Preached July 5, 2009
from
Matthew 27:27-31
Theme: Those who were mocking the King of the Jews were expressing more truth about Him than they realized.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
I was studying this morning’s passage the other day in a coffee shop. It must have been pretty obvious what I was doing, because a lady walked up and asked me, “Are you a pastor?” (It was probably the pile of books with an open Bible on top that gave me away.)
We chatted for a moment about our two churches; and then—and I’m never comfortable when this happens—she felt free to start criticized her pastor in front of me. Whenever someone does that, if I know the pastor in question, I always try to stave it off by saying, “Oh yes, I’ve chatted with Pastor So-And-So many times. He’s a good man”—hoping they’ll get the hint and stop. But this time, she didn’t get the hint.
Now; I’ll never tell you who the pastor was. But having said all that, I hope I may be forgiven for telling you what her criticism was. “He’s always trying to be funny,” this lady said; “and he tells too many jokes in the church service”. It truly grieved this woman that, to her mind, the things of God were not being handled with the sort of seriousness and solemnity they deserve in the household of God.
That brief and rather uncomfortable conversation affected me deeply. In our culture, we value being funny and making light of things. I sometimes get caught-up in that attitude myself. I like to laugh as much as anyone else. But there are things that we deal with in the family of God that are simply not funny. I certainly don’t believe it’s God’s will that we go through life “glum” and “long-faced”. But I do believe that it’s a part of a true expression of godliness to treat spiritual things in accordance with their true value and significance. And in God’s household we handle things that are of higher value and of greater significance than anything this world can think of. We, of all people, ought to be known for treating the things of God with proper reverence and awe.
Well; as it so happened, when that woman was saying these things to me, I was right then studying what I think may be the most serious passage in all the Gospel of Matthew. There is absolutely nothing “light” or “funny” about it. It deserves to be responded to by us with the utmost soberness, and with tears of holy awe.
And yet, it also happens to be a passage about some very wicked people who trying to do something “funny”.
* * * * * * * * * *
In Matthew’s Gospel—after our Lord had been condemned to death by the Jewish leaders, and after He had been tried before Pilate and handed over for crucifixion—we read these very sobering words. They are, quite frankly, unpleasant to consider.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified (Matthew 27:27-31).
I wonder—can you think of anything more wicked than this? It’s hard to imagine anything mortal, created beings could possibly do that is more evil than to stand in the physical presence of the Son of God—the incarnate Creator and Sustainer of all things—and mock Him, and laugh at Him, and spit on Him, and strike Him with blows! How much further down could human depravity go than that? And what’s more, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this is a particularly painful passage for us to read, because it tells us of these things being done to Someone who deeply loves us—and whom we deeply love in return.
And yet, in the very things in which they mocked our precious Savior, they spoke more truth about Him than they could possibly have known.
* * * * * * * * * *
Matthew begins telling us of this dreadfully serious situation when he writes, “Then the solders of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him” (v. 27).
The “governor” being spoken of is Pilate. We’re told in verse 26 that Pilate had Jesus “scourged”; and then, he delivered Him over to be crucified. It was the custom of the Romans to scourge a condemned criminal before crucifying him. The scourging involved tying a victim to a post, bearing his back, and striking his bare back repeatedly with a flagrum—a short whip-like weapon that had two to three leather straps fixed onto a wooden handle. The leather straps were knotted with pieces of metal or stone or broken bone; and the result was that the victim’s flesh and back was ripped with the repeated blows. The intention was to make the victim’s suffering on the cross even more intense; and to make his appearance to the people who saw him even more dreadful.
And Jesus—after having been scourged—was then handed over to the Roman soldiers who were stationed in Pilate’s headquarters. There was never any compassion or sympathy on their part toward a criminal condemned to be crucified. In fact, because it was a man who had already been condemned to die, it became the opportunity for the cruelest dimensions of human nature to be poured out on him. Once Jesus was handed over to a few of them, word got out among them. Soon the whole laughing, cussing, cruel garrison of soldiers was gathered around Him to disgrace Him further; and to make Him the ‘play-thing’ of their savage impulses. It’s truly a horrible thing to think about.
It’s even more horrible when you think of the sinful hatred these men would have had for One who is called the King of the Jews. That, after all, was the charge that had been made against Him—that He said He was the King of the Jews. And since the Romans had very little love for the Jews, they would have nothing but delight in making fun of the One that the Jews had rejected as their King.
So; notice what they did to Him. Once He was in their hands, they gave Him . . .
1. A MOCK ROBE (v. 28).
Matthew first tells us that “they stripped Him”. They had already stripped Him to some degree when they flogged Him. But I take it that, after He had been flogged, they stripped Him once again – this time, not to flog Him, but in order to degrade Him further. The Romans typically made their condemned criminals bear the cross naked as they publically carried it to the place of their execution. It was a way to humiliate them to the uttermost. And so, apparently, they sought to add further humiliation to our Lord by stripping Him bare.
But one of them must have had an idea of something ‘funny’ to do. Since He is ‘the King of the Jews’, they thought, He ought to have a robe of royalty. So, one of them grabbed one of the red mantles that Roman soldiers typically wore, and threw it on Him as a mock robe of royalty. And there, standing before them, was the naked, bloodied King of the Jews. What a laugh!
But what’s amazing about this is that, in their mocking, they were giving visual expression to something that was truer than they realized. When we read the book of Revelation—the book that reveals our Savior’s future, physical return to this earth in glory—we read in Revelation 19:13 that He will be clothed then “with a robe dipped in blood.” I believe that the blood that will be coloring His royal robe then will be His own; because, as it says in Revelation 5:12, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
What’s more, Revelation 19:16 tells us, “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” It will not be written just on His robe; but also upon His very person! He will wear the robe of royalty, because He is indeed the King of all!
