The Lord Jesus Died for Me
Pastor Rong
Translated by Allan Liang
Mark 15:16-20
When the Roman soldiers humiliated and abused Jesus in this cruel and evil way, they did not know that the devil used them to bare his hideous fangs, and that the height of humanity’s pride and arrogance was exposed, daring to act so perversely before the Creator. What sorrow! What suffering! As I read the Bible these past few mornings, when this passage of Scripture: Mark 15:16-20, entered my eyes, a current of sorrow poured out of my heart. Sorrowful, because of the Lord’s humiliation? Thankful, because of the cost paid by the Lord to redeem humanity? O Lord, why did you forsake your splendor and take upon yourself such shame? Did you do so for us undeserving humans? You willed to pay such a heavy cost for us, people who resisted and rebelled against you. No, it surely cannot be! This is a scene that cannot be, a scene that none can behold, a scene that none can tolerate, a scene that none can accept. My Lord, my God, my King, I know that I am unworthy, and that the love of the Lord is boundless and unfathomable; the Lord has poured out his life for us, what have I sacrificed for the Lord? Yet in reality, the devil never imagined that during that very moment, Jesus was completing the plan of redemption to save sinners, and was destroying all the power of the devil. Here, the purple robe was the king’s robe, signifying the king’s power. Humanity because of their refusal to acknowledge God’s kingly authority and their insistence on becoming king themselves, reaped the fruit of sin and death, reduced to slaves of Satan. Jesus, however, is King, and is the King of Kings, the only true God, yet he was willing to take off the heavenly robe of purple, descending to the depths of lowliness and became the atoning lamb for the world, he suffered humiliation and was clothed with a purple robe of mockery, thus, saving the world from the sins of rebellion and laying down a path for the world to be justified. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Thorns grew because of humanity’s sin and the curse they received (see Genesis 3:17-18), indicating that humanity’s life on earth was cursed and affected because of sin. O see! Now, Jesus wore the crown of thorns, the thorns pierced through his head, blood flowed out... because Jesus shed his precious blood, the curse on this life brought by humanity’s sin and forsaking of God was shattered, letting man by the power of his blood, live victoriously on the earth, no longer enslaved by sin, fear, guilt, depression and anxiety, surmounting all kinds of suffering and sinful environments, witnessing and glorifying the Lord! Even more so, the Lord Jesus was struck on the head and had saliva spitted on his face, a great act of degradation. Man because of sinning, fall into self-perceived shame, many suffer pain their entire lives from guilt, shame, self-pity and the like. Yet the honorable Lord Jesus silently endured all this, though he was wholly sinless, completely holy and without blemish, though he was the only true God, supreme in power, holiness and majesty, and though he deserved all the worship and praise. Because he endured this exceedingly great shame, he saved man from the humiliation and shame brought by sin. “By his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), and not only are our bodies healed, but more importantly, our souls have also been healed. Jesus’ salvation for us is absolute and complete. The destruction brought by humanity’s sin, no matter the rebellious nature of humanity, or the brokenness and shamefulness of man’s personality and self-image, has all been redeemed one by one in Jesus. We thank the Lord for he silently endured the many humiliations, mistreatment and even floggings added to him by man, ultimately, even having his life taken away. After all this, he rose victoriously from the dead! If we understand and experience more deeply all that the Lord endured and bore, we will surely worship and love our Lord more. When we break the bread in remembrance of the Lord, our inner affections will become stronger, our understanding and reverent love for the Lord will increase even more. Please meditate and then pray: Please meditate over every detail of the Lord Jesus’ suffering. Do you clearly see that every bit of suffering that Jesus endured was for us, for our salvation? Do I truly see the greatness of the cost paid by my Lord Jesus to heal me and save me from the chains of sin, death and curse? Soli Deo Gloria!