Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Reading

Introduction

We come this morning to a powerful and exceedingly important passage of Scripture, which presents to us one of the most significant events in all of history (if not the most significant event in all of history), we must stand in awe of the grace-filled, abounding, incomprehensible love and mercy of our God towards us.

This is a passage of Scripture that, if we truly consider it and ponder it deeply, must leave us with our hearts bowed down in humble adoration of almighty God, as we come face to face with the realization of the seriousness of our own sin, and how that very sin of you and I drove Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect, pure, spotless lamb, to the cross as the only hope and remedy for our salvation and deliverance from God’s wrath.

Any familiarity that we may have developed about Jesus dying on the cross, let us leave that familiarity behind us, and let us enter into this text of God’s holy word and pray that God would open our hearts and eyes and ears to recognise the utter sinfulness and depravity of man that necessitated such drastic, pain-inflicting , life-taking measures on the Almighty creator of all things.

We pick up this morning in verse 15, as Pilate has been presented with this man Jesus, who is charged before him with the charge of being the “King of the Jews.”

This title (or charge) of Jesus being the King of the Jews is one that repeats itself throughout this narrative.

Now we know that there was no basis for any charge against Jesus, and that He was in no way coming to subvert any ruling nation or political power.

As Jesus had clearly told Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world...”

And Pilate himself recognised that there was no basis for a charge against Jesus.

And with all of his (earthly) power and authority as a Roman governor, he could very easily have had Jesus released; in fact he should have had Jesus released.

But because of his own lust for power, and him rather giving in to the desires of the crowds around him, and not wanting to upset the crowds, agrees to have Jesus crucified; not because Jesus was guilty of anything, but for political expediency.

In verse 15, we read that Pilate hands Jesus over to be flogged and crucified.

Flogging

It was a normal practice that when a prisoner was sentenced to death by crucifixion, they would first be flogged.

This Roman flogging that is spoken of here was carried out by making use of a short wooden handle to which several thongs were attached, the ends equipped with pieces of lead or brass and with sharply pointed bits of bone.

Two Roman soldiers would stand, one on either side of the victim, and whip them across their bare backs, causing severe lacerations, and even causing the flesh to rip apart.

Often, such scourging would itself result in the death of the victim.

This scourging in and of itself was an immensely painful experience.

All of this infliction of pain, and all of the mockery that would follow and accompany the crucifixion of Christ, was a necessary and vital part of what would be required for you and I to be healed of our own sinfulness before a Holy God!

The inflicting of pain was only another marker in the road of Christ’s suffering.

But we must realise that besides merely the suffering and pain, which in itself was bad (particularly considering the sinless nature and conduct of the Saviour) there was also a gross contempt for Christ, and mockery of Him.

With this in mind...

We turn our attention now this morning to these verses of Scripture, beginning in verse 16, we’re going to look at it under the two broad headings:

The mockery of the King (v.

16-20), and

The Crucifixion of the King (v.

21-32)

As we consider these texts, there will be various sub-points under each, and really I want us to take note of the important emphases that Mark gives us as he masterfully outlines the details of what happened to our Lord.

1) Mockery of the King

Let us turn our attention then to the first major point, and that is the Mockery of the King.

1.1)

The mockers (16)

And as we do that, the first thing we consider from our text is “The Mockers” themselves.

In verse 16 we read:

The soldiers that are spoken of here had been present since the arrest of Jesus.

There was a company of Roman soldiers that had been part of the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane, and these Roman soldiers followed the progression of Jesus as He was led around from one place to the other.

When Isaiah 53:7 spoke of Jesus being led like a lamb to the slaughter, that was a very apt description - He allowed Himself to be led around by these soldiers and others from one place to the next as they sought a way to have Him put to death.

Indeed, the almighty and powerful Son of God allowed Himself, submitted Himself to being led around like a helpless lamb, despite His power.

But these Roman soldiers are the ones who now take Jesus and begin to heap abusive mockery on Him.

They take Jesus into Herod’s palace, which is where Pilate had been staying as the Passover feast was upon them, and they there called together the entire company of soldiers.

This company of soldiers was equivalent to a group of soldiers numbering 600 soldiers.

And these soldiers are called together with the express purpose of watching as pain is inflicted upon Jesus, and then joining in together at making a mockery of Jesus.