In throwing a robe of “royalty” on Him, those mocking Roman soldiers spoke more truth in their mockeries than they knew!
* * * * * * * * * *
Matthew goes on to tell us that they also gave our Lord . . .
2. A MOCK CROWN (v. 29a).
This “robe” must have really got them going. After all, what’s a royal robe without a crown? And so, Matthew tells us, “When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head . . .” (v. 29). The composition of the crown is particularly mentioned, because the thorns had a particularly cruel purpose. The would have painfully pierced the skin of our Lord’s head and face; and would have caused the blood to run down His cheeks like tears. What a ridiculous looking King He would have been! What a joke He was to them!
But there’s something significant about those thorns. Have you ever thought about the first time in the Bible we ever read of thorns? They came into the picture because of the sin of Adam. After he disobeyed God in the garden, Adam—and all the human race in him—fell under a curse. God told him,
“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).
Those “thorns” on our Savior’s head were a visual reminder of the curse of Adam’s sin upon this world.
And there’s something else to think about. Do you remember the story in Genesis 22 of how God had called Abraham to sacrifice his precious son Isaac? Do you remember how, after Abraham had been tested and found to be obedient, God provided a substitute for Isaac? We’re told,
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided” (Genesis 22:13-14).
YHWY Yireh was the Hebrew name given to that place—”The-LORD-Will-Provide.” And the “mount” on which that place was located was the land of Moriah— a place that came later to be known as Jerusalem. In other words, it was on one of the hills of Jerusalem that the substitute ram with the thicket wrapped around its head was found. And it’s no coincidence that our Lord was also crucified on one of those very hills. Nor is it a coincidence that He is pictured for us as having a crown of thorns—that symbol of man’s fallenness—placed on His head before He was crucified; for He is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
And there’s one more thing. It wasn’t simply “thorns” that they placed on our Lord’s head. It was a “crown” of thorns. The cruel soldiers were seeking to mock Him as the King of the Jews. But in Revelation 19:12, we’re told that when He returns to this earth—riding upon a white horse, judging and making war—He will have on His head “many crowns”!
What a sermon those laughing, clowning soldiers were preaching!
* * * * * * * * * *
And they were on a roll! The “King” had a mock “robe”. He had a mock “crown”. But what else does He need? They looked around; and perhaps saw—leaning against a wall—one of the long reeds they used to beat their victims. And so, they also gave Him . . .
3. A MOCK SCEPTER (v. 29b).
Matthew tells us that they also put “a reed in His right hand” (v. 29b); and if you look further on to verse 30, you see that they used this very same reed to strike Him on the head—thorny crown and all.
But once again, they spoke more than they knew. Without realizing it, they placed a mock “scepter” into the hands of the very One that God the Father spoke of in Psalm 2—the psalm of the triumph of God’s promised Messiah. In that passage, the preincarnate Lord Jesus Himself says,
“I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them [or, as it can be translated, “You shall rule them”] with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel'” (Psalm 2:7-9).
When a potter had clay pots that he wished to remake, he took an iron rod to them and smashed them to pieces. Then he crumbled the pieces and softened them with water into clay that he could reform and reshape into some new design. And that’s what the Lord Jesus will do when He comes to reign over this earth. He won’t simply take-over the nations as they now are. He will utterly rule over them with a scepter of iron! He will reshape them after His own will! This will be just as it is told us in Revelation 19:15 of the Lord at His return: “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.”
When those Roman soldiers put a mock “scepter” in our Lord’s hands—soldiers who were, right then, serving the mightiest kingdom on the earth—they did far more than they knew!
* * * * * * * * * *
So; they were having a great time with their mock King. He wore His mock “robe” over His bare back. He bore His mock “crown” upon His bloodied head. He held a mock “scepter” in His hand. What was there left to do in their mockery but bow to Him! And so, they give Him . . .
4. A MOCK SALUTE (v. 29c).
Matthew tells us that “they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!'” (v. 29c). You can almost hear their laughter as they did so.
But once again, they spoke more truth than they realized. This same Jesus—whom they then mocked, and whom they were just about to crucify—would soon rise again and ascend back to the Father. He would then one day return to this earth in power and great glory—bearing the official title KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And the Bible promises this to us:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
Personally, I shudder to think of the horror that will prevail over some of those very soldiers when—at the judgment seat—they will bend the knee and profess the Lordship of this very Jesus they once mockingly bowed to and mockingly hailed!
These soldiers spoke more truth in their mocking than they could possibly have known!
* * * * * * * * * *
It’s then that those soldiers gave full expression to their contempt of our Lord in their mocking. They dared to “anoint” the King by spitting on His blessed person; and they took the reed from His hand and began to strike Him on the head with it (v. 30). But all this is just as our Lord prophetically said of Himself in Isaiah 50:6;
“I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting” (Isa. 50:6).
Matthew concludes by telling us, “And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and let Him away to be crucified” (v. 31).
And as we read on concerning the events that followed, we make an interesting discovery. Matthew gives us absolutely no details about the actual act of our Lord being crucified. In fact, none of the Gospel writers go into any detail at all about the crucifixion itself. All Matthew is led to tells us about it is what is found in verse 35; and is summed up in just these words: “Then they crucified Him . . .” It’s as if it isn’t our business to know those particular details.
And yet, isn’t it fascinating that out of all the things that Matthew was not led by the Holy Spirit to tell us, he was led to go into great detail about how our Lord was mocked! I suggest that it’s because even in the cruelest mockings of sinful men as they sought to put Him to death on the cross, Jesus was still being presented to us as the King of the Jews. And as Jesus Himself testified, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
Truly, God is not mocked! Even those who most mocked King Jesus said more truth about Him, in their mocking, than they knew!