Mocked of the Soldiers
“AND WHEN THEY HAD PLATTED A CROWN OF THORNS, THEY PUT IT UPON HIS HEAD, AND A REED IN HIS RIGHT HAND: AND THEY BOWED THE KNEE BEFORE HIM, AND MOCKED HIM,
SAYING, HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS!” — Matthew xxvii. 29.
r~p1HE shameful spectacle! What element of scorn -»• is lacking!
Roman soldiers mocking a supposed rival of Caesar are sure to go to the utmost lengths in their derision.
Jesus himself is a victim so novel in his gentle weakness that they set no bounds to their scorn.
The spectacle is as cruel as it is derisive. Thorns and rough blows accentuate mockeries and scoffs.
Roman legionaries were the brutalized instruments of a race noted for its ignorance of all tenderness; they wrought cruelties with a singular zest, being most at home in amusements of the most cruel kind.
Let us go into the Hall of the Praetorian guard, and watch with our Lord in the hour of his mockery.
I. HERE LEARN A LESSOX FOR YOUR HEART.
In the Lord of glory thus made the centre of cruel scorn —
1. See what sin deserved. It is all laid on him. Ridicule for its folly. It should be despised for its mad rebellion against the omnipotent will of the great King. (98)
Scorn for its pretensions. How dared it pro pose to usurp dominion over hearts and lives which belonged alone to God?
Shame for its audacity. It dared defy the Eternal to battle. Oh, wretched, braggart sin!
2. See how low your Saviour stooped for your sake.
He is made the Substitute for foolish, sinful
man; and is treated as such. He is scoffed at by soldiers of the meanest
grade. He is made a puppet for men who play the fool.
3. See how your Redeemer loved you.
He bears immeasurable contempt, bears in silence, bears to the bitter end; and all for love of his people.
4. See the grand facts behind the scorn.
He is a King in very surety. They said, “Hail. King!” and he is indeed the King whom all shall hail.
He is glorified by conquering earth’s sorrow: he is crowned with thorns. What a glorious diadem! No other coronet ever betokened such a conquest.
He rules by weakness; a reed is his sceptre. What a glory to be able to reign, not by force of arms, but by patience and gentleness!
He makes men bow the knee: real homago is his; he reigns, whether men will have it so or not.
He is the true Monarch of the Jews. In him
100 MY SEltMOX-NOTES.
the dynasty of David endures for ever, and
Israel has hope of glory. 5, See that you honor and love him in proportion
to this shame and mockery. Bernard used to say, “The more vile Christ
hath made himself for us, the more dear he
ought to be to us.”
Can you ever reach so great a height?
II. HERE LEARN A LESSON FOR YOUR CONSCIENCE.
1. Jesus may still be mocked.
By deriding his people. “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Men mock the Master in the servant.
By contemning his doctrine. Many do this who affect to admire his character. This is the peculiar sin of the present age.
By resolves never fulfilled. Sinners vow, but never pay; confess faults, and cling to them. This is to insult the Lord. By beliefs never obeyed. It is common to pretend to a belief which never affects the life, mocking great truths by acting contrary to them.
By professions never justified. May not many a church-member be guilty of putting the Lord to an open shame in this fashion? 2. If guilty of mocking him, what shall you do?
Do not despair, but confess and lament your in.
Do not give all up for lost. Believe and live.
Do not repeat the sad offence. Repent, and
quit the crime. Do not abide in sullen silence. Honor him
whom you once despised.
3. What shall you do in any case?
Crown him with love.
Sceptre him with obedience.
Bow the knee of worship.
Proclaim him King by your personal testimony.
Ye sinners, destroy the sins which grieved your
Saviour!
Ye saints, defy all the contempt of the world for his sake!
LAMENTS AND HONORS.
Whither, 0 whither, dost thou stoop, 0 thou coeteriial Son of thine eternal Father? Whither dost thou abase thyself for me? I have sinned, and thou art punished; I have exalted myself, and thou art dejected; T have clad myself with shame, and thou art stripped; I have made myself naked, and thou art clothed with robes of dishonor; my head hath devised evil, and thine is pierced with thorns; I have smitten thee, and thou art smitten for me; 1 have dishonored thee, and thou, for my sake, art scorned; thou art made the sport of men, for me that have deserved to be insulted by devils! — Bishop Hall.
Christ’s head hath sanctified all thorns; his back, all furrows; his hands, all nails; his side, all spears; his heart, all sorrows that can ever come to any of his children. — Samuel Clark, in “The Saint’s Nosegay.”
102 MY SEKMON-ttOTES.
Here we see our King receiving the best homage the world would give him. His robe was some old cloak of purple. Behold his crown, platted of thorns! His coronation is performed by a ribald soldiery. His sceptre is a reed; his homage is given by the knee of scorn; his proclamation by the mouth of ridicule. How then can we expect honor for ourselves?
Let us never despise the weak, or scoff at brethren who may appear singular, or oppress any man of woman born. Haply we may be following the act of these Praetorians, and may be insulting saints more like to Jesus than we are ourselves. To be ridiculed may give us communion with the Lord Jesus, but to ridicule others will place us in fellowship with his persecutors. — C. H. S.
During the last moments of a gracious lady, speech had left her; but she managed to articulate the word “Bring.” Her friends, in ignorance of her meaning, offered her food, but she shook her head, and again repeated the word “Bring.” They then offered her grapeu, which she also declined, and, for the third time uttered the word “Bring.” Thinking she desired to see some absent friends, they brought them to her: but again she shook her head; and then, by a great effort, she succeeded in completing the sentence —
“Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all;”
and t) «n passed away to be with Jesus.
Newman HalL