H – Highlight
Mark 15:19-20 – 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
E – Explain
This scene is familiar. Soldiers are brutalizing Jesus before he is led out for the crucifixion.
A – Apply
The reason this has my attention this morning is that I find myself asking the question, “Why?” Why would the soldiers do this? And the answer is plain but frightening. The soldiers did this because this is precisely what all of us, left to ourselves, would desire to do. Perhaps not all humanity wants to brutalize other people in general. But all of humanity, left to ourselves, would long to attack, mock, and destroy God. WE do not want to be under his authority in our natural state. We want to be our own masters. So, this passage shows us humanity at our roots. Without grace, we are God-haters who would kill the Lord if we had the chance.
R – Response
This teaches me to love the Lord more. I would have been one of these people did he not change me by his grace and for his glory. It reminds me that my ideas and designs are not those of the Lord. It reminds me that I all too easily turn against the Lord when I want to get my way. So, my proper response is love and obedience to the Lord, submission and worship of my Maker.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I see in this passage my very own sinful nature. I am humbled. I pray that you not let me lose sight of who I would be without you. I also pray that you will help me no longer to fight you but to always worship and obey you.
Pastor Travis Peterson 