Have you ever been humiliated?
And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. Mark 15:19-20
King of the Universe,
Open our minds and our hearts
to take in the humiliation
you endured on our behalf.
You had already submitted
to scourging and a mock trial.
You had been condemned to death by Pilate.
But before you could die the death you must die,
some rowdy soldiers wanted to have some fun with you.
They dressed you in a purple cloak
and a makeshift crown of thorns.
They mocked you,
kneeling before you and shouting,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
(How little did they know how right they were —
King of the Jews, and the Romans, and the Gentiles,
and every nation, tongue, tribe, and people group.)
They spit on your face
and beat your head with their clubs.
As we imagine such coarse brutality against you,
may we adore you all the more,
awed that you endured such suffering,
“for the joy set before” you,
“to sit at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2)
knowing you have won our victory
over the brutality of sin forever and ever.
In your humble and kingly name. Amen.
Read Mark 15:16-20; Hebrews 12:1-3.
