Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Read Mark 15:20-22

"[The soldiers] led Him out to crucify Him.
And they compelled a passerby, Simon
of Cyrene, who was coming in from the
country... to carry His cross." (Mark 15:20-21)

Reflection:

Finished with their mockery, the soldiers rip
the blood-soaked cloak off of Jesus' shoulders--
and another wave of excruciating pain crashes
through His body. Roughly dressing Him in His
own clothes they line Him up with two other
condemned criminals.

Next they bring three roughly hewn crossbeams
and cruelly drop them across the condemned
prisoners' shoulders. A complete cross is far too
heavy to carry, so they will drag these
crossbeams to the execution site where they
will be attached to the uprights already in place.
The gates of the palace are opened and the six
hundred soldiers of Pilate's Jerusalem cohort
push their way through the Passover crowds,
making a road for the grisly procession.

It is not a great distance from Pilate's palace
to the place of crucifixion, but Jesus' legs
tremble and ache with each step as He
struggles to carry His crossbeam down the
narrow road leading outside the city. After His
sleepless night, His beating at the hands of
His Jewish enemies and His brutal flogging He
repeatedly stumbles and falls. Realizing Jesus
is simply too weak to carry His cross the
soldiers compel a passerby named Simon to
carry it for Him. Looking at the faces along the
way and speaking comforting words to those
who weep, Jesus slowly makes His way to the
Place of the Skull- Golgotha.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, You stumbled and fell under the
staggering weight of our sins. But You kept
getting up and refused to stop until You
completed Your course. Give me courage and
strength whenever I grow weary and exhausted,
until my course if over and I can rest with You
Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotional)

Scripture:

Read Mark 15:16-19

"And [the soldiers] clothed Him in a purple cloak,
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put
it on Him. And they began to salute Him, 'Hail,
King of the Jews!'" (Mark 15:17-18)

Reflection:

The scourging is finished and Jesus crumbles to
the ground as He is released from the column. As
He slowly gathers His strength and rises to His
feet the mockery begins. Roman soldiers often
mocked condemned criminals, and here before
them stood the beaten man who was supposedly
the King of the Jews.

If He was a king, then certainly He needed to be
dressed like one. They took a purple cloak and
threw it roughly over his bloody shoulders. Only
someone with open wounds over a large part of
his body can understand the pain that coursed
through our Savior's body.

But if He is a king, then He must have a crown
as well. So they formed a crown out of thorns
and roughly jammed it down onto His head-
piercing His sensitive scalp. He also needed a
scepter- the symbol of a king's strength and
power, so they put a reed in His hands. Then
they ripped it from His grasp and struck it over
His thorn-crowned head- showing just how
powerless this King of the Jews was.

Jesus suffered greatly from the Roman soldiers-
physical and emotional brutality. But He was
also suffering for them, taking on Himself God's
punishment for the horrendous way they were
abusing His one and only Son.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, because of Your great love for me
and all people You humbled Yourself to be
mocked, beaten and abused. Help me to always
rejoice in Your boundless love. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotional)

Scripture:

Read Mark 15:15

"So Pilate... having scourged Jesus...
delivered Him to be crucified." (Mark 15:15)

Reflection:

Pilate has washed his hands of Jesus. Now
the Roman soldiers take over. The Romans
customarily scourged condemned criminals
before crucifying them. So Jesus is stripped,
bound to a column and scourged mercilessly.
Mark records it briefly then quickly passes on.
For Jesus it was anything but brief.

In the ancient world scourging was a common
punishment for lawbreakers, and it still continues
in parts of our world today. The Jewish Law
provided for the whipping of the guilty, but limited
the punishment to forty blows. Roman scourging
was not nearly so merciful.

Roman floggings were meant to bring a criminal
close to death. Metal and sharp pieces of bone
were tied into the thongs. They dug deeply into
the victim's back and shoulders, tearing them to
shreds. Even when a scourging victim was not
crucified, he often died from the trauma of the
beating. If he survived he was certainly crippled
by it. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah predicted
Jesus' scourging when he wrote, "Upon Him was
the chastisement that brought us peace, and with
His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

Jesus' flogging shows us just how great God's
wrath is at our sins. But in a more powerful way
it shows how much greater His love and mercy is
as He gives His own Son to suffer and die to save
us.

By the time the officer stopped the brutal flogging
Jesus had lost a great amount of blood. Sadly,
Jesus' sufferings were not over, the soldiers were
just getting started.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, in Your brutal scourging I see the
terrible wrath of God I deserve for all of my sins.
Show me Your incredible saving love that made
You willing to receive such torture for me. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotional)