"THE MOCKING OF OUR KING"
Notes
Transcript
Parallel Gospel Accounts -
Matthew 27:27-32 - make a couple of observations
Mark 15:16-19 - make a couple of observations
Proposition - As look to the Scriptures this morning we are going to learn about: 1) the preparation for the mocking, 2) the execution of the mocking, and 3) the preparation for the crucifixion.
Interrogative question - Who is your King?
The fulfillment of OT prophecies about the suffering Servant -
Isaiah 42:1–4 (NASB95)
1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (NASB95)
13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. 15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.
1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Jesus’ own predictions about His death -
21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
17 As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
1. The Preparation for the Mocking - vs. 27-28
1. The Preparation for the Mocking - vs. 27-28
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
How many soldiers do you think there were?
What is the “praetorium?”
The Latin word Praetorium was used by Greek writers for the residence of the Roman governor. It may also refer to military headquarters, the imperial court, or the emperor’s guard. Lemke, S. W. (2007). The Academic Use of Gospel Harmonies. In Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (p. 207). Holman Bible Publishers.
What is a Roman cohort?
A company (or cohort) was a Roman military unit of 600, although the number could vary. Mark may have only wanted to refer in a general way to all the soldiers on duty at their headquarters. Lemke, S. W. (2007). The Academic Use of Gospel Harmonies. In Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (p. 207). Holman Bible Publishers.
Roman soldiers in Jerusalem were infamous for playing cruel games with condemned prisoners, particularly insurrectionists, including dressing them in costumes and moving them around a huge game board as a “game piece.” Still, their actions spoke louder than they knew. The one they dressed and hailed as a king was truly the crucified King. Mark and John describe the same cloak as “purple,” but colors were not as clearly distinguished as they are today, and dyes varied, so a violet-red cloak might be called scarlet by some and purple by others. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1885). Crossway Bibles.
Why do you think that they put a scarlet rode on Him?
A purple robe was an expensive luxury, worn only by kings and the very wealthy. Just as a wreath of thorns was a cruel substitute for a crown, so also it is likely that some readily available cloak or material served as the pretended purple robe of a king. In other words, Mark narrated parts of this scene using the mocking words of the soldiers (Jn 19:2). Matthew’s Gospel, by way of contrast, refers to a scarlet robe, apparently that of a Roman soldier (Mt 27:28). Lemke, S. W. (2007). The Academic Use of Gospel Harmonies. In Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (p. 207). Holman Bible Publishers.
2. The Execution of the Mocking - vs. 29-30
2. The Execution of the Mocking - vs. 29-30
29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.
Why do you think that they put a crown of thorns?
Why a reed in His hand?
What kind of reed do you think it is?
3. The Preparation for the Crucifixion - vs. 31-32
3. The Preparation for the Crucifixion - vs. 31-32
31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. 32 As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.
Why do you think they were saying crucify Him?
Crucifixion was a form of punishment that had been passed down to the Romans from the Persians, Phoenicians, and Carthaginians. Roman crucifixion was a lingering doom—by design. Roman executioners had perfected the art of slow torture while keeping the victim alive. Some victims even lingered until they were eaten alive by birds of prey or wild beasts. Most hung on the cross for days before dying of exhaustion, dehydration, traumatic fever, or—most likely—suffocation. When the legs would no longer support the weight of the body, the diaphragm was constricted in a way that made breathing impossible. That is why breaking the legs would hasten death (John 19:31–33), but this was unnecessary in Jesus’ case. The hands were usually nailed through the wrists, and the feet through the instep or the Achilles tendon (sometimes using one nail for both feet). None of these wounds would be fatal, but their pain would become unbearable as the hours dragged on. The most notable feature of crucifixion was the stigma of disgrace that was attached to it (Gal. 3:13; 5:11; Heb. 12:2). One indignity was the humiliation of carrying one’s own cross, which might weigh as much as 200 pounds. Normally a quaternion, 4 soldiers, would escort the prisoner through the crowds to the place of crucifixion. A placard bearing the indictment would be hung around the person’s neck. MacArthur, J., Jr., ed. (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 1448). Word Pub.
How much do you think that the cross weighed?
Cyrene was a region in North Africa (see note on Acts 13:1) with a large Jewish population. Simon was likely a Jew who had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover. carry his cross. Jesus was severely weakened from the scourging and loss of blood (see note on Matt. 27:26) and was therefore unable to carry his cross (see note on v. 35), which weighed 30 to 40 pounds. The skin and muscles of his back would have been severely lacerated, and he could have suffered severe injury to his internal organs. The most common Greek word for “cross” (stauros), though originally designating a “sharpened pole,” became associated before the NT with various penal means of suspending bodies (before or after death), including those employing a crux, or cross-shaped device, for crucifixion. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1886). Crossway Bibles.
SO WHAT?
Who is your King?
