Daily Devotions
Accepting Injustice
Reading for February 8: Numbers 1-4
Weekly reading for February 4-10: Matthew 25-28
Title: Accepting Injustice
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:27-31
As a new young preacher (in my early 20's) I was trying to establish relationships with the young kids at the church where I was preaching, so I took them to play mini golf and ride go-carts. One of these kids was too short to drive the go-cart by herself so I rode with her. To my surprise, at the end of the drive I got a stern tongue lashing from the guy who was running things saying I was pressing down on the accelerator. I had done no such thing and I respectfully and calmly assured the guy I was innocent. However, my attempt to defend myself fell on deaf ears. This young guy (who looked like he was barely old enough to drive the go-cart himself) proceeded to accuse me of lying! This really shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but I distinctly remember as he made this false accusation wanting to say to him, "Do you know who I am? I am a preacher volunteering to spend my time with these kids! And you're accusing me of lying?! Are you kidding me?!?!"
Ever felt that way?
Think about Jesus. After the bogus trial we come to this scene where Jesus is mercilessly taunted and viciously abused by the soldiers. His accusation was claiming to be the king of the Jews. The soldiers apparently thought that was really funny because they proceed to dress him up as a king and to bow down to him in mock homage. Jesus even played along with the joke. It says that they "put a reed in his right hand" (the reed serving as a kind of scepter), and what is implied is that Jesus accepted the reed by holding it. Try to imagine this. Try to see Jesus standing there all bloodied by the scourging (which had already taken place), a crown of thorns on his head, a robe on his back, spit coming down his face, and the reed held firmly in his hand.
Was there even an ounce of human pride in Jesus wanting him to say, "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Son of God! I created the world and universe! I'm the reason any of you exist! I hold your lives in my hand! How dare you treat me like this?!"
No, that's not Jesus. There's no indication of those feelings at all. To the contrary, Jesus welcomed this abuse freely so that in his innocence, he might set the guilty free.
Father, how ashamed we are of our sinful pride. Help us to see more clearly the sinless Son of God standing in our place to accept all the false accusations, the abuse, the shame, and the suffering of the cross so that we might be made innocent before you.