That is the reason that they are there - simply to mock this man.

1.2) The Attire (17)

Further from our text, we notice the attire with which these mockers then clothe Jesus.

In verse 17 we read...

A purple robe in that day was a symbol of royalty, the colour that was worn by a King.

And so these soldiers dress Jesus up in this “kingly robe”.

Not only that, but they formed a crown of thorns, and drove this crown of thorns onto Jesus head.

In Genesis 3:18, we read that when God cursed Adam, part of the curse was that the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles for him as he laboured and toiled on the earth.

With this “crown” the soldiers unwittingly pictured God’s curse on sinful humanity being thrust upon the brow Jesus.

They take this mock crown, and press it down onto Jesus’ head, where the thorns would have pierced the skin.

What the soldiers have now done is that they have dressed Jesus up as a King.

They are saying to Jesus: “You want to claim royalty, then we’ll give you the royal treatment.”

Not only has Christ been beaten and scourged, but he now is mockingly dressed in a purple robe, and has a crown of thorns placed on His head.

1.3)

The Insults (18-19)

But to add to Christ’s injuries, the mockers throw in insults, both through their words, and through their actions.

Verse 18 says:

Here was nothing less than unbridled mockery of Jesus.

I think we all know what it is like to be mocked and belittled by others.

Many of us have had words that have pierced our own lives as other people have insulted us and attacked our characters.

Perhaps there are those here today have even gone to the extent of developing self-defense mechanisms in order to cope with the pain that is felt as a result of insults and mockery of our character.

We all know what it is like when those reckless words pierce us.

Christ would have endured this mockery from the soldiers knowing that He was innocent of any transgression of the law of God, and knowing that He had the power available to Him at any moment to call down legions of angels to deal with the soldiers in a just and fair manner.

If Jesus wanted justice, then justice He could give - by putting to death those mocking soldiers as they hurled their insults at Him.

That would have been just.

So often we cry out for justice, and when people speak any kind of harsh or mocking word against us, all we can think of is that we want justice and retribution for the wrongs done against us.

But Christ knew that if justice was truly carried out in this moment, then there would never be a saved people.

And so, He remains silent, allowing them to continue the mockery and the hatred; words pouring out that insult His character and His mission.

In verse 19, we read further...

They beat Jesus.

They flog Jesus.

They spit on Jesus.

Here is one man, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, being beaten - struck on his head by a staff.

And then they fall on their knees as a mock act of worship to Him.

Their usual cry was “Hail Caesar” - but now they mockingly call out “Hail Jesus, King of the Jews.”

In all this they acted out of contempt not only for Jesus personally but for their subject nation - the Jewish people - which had long desired a king of its own.

Here was a blasphemous mockery of God through these soldiers.

The Roman soldiers honestly believed that this Jesus was laughable.

“Do you really think that you’re a king?”

“What kind of king are you, that you cannot even put up a fight?”

“What kind of king are you, that you do not even have a single soldier or follower that you’re ruling over?”

1.4) Preparation for crucifixion

Having gone through this long process of mockery and beating Jesus, we read in verse 20:

The soldiers have had their fun as they’ve mocked Jesus, and now they take off the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on.

By this time his body would have been severely mauled

Blood would have been pouring out from Him, staining His clothes.

Notice that in all this time, there is not a single recorded word of Jesus.

He endures the suffering and the shame.

He endures the mockery.

Then they lead Jesus out to the place where He will be crucified.

According to John 19:23, this team that lead Jesus out consisted of just 4 of the Roman soldiers, although others may have been present.

But this group of four soldiers now leads Jesus out to be crucified in one of the most horrendous forms of killing that the world has ever seen - by crucifixion.

2) Crucifixion of the King

And so this brings us to our second major point of consideration, and that is the Crucifixion of the King.

And again, we will just consider this under a number of sub-headings as we move through these verses.

The time (25)

Fifthly, we are given the time of this crucifixion.

In Mark’s use of the hours, this referred to 9am in the morning.

You will recall that the trial of Jesus before Pilate was at some time around the first light of day, maybe just before 6am.

It has been little over 3 hours since his trial began, which time allowed for Him to be handed over for flogging and his mocking.