The Shame
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:27-31
It’s the lead up to Easter and I wanted to take the rest of the week to reflect on the events of 2000 years ago.
I wonder, have you ever had a situation where your reputation took a big hit? Maybe you did something to deserve it, maybe you didn’t. I want you to try and remember that feeling of vulnerability, perhaps of shame or humiliation and that anxiety as you fill the vacuum of not actually knowing what people are thinking.
Here we have Jesus Christ. The perfect man. The righteous one. Suffering the punishment of a common criminal. Stripped and forced to wear dress-ups. Struck and spat on. Mocked and surrounded.
The danger is that sometimes we think of Jesus as something of a robot. Oh, He’s the Son of God. He is fully divine. But He is also the Son of Man, fully human. He feels.
In fact He feels in an even greater sense. Not only the vulnerability, humiliation and hurt. But also we can assume that Jesus, in love, felt sadness and compassion on those who were committing these crimes against Him. Knowing that they were heaping judgement and harm on themselves as humans do when committing unjust violence and cruelty.
This is just one aspect of Jesus' suffering. But a crucial one. Because no shame we feel in this life can compare to what it would be like to stand before the Holy God and have to come to terms with the entirety of our behaviour on earth. There are things we don’t dwell on for the sake of mental health and sanity.
Things we have seen. Things we have done. Choices we have made. Thoughts we have had about others. But God knows all these things and we will be confronted with them at judgement.
How good it is to know that Jesus Christ has taken our shame and humiliation. That I will be able to stand before God and I will be able to stand shameless and guiltless because Jesus has taken my sins on the cross.
For Today:
Pray: Praise the Father that He is gracious and kind to sinners. Give thanks for Jesus who suffered humiliation in our place. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others trust in Him to take your shame from sin.
Matthew 27:27-31
It’s the lead up to Easter and I wanted to take the rest of the week to reflect on the events of 2000 years ago.
I wonder, have you ever had a situation where your reputation took a big hit? Maybe you did something to deserve it, maybe you didn’t. I want you to try and remember that feeling of vulnerability, perhaps of shame or humiliation and that anxiety as you fill the vacuum of not actually knowing what people are thinking.
Here we have Jesus Christ. The perfect man. The righteous one. Suffering the punishment of a common criminal. Stripped and forced to wear dress-ups. Struck and spat on. Mocked and surrounded.
The danger is that sometimes we think of Jesus as something of a robot. Oh, He’s the Son of God. He is fully divine. But He is also the Son of Man, fully human. He feels.
In fact He feels in an even greater sense. Not only the vulnerability, humiliation and hurt. But also we can assume that Jesus, in love, felt sadness and compassion on those who were committing these crimes against Him. Knowing that they were heaping judgement and harm on themselves as humans do when committing unjust violence and cruelty.
This is just one aspect of Jesus' suffering. But a crucial one. Because no shame we feel in this life can compare to what it would be like to stand before the Holy God and have to come to terms with the entirety of our behaviour on earth. There are things we don’t dwell on for the sake of mental health and sanity.
Things we have seen. Things we have done. Choices we have made. Thoughts we have had about others. But God knows all these things and we will be confronted with them at judgement.
How good it is to know that Jesus Christ has taken our shame and humiliation. That I will be able to stand before God and I will be able to stand shameless and guiltless because Jesus has taken my sins on the cross.
For Today:
- When was a time you felt shame or humiliation?
- Reflect on Jesus’ humiliation at the cross.
- Have you asked Him to take your shame?
Pray: Praise the Father that He is gracious and kind to sinners. Give thanks for Jesus who suffered humiliation in our place. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others trust in Him to take your shame from sin.
Posted in Easter
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