DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN
Mark 15:16-21
Introduction: In
the film Saving Private Ryan soldiers
are sent out to find Private Ryan and to bring him home because his brothers had
been killed in the war. It was an act of mercy for his mother’s sake. Several
of the soldiers who seek him are killed – and one whispers his dying words to
Private Ryan, “Earn this.” The final
scene of the film is of an old Private Ryan in the cemetery of the war dead
asking himself the question, “Did I earn
it? Was I worthy?” There are parallels to the gospel message in the
sacrifice of his rescuers, but Jesus did not say as he died for us, “Earn this.”
He cried out, “It is finished.” We can’t earn our salvation. His
sacrifice was sufficient to save us completely. We can’t add anything—it is finished. This is why He came.
Through His blood, His supreme sacrifice for our sins—all who believe will be
saved. The Cross was God’s plan.
In addressing the troubled community of faith in Corinth, Paul said,
…but we preach Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men…
(I Cor 1:23-25).
A crucified Messiah was a stumbling
block, a scandal, to the Jews. Why would God allow the One who is to be
their deliverer to be nailed to a Cross? Adding to the offense was the
scriptural idea that “…one who hangs from
a tree is cursed by God…” (Dt 21:23; cf. Gal 3:13). A crucified messiah was a contradiction from
the Jewish perspective. Like-wise, it was foolishness to the gentiles. The
soldiers’ reaction in this context illustrates that thinking: This is your king? Look at him! Bloodied,
humiliated, beaten, powerless, at their mercy (or so they thought!). They
thought it ludicrous that such a one should be hailed as a king! Soon, at least
one soldier, by the end of this chapter, seemingly has his eyes opened to the
truth (15:39). So, as the Jewish leaders had mocked Him (14:55) so now the
Roman soldiers amplify the cruelty, ridiculing His supposed sovereignty. A stumbling block to the Jews, and now, foolishness to the gentiles.
Ironically, the words that the soldiers spoke were literally true.
Though they were intended as mockery, they said more than they knew. Jesus
is in fact the King, worthy of worship. They didn’t understand His nature
as the Passover-King, who willingly submitted himself to torture and the taunts
of men… to save us. The Scriptures predicted it would be so, we read in Isaiah 50:6 “I gave
my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I
hid not my face from disgrace and spitting…” Ironically, the cruelty of men
toward Jesus, by both the Jewish leaders and the gentile authorities, their
ridicule and abuse all served to confirm and vindicate His messianic claim, and
it was all laying the foundation for Him to complete the work He came to do: to
redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as
sons!
The BIG Idea: The depth of human depravity was
revealed in the brutal mockery of the King, another aspect of the torture which
Jesus willingly endured, to save us.
I. The Wisdom of God: The Depths of the Wisdom of God
(15b-16).
…and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 16 And the soldiers led him away
inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called
together the whole battalion.
Jesus had predicted: “He will be delivered into pagan hands” (10:33) and that is exactly
what has happened. As John tells us in his prologue to the Fourth Gospel, “He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not…” (Jn 1:11). The religious leaders of His own people, who had been
chosen, rescued, protected in the wilderness, disciplined in exile, and regathered
in the return, did not recognize the Deliverer of whom their own Scriptures
spoke. They had determined they would not have this man to be their
king. And so, not having authority to carry out a public execution, they have
manipulated Pilate into doing it for them.
“After having Jesus flogged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.”
As the prophet Isaiah wrote in Isa 50:6, he “gave his back” to those who strike. He silently took their abuse. The
scourging was torturous, but the Cross, and the Cup, lay still ahead. The
language in v.15b is straightforward, he
had Jesus flogged, and he delivered Him to be crucified. Slow, excruciating,
and humiliating death.
The Praetorium was the courtyard
of Pilate’s headquarters. The governor’s residence and the seat of Roman
government was on the coast in Caesarea on the Sea at that time (Strauss, Mark, p.673). During the feasts however,
Pilate would have resided in Jerusalem. Visitors to Jerusalem today are usually
pointed to the ancient foundation of the Fortress of Antonia,
overlooking the northwest corner of the Temple Mount, as the location of these
events. Scholars are divided as to whether Pilate would have stayed at that rustic
barracks or in Herod’s Palace on the southwestern part of the city
(Ibid). (Josephus mentions another governor residing there). The contrast I
want to focus on is that Rome was not in control. The One the soldiers are
mocking as king, is guiding this story according to the predetermined purpose
and foreknowledge of God. He is not a king like Caesar or like the nations
around them. His Kingdom is not of this world. He is the Passover-King,
a Servant-King, and He will set free those who the Father has given Him.
