This is a devotional with my thoughts added to verses from the Bible. I highly encourage you to dig into the word with your own thoughts. The Daily Devotion series is one way to do this. However, I know that sometimes we want to read other people’s ideas about Bible passages, so I am starting the Everyday series. I hope and pray that these posts will draw you nearer to Jesus.
DAY 1–Remember to pray before you begin.
Mark 15:16-20 A Crown of Thorns
The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort. They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him. They began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him. When they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him.
Jesus had been whirled from place to place within Pilate’s headquarters. He had been interviewed in the governor’s rooms, then displayed on the outside steps where the people rejected Him. After that, He had been taken to the whipping area and scourged; it was not yet time to take the three prisoners to be crucified, so after whipping Jesus, the soldiers took him into the courtyard of the palace as they waited until it was time to leave.
The soldiers’ cruelty in the courtyard was understandable to some extent. The process of whipping and waiting was standard operational procedure that had occurred many times before, so the soldiers were bored. In addition, they daily received contempt and hatred from the Jews that they could not respond to. The Jews were not their own people, but a subjugated inferior race, and yet those lowly Jews acted as if the Jewish people were the superior ones treating the Romans as if they were dirt under their Hebrew feet. This daily disgust with each other had led to the typical dehumanization these circumstances always result in. The soldiers did not see the Savior of the world when they looked at Jesus. They did not see an innocent man wrongly convicted. Instead, they saw a rebel like Barabbas who may have been responsible for the death of some of their fellow soldiers. Some of them may also have been angry that Barabbas was free when they had hoped to take revenge on him for the murder of their friends. However, here was a Jew of the same ilk who was within their reach.
The whole guard was there in the courtyard prepared and waiting to lead the procession to the place of crucifixion. The crosses were stacked in the courtyard. Everything was ready, except the rest of the prisoners, so the soldiers had nothing to do at the moment. This led a few of them to torment the hated Jew in their midst. A purple robe and a crown of thorns were produced. Purple was the color of royalty. Where did these soldiers find a royal robe? Was it part of Pilate’s old, discarded clothes? Where did the thorns come from? Was there some kind of rose bush or other type of thorny plant growing in the courtyard or outside the palace? Who braided it? The Bible does not answer these questions, but we are told that after the soldiers gathered the props for their sick little drama, they role played worshiping Jesus and then hitting Him in the head with a stick. We Christians are horrified by such cruelty, and those soldiers are worthy of our condemnation for these acts, but . . . are we so different? Consider the entertainment that we accept as normal—violent bloody movies and video games, cruel practical jokes, and sadistic pornography. Is our society any better?
While this farce of pretending homage to the king of the Jews was happening, the other condemned men were led into the courtyard one by one. They would have had a chance to watch Jesus’ humiliation and beating. The thief on the cross who repented may have had a chance to see Jesus’ nobility of character shining through this humiliation. The thief would have seen the love and forbearance that Jesus had for even these tormentors. Maybe, Jesus’ eyes met his, and a silent communication passed between them there in that courtyard. Maybe, the thief saw Jesus as the Messiah first in that courtyard.
The soldiers had taken off Jesus’ clothes to whip Him, and when they led Him into the courtyard, they dressed Him in the royal robe instead of His own cloak. When it was time to go, they took off the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they forced Him and the two thieves to pick up their own crosses to carry to their execution. Finally, the cruel procession was ready to go, and they began their macabre parade through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha.
DAY 2–Remember to pray before you begin.
Mark 15:21-22 To Carry Jesus’ Cross
They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross. They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, “The place of a skull.”
We know several details about Simon from this passage. First, he was not at the gates of Jerusalem to watch the crucifixion. He was not a disciple or close acquaintance of Jesus. He had no plans or intentions of being near Jesus or the crucifixion that day. For him, this was a seemingly random encounter. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the truth is that God had led Simon to that location at that particular time to transform his life. The only reason for all four gospels to mention Simeon’s name is if he were an influential man in history or if he was a well-known figure in the church afterwards. He was not influential, so it is reasonable to conclude that Simon was converted because of this experience.
The place of execution was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and it was here at the edge of the city that Simon met Jesus. “And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus” (Luke 23:26). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say that Simon carried the cross. On the other hand, John makes the point that Jesus carried the cross Himself. “Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha” (John 19:17). Since we know that they are all speaking truth, the reasonable assumption is that Jesus carried the cross partway, but Simon carried it partway also. Although the passage does not say so, we can infer that Jesus was too weakened by beatings, blood loss, and the weight of the sins of the world to continue bearing the cross and collapsed along the way. In other words, the logical deduction would be that Jesus was carrying the cross as he left the palace and went through the streets of Jerusalem and that as the group exited the city towards Golgotha, Jesus collapsed, and the Roman soldiers grabbed Simon who was on his way into the city and forced him to carry the cross the rest of the way to Golgotha.
