They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:28-31
As I do every time I read this passage or watch it in a movie, the first thing I feel is anger. How dare they treat our Savior like this? What more in the world could he have done to prove his true identity. Then I remember, he went through this for me. Then the anger transforms to shame. My sin was the thorns and mocking. It is hard to imagine the pain and embarrassment our Lord must have felt. Even harder to comprehend is that he had the power to stop it at any time but did not. No matter how brutal, he was determined not to interfere with God's will and to allow the plan to play out. And again, he did this for me.
As we reflect on our work within our Lord's church and how difficult it can be from time to time, let's not forget what he went through for us. Also we should remember that after all that, he was willing to forgive, and asked his father to forgive those same people responsible for inflicting this pain and humility on him. How then can we ever hold a grudge or cast judgment on someone within his Church?
And finally, I would like to share that reflecting on this passage has helped give me energy to face the tasks ahead of me this year within our parish. No matter how challenging the tasks may get, they can never mirror the things our Lord went through on our account.
Steven E. Dorsey
