He Is Our Example

He is Our Example

Matthew 27:27-44

October 25, 2009

NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."

Me: I’ve mentioned a few times that there are some people in my life who have served as models or examples for me, especially in terms of living for Christ, raising a family, and being a pastor.

Some of you here have served as examples to me in a number of ways, and I’m grateful for that because I’ve still got work to do in a lot of areas.

We: Examples are good for us.

Even bad examples can serve some good, because we can learn what not to do or be like, right?

Well, in Jesus we have an example of someone who handles suffering well. And not just run of the mill suffering, if there is such a thing, but suffering that He didn’t deserve.

He was completely innocent, and yet He was put to death.

How do we handle it when we’re hounded or harassed for following Jesus in our world?

I think we can find some things in this passage from Matthew today.

God: In our passage for today, the trial before Pontius Pilate is over, and Jesus has been condemned to die.

So now he’s being prepared to be executed by crucifixion.

Matthew 27:27-44 (p.705) –

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ’I am the Son of God.’" 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Jesus went against the grain of our culture and of our natural inclinations toward unjust suffering:

1. He endured the mocking.

Four times in this passage Matthew tells us that Jesus was mocked and insulted.

And how does Jesus react in every case? He didn’t. He just took it.

They mocked Him in three ways:

> They mocked His majesty.

Jesus said He was a king. Not an earthly king, and His kingdom didn’t have earthly priorities.

But Pilate and the soldiers decided that His claim to be a king was something that deserved to be mocked and insulted.

So what did they do? They dressed Him up as a king. They gave Him a crown. They gave Him a robe. And they gave Him a staff.

And they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

And because that wasn’t enough, they took that staff they’d given Him and beat Him on the head – while He was wearing the crown of thorns.

> They mocked His mission.

Verse 42 –

"He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

They didn’t get the fact that the cross was the mission.

For all their studying and learning, the religious leaders who were responsible for leading people to the Messiah couldn’t recognize Him even thought He was right in front of them.