Two other facts that we know about Simon are that he was from Cyrene and had not yet entered Jerusalem. Cyrene was in north Africa, so Simon was at the end of a long journey to celebrate Passover when he was pressed into service. He was probably tired from walking, maybe a little hungry, and looking forward to finding rest at the end of his journey. He was likely anticipating washing off the dust of his travels, maybe taking off his shoes, and relaxing. He would have been excited to be entering Jerusalem and anticipating his time in the temple that was the center of his religion. He would have been looking forward to worshipping and serving his God in the rites that had been established when his people left Egypt for freedom many ages before.
We often pray that God will use us in His service, and as Simeon made his journey from Africa to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover, he may have been praying just such a prayer. If so, his prayers were answered in a way that he had never expected when the Father asked him to serve the Son in His need. Just imagine, Simon may be the only human (besides Mary and Joseph) who was able to help God in His weakness. (The woman who anointed Jesus honored Him, but He was not helpless and weak at that time.) What an honor and a privilege to be chosen to serve Jesus in this manner when Jesus could not serve Himself. This is the only recorded instance in the Bible where Jesus (as an adult) was so weak that He needed help that was provided by a man. In the garden of Gethsemane an angel ministered to Him, not a human. When the Roman soldier dragged Simon over to the cross, Simon would not have considered carrying that despised torture device as a privilege, but the time would come when Simon would understand and treasure the moment when the Father chose a humble man from Cyrene to help His beloved Son.
Simeon’s experience teaches us that we should be aware that we do not know all the details of a situation or see the whole picture. When oppression or necessity forces us to do something we would never choose on our own, we should not count it as humiliation or become discouraged. Instead, we should work for God’s glory in every action that we perform. After all, we will never know (until heaven) when we were serving our Lord unaware. We need to learn to view these times as a privilege rather than a burden. If we look at such service through God’s eyes and not our own, we will see the blessings rather than the curses in each day.
DAY 3–Remember to pray before you begin.
Mark 15:22-28 The Crucifixion
They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, “The place of a skull.” They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it. Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take. It was the third hour, and they crucified him. The superscription of his accusation was written over him, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. The Scripture was fulfilled, which says, “He was counted with transgressors.”
The third hour is nine o’clock in the morning. Jesus would die at 3:00 p.m., which means that Jesus lived for about six hours after being nailed to the cross. Here at the beginning of that torture, Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh. Some of the women of Jerusalem had made it their mission to mercifully offer drugged wine to criminals who were about to be crucified. They wanted to dull the pain. Jesus refused to have His senses overpowered by the drugged wine. Later, Jesus would accept sour wine when He thirsted, but He was unwilling to lose Himself in medication when He was on such an important mission.
The upright posts of the crosses were permanently placed, which makes sense when one considers all the work involved in putting something upright in the ground from digging the hole to tamping everything down so that it stands firmly upright. Thus, the prisoners carried only their own crossbeam, not the full cross. When they arrived at the place of execution, their clothes were removed and their hands were nailed to the crossbeam. Then, the crossbeam was lifted into place on the upright. The upright post had some kind of peg that the victim sat on. The purpose was to protect the pierced hands from being torn away from the nails when the crossbeam was hung upon the upright. Then the feet were fastened to the upright post with cords or nails. Crosses were not as high off the ground as we usually imagine. This would have put Jesus closer to both the scornful mockers and to loyal John and Jesus’ mother Mary.
After all the prisoners were in place on the crosses, the only job left to do was to decide who would receive the clothes. The soldiers threw “dice” or gambled to see who would receive Jesus’ robe. John gives more details about this act since he was there to see it. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. Then they said to one another, ‘Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, ‘They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots.’ Therefore the soldiers did these things” (John 19:23-24). John is referring to a remarkable psalm which prophetically recorded this act along with other details of this day. Psalm 22:18 says “They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.”
Whenever prisoners were sent to be crucified, a sign with the charge against them was taken along also. Either they carried it hung around their necks, or a herald would carry it before them. In the case of a cross where the upright extended above the crossbeam, the sign was hung above the prisoner’s head. This is one reason that we know which of the different kinds of crosses Jesus died upon. The sign for Jesus said, “The King of the Jews”. Pilate would have been the person who told the soldiers the charge that should appear on the sign. The priests objected to the sign. “Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘he said, “I am King of the Jews.”’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written’” (John 19:19-22). The sign was supposed to be an accusation and a reason for condemnation, yet in reality, it was simple truth. It is funny how God can take our worst condemnations and insults and transform them into blessings. Even the cross was changed from an emblem of shame and dread into a symbol of hope and love.
There are no words that can express the gratitude that we humans should have for Jesus’ choice to die for us. The cross is beyond our depth of understanding. Yes, we can understand the physical aspects and even someone choosing to die for a person that they love, but Jesus chose much more than the cross. He chose to become the very evil that He abhorred with every fiber of His being in order to redeem us. That is what we cannot comprehend with our selfish hearts. We cannot understand it, but we can offer our praise and gratitude to our Lord for His choice.