To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

 

"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."

 

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him…

 

They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

 

   Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

 

Seven hundred years before it happened, Isaiah saw the Master being humiliated, mocked, degraded… even spat upon by those who mocked Him.

 

When you say words over and over again, they begin to lose their impact… and sometimes, even their meaning.  Try it.  Pick out a word… any word.  Now say it over and over and over again for a minute or so.  Pretty soon, it becomes nonsense, doesn’t it?  The meaning and impact of the word are gone.  For this reason, sometimes it helps to change your perspective on an event occasionally, to look at what happened from a different angle in order to regain the impact the story had the first time you heard it.

 

So, if you can, put yourself in Jesus’ place for a moment.  Think about how Jesus felt as he was mocked.  Imagine being stripped of what little clothing you own.  Imagine seeing the man wielding the cat-o-nine-tails walking toward you… Examine that whip closely… Each leather strip is wrapped around sharp pieces of bone and metal and stone – all guaranteed to cut whatever they encounter.  Imagine the pain as that horrid instrument of torture rips the flesh from your back.  Imagine a crown made of long, needle-sharp thorns being jammed down onto your head, the spike-like thorns digging into your face and scalp. Imagine standing in the center of a huge crowd, every face contorted with mockery and hatred, ridiculing everything about you.  Imagine someone spitting in your face.  How do you feel right now?

 

That’s not the worst of it.  That’s just the beginning… but let’s stop there for a moment and just mull all those thoughts around in our heads.  Are you getting a renewed picture of what was happening that day?

 

The point is this:  Jesus knew what was coming, and yet He went willingly and offered no defense.   Just thinking about the ridicule… if Jesus was willing to allow Himself to go through all that for you, are you willing to take the ridicule you might suffer for being one of His?  Yes, you say?  Do you always speak up for Him in a crowd of non-believers?  Do you always speak up for Him when believers get away from God’s word in their thinking?  Do you use His word when dealing with your family?  Do you always reflect Him in everything you say and do?

 

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."  Matthew 10:32-33 NIV