Daily Devotions
Mark
Acts 4:8-9 "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well.'" Acts 4:8-9"
Day 322 – Mark 15
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well.'” Acts 4:8-9
UNCALLED FOR CRUELTY
The Roman soldiers on duty that day made sport of Jesus, in their cruel, callous way. It was all so unnecessary.
“Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium,
and they called together the whole garrison.
And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown
of thorns, put it on his head, and began to salute Him,
‘Hail, King of the Jews!'”
MARK 15:16-18
1. This was not part of Roman justice
Scourging was part of Roman justice. But what transpired next was certainly not part of what Pilate ordered!
2. The whole garrison
Pilate had a garrison of soldiers to help him keep law and order in Jerusalem. Whenever the Jews celebrated one of their religious feasts, more soldiers had to be put on duty. The Jews were not easy people to govern. There was very little love lost between the Romans and the Jews!
The deep and hidden resentment of the Jews suddenly welled up when the soldiers had Jesus in their grasp. They did not know Jesus personally. He merely represented the Jews they did not particularly like. This was their opportunity to vent carefully controlled anger against the Jewish community!
There were always people who called themselves liberators, messiahs. They had always staged one rebellion after another. The Romans had always managed to quell these rebels though. Was Jesus one of those rebels? They did not really care! They would make a mockery of Him. Perhaps news would get out. People had to learn that they could not trifle with the might of Rome! Anyone who had pretensions of being a rival to the Roman emperor would be trampled down and hard.
3. A purple robe, a crown of thorns
Did Jesus proclaim Himself King? Then He must be dressed as one! Kings wore purple, do they not? Kings also wore crowns! But Jesus had none of these. Never mind! The soldiers would give these to Him. With great cruelty they mocked Jesus!
4. “Hail, King of the Jews”
Roman soldiers hailed only one person as their master- Caesar, the Emperor of the mighty Roman empire! They owed allegiance to no other! To acknowledge anyone as ruler would be an affront tantamount to treason. Their present salute to Jesus was done in cruel jest. The exact opposite was in the back of their mind. Jesus was no king! He was nothing in their sight. Which King would allow Himself to be mocked thus?