seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 27:38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Study Light commentary says this.
Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left: In His crucifixion, Jesus stood right in the center of sinful humanity. With the mockery of the criminals, the rejection of Jesus by His people is complete. Even criminals rejected Him.
"The Jews placed him between these two, perhaps to intimate that he was the worst felon of the three."
One of these robbers repented and trusted in Jesus, and one did not (Luke 23:39-43)
.One of these robbers repented and trusted in Jesus, and one did not (Luke 23:39-43)
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads: In the midst of His staggering display of love, Jesus was not honored. Instead, He was blasphemed and His enemies sneered, saying, "Save Yourself. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
"Nothing torments a man when in pain more than mockery. When Jesus Christ most wanted words of pity and looks of kindness, they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads."
Significantly, they mocked Jesus for who He really was and is.
Significantly, they mocked Jesus for who He really was and is.
- They mocked Him as a Savior
- They mocked Him as a King
- They mocked Him as a believer who trusted in God
- They mocked Him as the Son of God
They acted as if Jesus did what they said, they would believe Him. Yet it is precisely because He did not save Himself that He can save others. Love kept Jesus on the cross, not nails! Jesus did greater than come down from the cross; He rose from the dead, yet they did not believe even then.
Jesus also showed us how we should regard the scorn and mocking of this world - that is, to not regard it at all. "Scorn! Let us scorn scorn. Does the world laugh at us? Let us laugh at the world's laughter, and say to it, 'Dost thou despise us? It is not one half as much as we despise thee. Our fathers despised thy sword, O world, thy dungeons, thy racks, thy gibbets, thy stakes, and dost thou think that we shall tremble at thy scoffs, and jeers?'"
Jesus also showed us how we should regard the scorn and mocking of this world - that is, to not regard it at all. "Scorn! Let us scorn scorn. Does the world laugh at us? Let us laugh at the world's laughter, and say to it, 'Dost thou despise us? It is not one half as much as we despise thee. Our fathers despised thy sword, O world, thy dungeons, thy racks, thy gibbets, thy stakes, and dost thou think that we shall tremble at thy scoffs, and jeers?'"
Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing: There were many low points to Jesus' ordeal on the cross, but this is surely one of the lowest. Even among the three crucified men, Jesus was put in the "lowest" position.
This was the peak of God's love for man: to endure this for our salvation. But it was also the summit of man's hatred for God; God came to earth, and this is what man did to Him.
Jesus had to suffer this alone, outside the gate. He was cut off from the community; both so we could be joined to His community, and also so that our experiences of isolation can be redeemed and made into opportunities of fellowship with Him.
Jesus had to suffer this alone, outside the gate. He was cut off from the community; both so we could be joined to His community, and also so that our experiences of isolation can be redeemed and made into opportunities of fellowship with Him.
The easy english commentary says this.
Jesus had always been a friend to sinners. Now he was with two sinners, two criminals. This made the words of Isaiah come true. He had said that God’s Suffering Servant would be among those who were criminals (Isaiah 53:12). James and John had asked for places of honour next to Jesus (Matthew 20:20-23). Now the thieves were in those places, but nobody gave honor to those thieves.
James and John never did get that promotion their mom was asking for.
I am so in awe of the way Jesus went right through all this without bringing on the war. He had the ability to call down Angels to shout down all this humiliation. He didn't do that. He went through with it.... in spite of what the humans were doing to Him.
Jesus knew what was going to happen.
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