achieved upon the cross. -Jim MacIntosh