“The whole cohort…” – possibly a tenth of a Roman Legion! In
the full sense that would be 600 men. It may have included that sub-group that
was on duty, but still likely would have been close to 200 men. Why did they
need so many? Were they afraid the crowds would suddenly have a change of heart
and try to set Him free? Had they heard that there were some zealots among His
followers, and did they fear they would rise up and try by force to rescue Him?
It could be, but the impression I get from Mark’s account is that those who
were guarding Jesus called together all they could, to join in the fun of
mocking this pathetic excuse of a king. Think about that, roughly the
seating of our sanctuary, packed full? All circling and taunting Jesus. He
submitted to their hostility – He could have called a legion of angels – he
could have walked through their midst and left – He could have said “I AM,” and
flattened the whole lot. But the plan was determined, it was necessary, and He
would complete the work He came to do.
These soldiers, however, did not simply carry out their duties. Like a
mob of bullies, they insulted and humiliated the One who came to offer
salvation to all who would believe. The depths to which humans can fall! The Psalmist
says in…
Psalm 36:1, “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear
of God before his eyes.” We read in the prophet…
Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
The mob mentality, brutalizing one
that they view as helpless… oh the depth of human depravity is revealed here in
the brutal mockery of the King. *He willingly endured it, and much more, to
save those who believe! The wisdom of God in contrast to…
II. The Foolishness of Men: The Rulers of Israel had rejected
Him, now the Roman soldiers join in ridiculing the King (17-20a).
17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of
thorns, they put it on him. 18
And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 And they were striking his head
with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him.
These men had no idea – the One they were ridiculing as King of the
Jews, and treating so brutally, is in fact the King of the Universe! All things were made by Him and for Him, without
Him nothing was made that has been made. And He holds it all together by
His power. One day, all will stand before Him and give an account. It was
Passover, the time when the Jews remembered their deliverance from Egypt, and
how God had spared the firstborn in the homes of the Jews because of the blood
that was over the door and on the doorposts. The One they mocked as the
King of the Jews, is the Passover-King, the Servant, the Lamb on the
Throne! Their only hope in that day--and ours—will be if we are covered by the
blood of the Crucified One, if by grace we are in Christ. Nothing else will
matter. Do you know Christ, have your trusted Him as your only hope of
salvation? These soldiers looked at Jesus as a source of entertainment.
First, as he is brought in,
naked and bleeding they mock him as they put a “Purple robe” over Him. The color of royalty, this is the first step
in ridiculing the idea that this man is the King of the Jews! As Isaiah had written (Isa 53:3), “He was despised and rejected of men, a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief…” and then, “…He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth” (53:7).
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself!
They weren’t done yet, someone must have gotten the idea that a king
needed a crown, so they wove together a mock crown, a crown of the thorns, and pushed it down on His head. And then, having
dressing Him in their “royal attire,” they continued their mockery, crying out,
“Hail, King of the Jews!” The reed they struck Him with was probably
the mock scepter they put in His hand as we read in Matthew’s parallel,
Matthew 27:29-30 29 and twisting together a crown
of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And
kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the
Jews!" 30 And they spit
on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
No resistance, no words of rebuke, He
remains silent, like a lamb led to the slaughter (Isa 53:7). He gives them his
back, as the servant in Isaiah 50:6. He took it all because He came, as the
Last Adam, the Son of Man and Son of God, to undo the Fall, and to make it
possible for humans to be reconciled to God. In fact, it was not because of our
love for Him, but because of lostness as depraved humans—like we see
here—that He chose to give himself for the ransom of many. God showed His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Finally, they stripped him of the purple robe, and put his own clothes
back on him. This was probably a concession to Jewish sensibilities, especially
during the Feast. As a further act of humiliation, the Romans would usually
leave prisoners naked as they carried their cross to the place of
execution. They had had their fun
humiliating the King of the Jews. They wanted to appease the rulers of the
Jews, not have them turn against them. They were content to carry out their
orders, marching Jesus outside the city to the Place of the Skull, Calvary. *The
depth of human depravity was revealed in the brutal mockery of the King,
another aspect of the torture which He willingly endured, to save those who
believe.
III. The Path of Discipleship (20b-21). We are reading between the
lines here, but note some details and draw your own conclusions…
…and they led him out to crucify
him. 21 And they compelled a
passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of
Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
The action here was probably
not so unusual. Condemned criminals were required to carry their own cross (probably
the crossbeam from which they were hung) to their place of execution. However,
in cases in which someone would be scourged beforehand, the trauma of that
torture and the physical damage that would be inflicted would be so
devastating, that it would be unlikely they would be able to carry a cross very
far. More than likely, Jesus began to do
so, but then faltered on the way, and a foreigner, Simon of Cyrene,
probably coming into the city for the feast, was conscripted and forced to
carry the Cross… In your outline I put the question: The beginning of African Christianity? (Acts 11:20). That is
pure speculation. As far as I can tell, Simon of Cyrene is not directly
mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. Here Mark does include a couple of details
that pique our interest, 1) a place, Cyrene, and 2) his sons, Alexander and
Rufus.
Why is Cyrene significant? First, it is interesting that Matthew,
Mark, and Luke all identified Simon as being “of Cyrene.” When all three synoptic gospels include an apparently
incidental detail like that, it draws our attention. We know that Luke reports
in Acts 2 that among the pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost were
Jews and proselytes from all over the world, including those “…from the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,
and visitors from Rome…” (Acts 2:10b). We get the idea that some Cyreneans
were converted to faith in Christ because after the scattering that resulted
after Stephen’s death, while others were preaching Christ only to Jews, “…some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who
on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus…”
(Acts 11:20). The church in Antioch that was planted became the missionary
sending church of the second part of the book of Acts. It was the church
that sent Paul and Barnabas and then Paul and Silas on the first and second (and
third) missionary journeys. But was Simon eventually converted? Was he perhaps
there on Pentecost when Peter preached the Gospel of Christ and called the
hearers to repent and trust in Him? It is certainly a possibility. We don’t
know for sure, but…
He is called, “…the father
of Alexander and Rufus…” Why is he identified in this way? It seems likely
that these men, Alexander and Rufus,
were known to Mark’s readers. Mark is saying this man from Cyrene, you don’t
know him, but you know his sons, Alexander and Rufus, this is the guy that
carried Jesus’ cross! We’ve seen some clues, and tradition tells us, that Mark
was writing to a group of believers in Rome who are suffering for their faith. There
are a few Alexanders mentioned in the NT, none in Rome as far as I can see.
Rufus, however, is only mentioned twice in the entire NT. Here, and in Romans
16:13. In the middle of a series of greetings Paul says, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who been a mother to
me as well…” The same
Rufus? We don’t know for sure, but it could be. Simon isn’t mentioned in Romans.
Was he unknown to the Roman believers to whom Mark was writing, perhaps having
returned to Cyrene or elsewhere with the message of Christ? Had he by then,
twenty years or so after the Cross, either passed, or been martyred? All we know for sure is this scene…
“…they compelled him to take up his cross…”
(15:21; cf. Mk 8:34). In the context of Mark’s Gospel, I can’t help but hear a
kind of historical parable here. Jesus had said, back in Mark 8:34, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Here, as Jesus is on His way to Calvary, the Roman guards compel Simon to take
up his Cross. The same verb (airo)
is used. I think Mark wants us to think about the cost of discipleship.
We see the world’s hatred of Jesus, we see what He endured. We are not
promised that everything is going to be easy if we follow him. In fact, don’t be surprised if the world hates you… He
said, “…it hated me first…” There is
a cost to following Jesus. There is a sense in which we will share in the
sufferings of Christ (2 Tim 1:8). We don’t earn salvation, Jesus paid it all.
But if we follow Him, we must surrender all. As we live and carry out His
mission in a fallen world, a world that lies in the power of the evil one, we
will encounter resistance, we will face persecution. In view of what He has
done for us, will we take up our cross and follow Him?
What is God saying to me in this passage?
*The depth of human depravity was revealed in the brutal mockery of the
King, another aspect of the torture which He endured, to save us. Jesus didn’t
come because we were good… He came to call sinners to repentance, and to save
those who believe.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? This is a difficult passage to read
and to hear… to imagine that the holy and righteous, good and gracious, Creator
and Sustainer of the universe, would not only condescend to take a human nature
and to live for a while among us, but that He would do so knowing that
He would be rejected and tortured and treated with such cruelty. In allowing
this story to unfold as it did, divine justice was satisfied, and God’s love
was demonstrated. In view of what He has done for us, for you, are you moved to
love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? Unlike the dying soldier’s words to Private
Ryan, we can’t earn our salvation. To try to do so is the diminish the fact
that His sacrifice was sufficient, HE paid our debt—it is finished.
However, surely our
response to his cross is to trust Him, and to honor God in the way we live our
lives – not to “earn this” but because He is worthy to be praised—Because of
who He is and what He has done, as Paul said, I urge you… to walk worthy of the calling with which you
are called (Eph 4:1). Think about that. AMEN.
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