Matt 27:27-31

Jesus Mocked

The Crowd, the Cloak, and the Crown

(The Great Exchange)

Matthew 27:27-31

Opening:

I always wondered what I would do if I had to preach at a moment's notice! What would I want you to know about Jesus? If this is my last chance to ever speak to all of you like this…what would I say? Well this is it…

I want you to ask yourself a question when you read the bible, “If this wasn't in the Bible, what would I be missing?” Do you ever ask yourself that? If you don’t, you should.

There is an important, often skipped over section of Scripture, that provides the believer with an unbelievably intimate view of Jesus’ suffering. It invites you to join Christ into his agony, into his anguish, into his passion. The greatness and patience of Christ on display here you have probably read over a few times but you, like me, probably missed something deeply intimate about the suffering of our beloved Savior, something familiar, you missed his humility, his meekness, his gentleness, his submissiveness, and his lowliness.

Or maybe by the power of the Holy Spirit, you did understand the deep richness and intimacy of this text, if so, let this morning serve you as a reminder of the greatness and patience of our beautiful Savior, Jesus the Christ. You’ve heard Christianity was more than a religion, it is a relationship with the one true God. A relationship that's foundation is the one true God. A relationship that in every way imaginable our God has experienced the human condition, the fallenness of man, and endured suffering to the point of death. Not just for the forgiveness of sins, justification, but for the sanctification of a holy lived life for his sheep and for eternal bliss in heaven with himself. What a gift, what a savior!

Before we get to our text this morning, let’s begin a chapter before to set the context, and see how this chapter 26 sets up the scene for Jesus’ death.

Matthew 26

Jesus reminds his disciples that he will soon be delivered up to be crucified v2

Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper v6

A woman (Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus) came with an expensive oil and poured it on his head as he reclined at the table v7

This angered the disciples as they saw this as a waste v8, Judas (John 12:4-6)

What the world calls a waste, Jesus calls beautiful v10

Then we see that this was actually an act that was preparing Jesus’ body for burial, in v12 Jesus says, “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.”

This act by Mary is recorded in Holy Scripture so that “wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” v13

Judas gets paid 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus v15

Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and they ask “Is it I, Lord?” v22

Jesus then institutes the Lord’s Supper, by the breaking of bread (body) and by the drinking of wine (blood) “which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” v26-29

Peter says he will never fall away or desert Jesus but Jesus foretells of Peter’s denial, “before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” v34

Jesus goes to pray in the garden of Gethsemane (wine press), and asks the Father to let this cup pass from him, but he yields his will to the Father’s, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” and he tells the disciples to watch and pray but they kept falling asleep. V39-41

Judas came with a great crowd and they seized Jesus and Matthew records in v56, “Then all the disciples left him and fled.”

Jesus is taken to the chief priests and the whole council and they were persuading false testimony against Jesus so they could put him to death v59

They spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him v67

Peter denies Jesus v69-75

Now in Matthew 27 there are few more events that take place before our text

Jesus gets delivered to Pilate v2

Judas hangs himself

Crowd chooses to release Barabbas instead of Jesus v21

The crowd calls for Jesus to be crucified and for his blood to be on them and their children v25

Then in v26, Pilate released Barabbas and then Matthew tells us, “and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.”

Flogged/Scourge: “A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal. The victim was tied to a post and blows were applied to the back and loins, sometimes even, in the cruelty of the executioner, to the face and bowels. So hideous was the punishment that the victim usually fainted or died from the pain. The lacerations would tear into the skin and tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. The extent of blood loss was measured by skilled executioners to determine how long the victim would survive on the cross.”

Under Mosaic Law, the Jews could not scourge someone with more than 40 lashes (Deut. 25:3; cf. 2 Cor 11:24). However here, the Romans—not the Jews—were scourging Jesus. The Romans had no limit on the number of lashes they could impose on a prisoner.

This scourging fulfilled Jesus’ words in 20:19, “and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified and he will be raised on the third day.” After this violent and bloody brutality, Pilate sent Jesus to die like a condemned criminal, by crucifixion (cf. Isa. 53:5-6, 12).

Isa 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Prophecy fulfilled.

The intensity of Jesus’ scourging was so brutal that he was unrecognizable afterwards

Isa 52:14 (CSB), “Just as many were appalled at you –his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being.” Prophecy fulfilled.

Commonly the blows of scourging would lessen as the criminal confessed to his crimes. But Jesus remained silent

Isa 53:7, “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Jesus remained silent, having no crimes to confess, so the scourging continued with full strength.

This brings us to our text this morning, Matt 27:27-31, please turn there with me. On the way to the cross, Jesus is mocked. Mocked means to tease or belittle someone, ridicule. Laugh at someone in a cruel way as to make fun of them.

*Illustration*

Let me ask you guys this, have you ever mocked or belittled someone? Made fun of someone?

Did you mock their appearance/clothes, maybe their stutter, haircut, glasses, shoes, or maybe their family? I see some parents mocking and belittling their own kids. It breaks my heart.

Let me ask you this, have you ever mocked or belittled yourself?

Maybe you look in the mirror and think about your besetting sins and think, “How could God possibly have forgiven me? I’m unsavable. Why do I even try? Noone knows what I’m going through right now?” “Does God even understand or care about me?”

Listen, if you have repented and placed your faith and trust in Christ then friend God has forgiven you. He does understand and care because the Father gave his Son to be crushed, yet for no crimes and no sins of his own but for your crimes and your sins.

Now let me ask you this, do you understand or care about Jesus?

The answer is simple, think of the one person whom you love on this earth more than anyone or anything else, a son, daughter, mom, dad, grandpa, or grandma, your husband, your wife. Now, tell them that they are going to die in 40 days. Not because there is anything wrong with them, like cancer or covid, but because you have an enemy that needs a new heart, he needs their heart. And the only way your enemy can live is if you cut the heart out of the chest of your loved one and implant it into your enemy’s chest cavity.

Now imagine that your loved one looks at you, smiles, and says, “Ok, I will do it…for you.”

You should care about Jesus, you should cherish this great exchange, the great substitutionary atonement of Christ on your behalf sinner. The transfer of his sinless heart for your dead heart. Repent and believe in the finished work of Christ, lest you be found dead in sin from a rotten heart.

Now that we have the context, I want to direct your attention to 4 great exchanges that took place when Jesus was mocked on his way to Golgotha, in order to reveal to you, how through Christ’s suffering you can believe and trust that Jesus did in fact, give himself as a substitutionary atonement, exchanging his sinless life for your cursed life. Imputing his righteousness to you and drinking the cup of God’s wrath for your punishment, justifying you by the offering of his shed blood.

Jesus foretold this specific event in Matt 20:19, Jesus says, “They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”

Jesus is amazingly specific about the events that are going to take place. This shows God’s providence on display as these events are too specific to just random things taking place.

Listen to this, in Isa 50:6, “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”

Jesus knew this painful prophecy from Isaiah and the horrific details of the misery that he was about to embark on.

Yet he walks forward, fearless, like in John 18:4, “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?”

Yet this time, without a word…like a man on death row walking to the chamber, without appeal. Yet unlike the condemned, Jesus is innocent.

**READ/PRAY**

Matt 27:27-31

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

In Matt 27:27-31, FOUR Dramatic Exchanges take place during the mocking of Jesus that will show you the brutality and the beauty of the atonement of Christ.

The first dramatic exchange that takes place is with the CROWD

Matthew 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.

The governor’s headquarters was known as the ‘praetorium’. A palace where the Romans would camp and occupy.

It was a huge courtyard where the Roman General’s tent was and also the soldier’s camp. And here is our savior, Jesus, alone in the middle of it. No apostles, no disciples, no one to help him. Remember, the disciples left him.

The battalion was 600 Roman soldiers. Professional killers, that’s all they did.

Normally to escort a prisoner to carry out an execution, only 4 soldiers, called a quaternion were needed, here Rome sends a message to anyone thinking about helping to free Jesus.

They crowded around Jesus. Laughing at him as blood was beginning to scab over his entire body. Violently yelling and screaming.

The only place in the Old Testament that mentions a crowd like this is found in Ezekiel 16:40. Here God is telling Jerusalem that he is going to punish them as a prostitute for their adultery towards him, including the blood of their children that they offered to idols. Just listen as I read Ezekiel 16:40 and 42: 40 “They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 42 So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.”

What does this tell us about God’s righteous anger and judgment?

He punishes sin and that satisfies his wrath when those being punished turn to him, away from their sin. Yet Israel couldn’t sustain that and none of us can turn away from sin on our own so God’s righteous judgment and wrath hang over us like a black funnel cloud in the sky that has a started to form a tornado above our heads and all we can do is look up as God prepares to tear us apart.

Here is Jesus, who could’ve called down 12 legions of angels from that same sky to rescue him (Matt 26:53), but he didn’t, God’s wrath had to be satisfied, it had to be paid. So in love and displaying magnificent meekness, Jesus surrounded by a crowd of ravenous wolves, took your place.

At times it may feel like you are hemmed in on every side. That you have no room to breathe because your circumstances are overwhelming. You feel like the walls of the world are closing in on you. And in that desperation, you don’t even know what to pray for? Pray this…thank Jesus for enduring the wrath of God in your place, so that while you may be surrounded by a crowd of sins, worries, and enemies here, you will soon be taken up into his arms and surrounded by his love. Christ offers an exchange: Surrounded by enemies here so that on that glorious day, when God calls you home, you will be surrounded only by the love and glory of God.

But after the Romans surrounded our precious Lamb, the mocking began

The second dramatic exchange that takes place is with the CLOAK

Matthew 27:28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him

The word stripped here is a violent word. They removed his clothes by force. His blood had begun to scab over from the scourging and this would have torn his wounds back open.

When a prisoner was crucified, they were usually nailed to the cross naked to humiliate them. Jesus had yet to be nailed to the cross but the humiliation began anyway.

As our savior is lying there naked and bleeding, after being stripped, I’m reminded of Genesis 3:10 and 21, God was calling out for Adam, and Adam says 10 “And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.” 21“And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and sinned against the very being that created them and cared for them. They hid, they were naked, they were ashamed, yet in God’s mercy, death entered the world and he took the innocent skin of an animal and clothed the sinful skin of creatures made in his own image.

In Gen 3:7, They sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves with those. God could have left them in fig leaves. Or in other words, their own works,

(Isa 64:6) “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Our good works are like a polluted garment and our sins take us away like those faded fig leaves.

God covers man, yet back in our text we see the opposite, man uncovering God. Violently stripping Jesus’ torn clothes revealing his broken and torn body. They stripped him…and

They put a scarlet robe on him

Why did they do this?

It was just another way to tease and mock Jesus. He was found guilty of claiming to be King of the Jews, so the soldiers put this scarlet robe on him. Scarlet would be the color of human royalty.

Some commentators say this was probably an old dirty robe. Maybe one they were going to throw away. It makes sense, since none of them would put their own robe on the bloody guilty ‘King of the Jews’. It was probably the reddish purple cloak that Roman military and civil officials wore.

But in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.”

The rotten sins of your flesh are like scarlet and they wrap around your body like the skin on your bones. In the same way, the rotten scarlet robe was wrapped around Jesus’ torn body draped over his exposed bones. He bore the scarlet robe just like he bears your scarlet sins.

Yet here’s the beauty of the great exchange. Through the propitiation by Jesus, exchanging his sinless life for yours as payment, satisfying God’s wrath, you are stripped, not of your clothes but of your sin. And our loving Father clothes you not with animal skins or a dirty scarlet cloak but with his robe of righteousness. It’s called imputation.

Zech 3:1-5, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand (burning stick) plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments (clothes).” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

Isa 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

So the question is how do you receive the wedding garment? You put it on…

Rom 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Rev 19:7-8, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

Righteous deeds are the fruit of salvation not the means of salvation, and they prove that you have been made righteous and given a pure robe by the blood of Christ.

I remember my wedding day like it was yesterday. Our family and friends were all there. The only one that wasn’t there…was my bride! As I stood there waiting for her, a thought crossed my mind, “What if she doesn’t come? What if she changes her mind? What if she realizes how much better she could do?” Praise the Lord, she came down the aisle. In an earthly wedding, the vows end with these words, “Til death do you part.”

But in God’s heavenly wedding that unites redeemed sinners, the church, the bride of Christ, you with his son, you will never part from him because Jesus has defeated death. And he drapes over you, not a cloak of sin, but a white wedding garment of righteousness. What a gift!

Surrounded with a scarlet robe draped over his scarred body, we come to v29

The third dramatic exchange that takes place is with the CROWN

Matthew 27:29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

A crown of thorns

In order to complete the mocking of someone who they believe is a false ‘King’ they need a false crown.

The crown of thorns was not thorns from a rose stem. These were said to be thorns from thick vines. Native. They would have needed to be twisted by at least 2 soldiers because they were so thick. The thorns on these kind of vines would have been 1in to 3inches long.

How many of you have ever had a splinter? Do you cry out to your mom or dad? Help, I have a splinter, it hurts! This was not that!

Let’s look at Gen 3:17-18

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

Again we see how because of sin, God created thorns and thistles and Jesus takes the sin grown thorns of the crown onto his head. Mocked and suffering, again taking more punishment of sin onto his body. However…

At the end of the account of the Sacrifice of Isaac, Gen 22:13, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”

On that same mountain where Abraham and Isaac stood, 2000 years later, God provided another lamb, not with its horns caught in a thicket, but with his head crowned with thorns. God provides another substitute to be sacrificed in man's place. Jesus is the lamb of God. His son, Perfect and spotless.

Christ is forced to display on his head an accessory of disrespect, that represents a cursed earth.

Again Christ offers another exchange:

He takes the curse of the crown of thorns and offers the crown of life.

James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Rev 2:10, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

1 Pet 5:4, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

They put a reed in his hand and mocked him, saying King of the Jews

It’s ironic because although they were calling Jesus the King of the Jews in order to make fun of him, they were actually speaking truth!

But let’s look at Matthew 2:1–2 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.””

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[fn] from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

The book of Matthew is about Jesus the King! Born as King, mocked as King, died as King, but rose again as King, and reigns as King! With a glorious crown on his head, sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you.

The fourth dramatic exchange that takes place is with the REED

Matthew 27:30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

In Isa 42:1-3, 1 “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, 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 aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Jesus is truly the chosen or elected one. Our election is only possible because we are chosen in Christ. Eph 1:4, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.”

How do we know that Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus in Isa 42?

Matthew 12:17-21, “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

The bruised reed is a symbol of you. Sinners. Believers, yet full of weakness and failures. Sometimes you think God is just waiting for you to mess up so that he can punish you, right? Maybe that’s just me.

Or that the flame that was ignited when you first believed has fizzled out and is now just a pile of smoking ash. But, listen carefully, Jesus loves you, the bruised reed, the smoking ash, and deals ever so gently with you. He will not break you, he will not quench or snuff out the burning embers of your weak faith. No, he has come to strengthen you in your weakness, not break you, and he has come to pour the oil of the Holy Spirit onto the burning wick of your faith, filling you up to the point of overflowing with love and righteousness. Reigniting your weak flame so that his light may shine through you. What a gift!

The prophet Micah, prophecies about this moment. He spoke about the ruler that was to be born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:1 “Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.”

How ironic then, the reed the soldiers used to beat Jesus on the head doesn’t break and you a bruised reed, Christ will not break you either.

There is one more dramatic exchange that takes place here in v 30, that I want to end on

He was spit on

Isaiah 50:6 “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”

“Even the hands that drove the nails into His hands unto the cross did only what they were commanded to do. Yet they spat in His face just for the pleasure of doing it. “But, my brethren bad as man is, methinks he never was so bad – or rather, his badness never came out to the full so much – as when gathering all his spite, his pride, his lust, his desperate defiance, his abominable wickedness into one mouthful, he spat into the face of the Son of God himself.” Charles Spurgeon-

Surrounded by 600 soldiers, they spit on him. How many? We’re not told but ‘they’ means more than one. How many would be too many?

Have you ever been spit on?

No where in Scripture are we told that he wiped his face. That, he took the back of his torn hand and cleaned his brow. That’s because there is one more exchange that took place on that dirt road to Golgotha.

Isa 25:8, “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.”

Rev 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Our Jesus, leaves the spit, he either can’t or chooses not to wipe it away, but he promises you that on that great day he will wipe away every tear away from your eyes.

Have you ever stopped to wonder about this Jesus? Why would he do this for you? Why would he do this for me? Why would he step down from heaven to rescue rotten sinners like you and me? I think the answer is found in Hebrews 12:1-4, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Make no mistake about it, in this story you are more like those Roman guards than you think. Don’t believe me?

Every time you chose lust over love, you stripped Christ

Every time you chose selfishness over the good of others, you draped your cloak of sin over Christ’s body

Every time you chose pride over humility, you twisted and binded a crown of thorns onto Christ’s head

Every time you chose to deny Christ before man, you spit in his face

But God…he is making all things new…yes, even you.

1 Cor 6:9-11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.”

Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-8, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2 Cor 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus exchanges and imputes his sinless life for your sinful life, his righteousness for your unrighteousness, and his death for your life.

And that, beloved, is not just a dramatic exchange, it is the greatest exchange. Let’s pray…

Connecting OT to NT

Genesis 3:6

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Matthew 26:26

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”