Hands Of Brutality (Soldiers)

The Sheer Brutality & Beauty of the Cross

3.17.21 [Matthew 27:27-31] River of Life (Midweek Lenten Worship)

At the time, famed movie critic, Roger Ebert, said it was the most violent movie he had ever seen. He estimated that at least 100 minutes, maybe more, were concerned specifically and graphically with the details of torture and death. He warned his audience that if they were to go and see this movie they must be prepared for beating, the crunch of bones, the agony of screams, the cruelty of sadistic abusers, and the rivulets of blood that crisscross every inch of the main character’s body. Some will leave before the end.

The movie he was reviewing came out about 17 years ago. The Passion of the Christ. Few who’ve seen it would disagree. Another movie critic called it self-defeating, relentless gore.

Of course, filmmaker Mel Gibson took creative liberties in bringing his vision of Christ crucified to the silver screen. But he did not invent the violence of Christ’s crucifixion. He did not include the beatings, the screams, or the cruelty just to spice his movie up. This is what the Scriptures tell us happened to the Son of God.

Tonight, we do better than Mel Gibson’s movie. Because tonight we consider not what a movie maker wants us to see and hear and feel, but what our God knows we need to know and understand about our Savior’s suffering, about the cross Christ bore for the world.

After Pilate cowardly gave into the demands of the crowds and (Mt 27:26) released Barabbas to them instead, he handed Jesus over to be flogged and ultimately crucified. To a large degree, this was standard operating procedure for these Romans soldiers. They had flogging and crucifixion down to a sadistic science. The Roman soldiers likely used a lead-tipped whip to flay open Jesus’ back. This scourging was so violent that the Jews limited the number of lashes a person could receive to 40. But the Roman soldiers didn’t have to honor that. They scourged criminals, in part, to make sure they didn’t put up too much of a fight when it came time for the crucifixion. These harsh beatings often meant the criminals died more quickly. Since we know that the Roman soldiers had to stay until Jesus died, and broke the legs of the other criminals being crucified alongside him to hasten their death, we might suspect they wanted to expedite the execution process. This flogging was a fast way of beating the life from their victims.

Even though Jesus had not yet been sentenced to crucifixion, we know that Pilate wanted this flogging process to make Jesus a more pitiable picture for the bloodthirsty crowd demanding his crucifixion. Pilate’s plan was to (Lk. 23:16) punish Jesus and release him.

Yet Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s Gospel only speak about Jesus’ flogging in a single verse, a far cry from the movie The Passion of the Christ. Why not tell us more? Because this brutality was well-known in the days of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Anyone who was crucified experienced this scourging. Jesus was no exception. Like Ps. 22:13 lions tearing apart their prey, these strong Roman soldiers flayed the Faithful One. Jesus was not spared any of the common sufferings that accompanied crucifixion.

But the Roman soldiers added insult to injuring our Immanuel, too. After he was a bloodied, bruised shell of a man, they took potshots. Though they were likely following orders from Pilate, it seems as if they took pleasure in abusing our Alpha and Omega. Away from the crowds and inside the Pilate’s palace, they Mt. 27:28 stripped him naked. They put a cheap scarlety, purple robe on him—what they had available to make him look like a royal figure. To top it off, they Mt. 27:29 twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head and put a crude looking scepter in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mockingly called him Mt. 27:29 king of the Jews.

It’s almost unbelievable. Why would they be so cruel to a man who had done nothing wrong? Some will say it was pent up rage towards the Jewish insurrectionists that were a constant threat to Roman soldiers. This was their chance to make an example out of someone. Others might point out Pilate had this lousy plan to punish Jesus in order to make the people pity him. Whatever the contributing factors might be, it’s hard not to see wickedness in this cruelty. The very men whom Pilate could have ordered to bring peace and order to Jerusalem during this Passover, were instead abusing and mocking a helpless and innocent man. This was calculated and callous scorn. Ruthless mockery. It did nothing Pilate foolishly hoped it would. But it accomplished Jesus’ plan.

Jesus often spoke of how one was to treat his enemies. Here we see our Lord, (Mt. 5:39-40) turning the other cheek. Here we see our Savior, allowing those who seek his shirt to strip him of all his clothing.

Again and again, he bore insult and injury. Just as the Scriptures said the Messiah would. He was treated (Ps. 22:6) as a worm and not a man. He was scorned by everyone. Despised by the people. (Ps. 22:7) All who saw him, even complete strangers who didn’t care about the law of Moses, mocked him. (Ps. 22:16) A pack of villains encircled him and (Ps. 22:7) hurled insults at him. They shook their heads at him as (Mt 27:30) they struck him on the head again and again. Everything was happening to Jesus exactly as he said it would on his way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. (Mt. 20:18-19) The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.

God wants us to see the brutality and cruelty of Christ’s suffering and death because this is what happened. This is the awful price that must be paid for the wages of our sin. But it also reveals something about our crosses, too. Don’t forget before Jesus endured all this he implored all his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. We see two things in Christ’s cross in this text that correspond to ours. Some of what Jesus suffered was what anyone in his position would have. Some what Jesus endured what specifically because he was the Son of God.

Yet, our Lord and Savior did not respond as we typically do to the harshness of the cross we have been called to carry. We don’t hear him crying out Why me? What did I do to deserve this? We don’t see him trying to slip out from underneath it, either, or to avoid some of its weight. He is willing. He is committed.

Us, not so much. Sometimes we trick ourselves into thinking that being a Christian should mean a charmed existence. Faithful Christians get sick. Faithful Christians lose their jobs. Faithful Christians bury loved ones. Faithful Christians live in a fallen world just like everyone else. Being bruised and battered by this world is not evidence that God is not powerful or loving.

Most of us recognize that reality, though we need to be reminded again when we are in the throes of suffering. What we struggle with most is when living as a child of God brings us additional troubles and sorrows and frustrations. When standing up for God’s truth leaves us standing alone. When rebuking a loved one means being despised and rejected. When devoting our time and energy and treasures to God’s kingdom leaves us scrambling, strapped, and scraping the bottom of the barrel. (2 Cor. 5:7) Walking by faith and not by sight can be a scary thing! (Heb 12:7) Enduring all hardship as discipline that comes from our heavenly Father is easier said than done. Saying thy will be done, is easier than accepting and living with the ramifications of that petition.

Each of us can easily identify time when the cross became too much for us to bear. Too much of an inconvenience. Too much of a pain. Too much of a problem. Too much of a sacrifice. So we set it down. We slipped away. We shirked our calling. And that is why we need to see the brutality and cruelty of Christ’s cross.

Here we see what we do not want to see. Here we see what we do not want to experience. But most of all, here we see what our God was willing to do so that we might be called sons of God. The bill of our badness is awful. It is shocking and repulsive. But it is what was necessary. (Heb. 9:22) Without the shedding of his blood there is no forgiveness. Christ accepted the awful cost for our salvation. He received abuse and insult so that we might be ransomed and given his good name. He was flogged and tortured so that we might be set free. (Heb. 10:10) We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Our God has not forsaken us. That we see clearly in Christ’s suffering and his death. To many the cross is foolishness, senseless violence. (1 Cor. 1:18) But to us who are being saved it is nothing less than the power, (1 Cor. 1:24) the wisdom, and the love of our God. May God give us the strength to carry our crosses and follow the Faithful Son who now stands victorious over sin, death, and the devil. He alone is (1 Cor. 1:30) our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption, and our boast. May we preach Christ crucified in all we think, say, and do. Despite its brutality, there is nothing more beautiful to us than the cross. Amen.