Skip to main content

Lent - Day 36, Station of The Cross


Scripture Readings for today are: Psalms 119:145-176; 128, 129, 130; Jer. 25:30-38, Rom 10:14-21 and John 10:1-18

Today we stand at the Sixth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

Scripture Reading: "Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly."
John 19: 1-3

Probably nothing is more sobering than to meditate on the scourging of Jesus and the crown of thorns on his head. The humiliation of being mocked, beaten, and the cruelty of the physical pain is not easy to sit and meditate on.
One person described the scourging like this:
"Pilate hoped that by having Jesus' scourged the Jews who brought him to trial might be satisfied with this punishment and stop asking for his death. Scourging was the usual kind of punishment given for disturbing the peace and a warning to cease from upsetting authority and civil order. It was also used to weaken a criminal who was about to be executed. The latter was considered a form of mercy since a crucified man could last for days on a cross before expiring. Roman scourging, nonetheless, was brutal, painful, and dehumanizing.When a prisoner was scourged he was stripped, bound and bent so his back was exposed. Long leather whips tied with pieces of sharp iron and bones were used for ripping apart the back. As skin was torn from the body in shreds blood gushed from the numerous wounds. Some died from the whipping alone, some were made unconscious, and some went mad."
It is for my/our sins that Jesus endured this pain. The "punishment of our sins was upon him", Isaiah proclaims. Isaiah further adds, "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted."

If we are honest, we don't understand the "why?". Theologians describe it in different ways, and I'll not go into all the theories that surround the "why?" of this pain. Suffice to say, and by faith to hang on to, that Jesus is beginning the journey of the cross that will lead to his death -- but our redemption! There is only one way to respond to this: "Thank You Lord".

A Prayer:

"Lord Jesus, for my sins you suffered and I cannot begin to express all that I need to say in the way of 'thanks'. The gift of your pain and suffering has rippled down through the aeons of time and continued to give the gift of salvation to me, to your church, and to all who continue to put their faith and trust in you. I am grateful in ways that I cannot express...except from the depth of my being with worship, praise, and adoration. Thank You Lord. Amen."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad