Spitting On Jesus

Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.  Mark 15:19 (NIV)

Jesus is betrayed into the hands of men bent on their own devious intentions.  He is brought before council and accused of many things.  In the end He is condemned for crimes He never committed.  He is sentenced to be crucified as a criminal.  The soldiers lead Him to a place where they can mock Him.  They dress Him up to hurl their sarcasm.  They crown Him with a crown of painful thorns.  They beat Him and throw their insults.  They have no compassion for the Son of God.  They continue to laugh and scoff at Him.  They bow in feinted adoration of Him.  They are trying to humiliate Him and make Him suffer.  When they have had their fun, they lead Him off to die.

Do we stand there too?  Are we part of the crowd?  We form part of the human race.  What is our role in the scene?  Do we ever make light of the thought of Jesus as the Son of God?  Are we ever placing a crown on His head without really paying Him any real tribute?  Do we ever lead Him to a place in our understanding where we can deal with Him as we choose?  Do we ever throw in an accusation at our Lord which might be unjust?  Do we ever harbor a thought that Jesus is not giving us a fair shot? Do we condemn Him somehow in this way?  Do we ever scoff at the thought of Jesus working in some real way in our lives today?  Do we ever laugh off the thought of Him returning anytime soon?  Do we ever choose our own way instead of seeking to find His?  Are we ever slapping Him in the face with that?  Do we ever spit at Him because we are too busy with our own concerns to drop everything and come unto Him?  Is our worship sometimes less sincere than it should be?  Are the crown and robe we place upon Him secretly even to us, only a farce?  Are we somehow unknowingly making fun of the Lord?  Are we sending Him off to die to us in some way?

What can we do with questions like these?  Do we throw them off hastily with vehement protest?  Do we defend ourselves with everything at our disposal?  Or do questions like these make us stop to think?  Do they bring us to our knees?  Does the thought of our Savior suffering at the hands of men bring us unto Him?  Would we like to hear how He sees us treating Him?  Could we be that honest?  Can we afford ourselves a little uncomfortable scrutiny?  Can we afford NOT to look into these questions?

There are and were people who have treated our Savior poorly.  Some may do it intentionally.  Some may not even know when and where they are making light of Him.  Our eternal fate might fall to where we stand on these things which lie closest to our heart.  Could it be that Jesus still must be reconciled to by every person?  Might we need to examine our own intentions with Him?  Could it still be beneficial for even the saintliest soul to draw near to Him today?

Dear Jesus, before we let men lead you off and crucify any possibility of turning to You, could we take another look at our hearts?  Please draw us near and look into our souls.  What do You find there?  Are we bringing them to You as earnestly as we should?  Are we seeking You to the degree You would have us do?  Are we bringing our entire hearts?  Are You the biggest and most important thing in our lives?  Are our concerns, our attention and our desires with You or have we been fooled into putting them on us?  Have we somehow unawares fallen to spitting at the only One who can bring us safely to our Father´s side?  Please come, look and save us too!

Amen