Daily Devotions
Mark
Acts 4:24 "So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, 'Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them." Acts 4:24"
Day 331 – Mark 15
“So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them.” Acts 4:24
MOCKING TO THE VERY END
The detractors of Jesus stayed at Golgotha. They wanted to be very sure that Jesus would no longer be a threat to them. They had suffered much humiliation at the hands of Jesus and they wanted to enjoy their moment of triumph to the very end! For hours they stood by, mocking Him at every opportunity. When they heard Jesus saying, “Eloi, Eloi” they came to the following conclusion.
“Some of those who stood by when they heard that, said,
‘Look, He is calling for Elijah!’
Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine,
put in on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying,
‘Let Him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.'”
MARK 15:35-36
What lay behind this relentless spate of mocking? Let us consider the following thoughts:-
1. Sheer hatred
The enemies of Jesus (chief priests, elders, scribes etc) had been bested by Jesus again and again. This was simply payback time for them! Their hatred for Jesus seemed boundless!
2. Extreme sense of superiority
Those who mocked Jesus were supposedly superior people:-
a) In social circumstances
b) In education
c) In the religious hierarchy
To them, Jesus was one who came from lowly, despised Nazareth. He was a nobody! Their sense of superiority flared up when they found themselves shown up by Jesus again and again. They could not exert their supposed superiority till this moment. They were not about to let up now, not even when they had Jesus at a clear disadvantage.
3. Hardened by sin
Jesus had correctly labeled these men “hypocrites” time and again. They spoke of having good and strong religious scruples. But deep down, their faith in God was ever suspect! Their outcry against Jesus before Pilate, and now their mocking of Jesus in His hour of death revealed that they had become hardened by sin! The crust of their soul had become so hardened, they felt nothing when they mocked the prayer of a dying man.