And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. (Matthew 27:31 NASB)
Ever wonder what determined how long the whole Roman cohort would mock Jesus as their king? Did someone tell them to knock it off? Had it became boring to them? Maybe. Was it because some were not wanting to delay lunch any longer? Perhaps, but Scripture tells us Jesus had an appointment to get to – Golgotha and the cross were awaiting Him.
One thing we do know, it was not because of conscience or concern or compassion for Jesus that they stopped the drama. This whole scene coming to an end is a reminder of what took place to bring an end to the hardness of my own heart. It wasn’t something I decided or did that would bring an end to my own life of abuse toward the Lord. No, it was the working of the Holy Spirit that awakened my heart to its sinfulness. What did He use? The Word of God – the Law and the Gospel, but definitely the Law first. The hardness of the human heart needs God’s hammer…the Law. It has to be crushed under the weight of the Law’s demands. Without the Law first my response would be the same as the Romans’ if you could imagine Jesus telling those scourging Him, “God has a wonderful plan for your life?”, or to those who mocked Him, “If you just pray this prayer to accept Me, I’ll fill that hole in your heart.” They probably would have put the robe back on and mocked Him all the more. Just like I used to.
No. Hard hearts need a harder hammer to break them. The Lord does so with His Law. The Law is our tutor to lead us to Christ, writes Paul. The challenge of the cross is that we struggle to accept that we must first be prepared to see our own need for what Jesus did on it. We must all be made to bend low in grief over our sin. That humbles our pride as much as the cross seems foolishness to the unrepentant of heart. Praise God for His Word not returning void.
Lord, I thank you for bringing to an end my life of rebellion and unbelief. Thank you Jesus for your Spirit bringing me to see the depravity of my condition through the Law. Thank you Lord for making me to see I could never measure up to its demands of perfection. Most of all, thank you Jesus that this is exactly why You lived a sinless life to fulfill the Law’s demands and the went to the Cross to pay for my falling so short. This is Good News. Praise be to God for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
