Saturday 12th April
Read Mark 15:27-32
“They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!’ 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’ Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.” (NIVUK)
The mocking began with the Roman soldiers after the verdict was announced and concludes with the Jewish people as Jesus hung upon the cross. The accusations that are thrown at Jesus reveal much about what Jesus Himself must have taught and said.
There is little doubt He spoke about destroying the temple and ending the religious practices of the Jews. The observation that the temple would be destroyed flows naturally from claims to be the long-awaited Messiah, the king of Israel, the one who would restore right rule and relationship with Yahweh. Both these claims must be true reflections of Jesus’ own words – or they would not throw them back in His face.
Whatever else is happening on the cross the stakes are incredibly high for the Jewish people, and indeed the world, if the insults and mockery are even partly true. Those very claims make demands of us also. Who do we say that Jesus is? If the mocking taunts are true the Messiah has come and that changes things for the world and demands a response from everyone.
