SUCH SELF-CONTROL: Jesus shows remarkable restraint in the face of ugly mockery.
- Mark 15:16-20.
a. The mockery.
- The scene is hard-breaking: the sinless Son of God being mocked by the Roman soldiers.
- We see injustice in the world today and it pierces our heart. We deeply know that the world should not be like that.
- The mockery here is verbal, physical, and spiritual (as they “worship” Him).
b. The restraint.
- Jesus has the authority to call legions of angels. Jesus is in fact the Son of God. The restraint He shows in this moment is almost unbelievable.
- I can picture Him slowly standing as His body begins to radiate light as it did in the Transfiguration. I can picture the soldiers dropping their instruments of torture as they quickly move away from Him. I can picture the Pharisees and other religious leaders in the background with their eyes widening at the sight. And in that moment, Jesus is fully justified and His enemies put to shame. But that’s not what happened.
- Instead Jesus showed restraint.
WHY IS JESUS SO RESTRAINED? His love for us was greater than His love of self.
- Mark 15:29.
- Jesus was on a mission – and the goal was our salvation. He had a choice to make between saving Himself and saving us. In Mark 15:29, the crowd mocks Him by telling Him to prove He is the Son of God by saving Himself. It’s exactly the opposite of the truth: it’s because He truly is the Son of God that He is unwilling to save Himself. He gives Himself up to save us.
- Jesus had to keep His focus on the larger plan and the greater goal. He came into the world to save us.
- Knowing how horrible the mockery was as well as the physical pain only reinforces how much we owe to Christ for thinking of us in that moment above Himself.
- For us to be fully justified, Jesus couldn’t be in that moment.
- Having considered all that, we need to think about a related question.
- We are all in agreement that the mockery of Christ was a horrible sight. But does it continue to happen today? Even worse, does it happen in our lives?
- Mockery is doing or saying one thing while meaning the opposite. They bow down to Christ as king while clearly believing Him to be a pathetic prisoner.
- Do our lives have mockery of Christ in them? Let’s look at three examples.
DID THE MOCKERY END THERE?
1. People say Jesus is Lord while running their own lives.
- Luke 6:5; Acts 2:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Corinthians 12:3.
- Christians believe that Jesus is Lord and will quickly “amen” that. But we need to remember that Lord is not just an empty title – it’s also a declaration of who Jesus is.
- Lord means boss, CEO, ruler. Jesus is to be the CEO of our lives. He is to be the leader of our lives.
- When we declare “Jesus is Lord” while simultaneously wanting to run our own lives, we are mocking Christ. “Jesus is Lord,” we shout, “and I’ll let You know when I need Your input on my life.”
- We are not to take Jesus as an advisor, whose opinions we consider and then do what we think best. We are to submit to Him and His directions.
- Mockery is doing or saying on thing while meaning the opposite. Saying Jesus is Lord while treating Him as an advisor is mocking Him.
2. People say Jesus is Savior while living in their sins.
- Romans 6:1-23.
- Christians believe that Jesus is Savior and that He died for their sins. It’s enormously good news that we can be forgiven through Christ of the evil we’ve done.
- But Jesus as Savior means more than just that. It’s not merely that we are forgiven of our sins but also that we are freed from our sins. Jesus is not just about being forgiven from our sins; He’s also about being freed from our sins. Knowing how horrible our sinfulness is and its painful consequences in our lives, we should relish this freedom and pursue it with passion. And yet many Christians act as though they’re content to be forgiven of their sins and then remain living in the muck and mire.
- Romans 6 gives great insight into this idea. Paul directly takes on those who mischaracterize grace as a means to be forgiven and then continue blissfully sinning. Twice he rhetorically asks if we should grace to keep on sinning. Both times he answers his own question: “By no means!” He makes it clear that grace is the means of our freedom from the chains of sin. Once freed, we are to embrace the new nature that Christ has given us and pursue righteousness.
- Sadly, though, it has become a common belief in the evangelical church today that you can be forgiven and then continue in your sins as though nothing has happened. It’s a complete misunderstanding of what Jesus came to do and the nature of the salvation He is offering. He wants us freed from our sin!
- Mockery is doing or saying one thing while meaning the opposite. To say that Jesus is my Savior while continuing to live in my sins is mocking Him.
3. People say Jesus is wise while disobeying Him.
- Isaiah 11:2; Matthew 13:54; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Colossians 2:3.
- Jesus expected His people to follow Him. He gave us instruction so that we would know the way to become like Him.
- The instruction that Jesus left us is incredibly wise. It is the best way to live your life. It will immeasurably improve your life. It is the way of life and joy.
- Jesus was the smartest person to ever live. He had the keenest insight into life.
- Despite that, many people want to call themselves Christians while ignoring the teaching of Christ. They might obey the parts that they like, but they’re certainly not going to listen to all of it. Some it sounds weird. Some of it requires substantial life changes. Some of it requires personal repentance. Some of it requires sacrifice. “No thanks,” they say.
- But even if the teaching of Christ initially strikes us in any of those ways, that does not make it less binding. Being a Christian means being a follower of Christ and being a follower of Christ means doing what Jesus told us to do.
- Mockery is doing or saying one thing while meaning the opposite. To say that Jesus is wise while disobeying His teaching is mocking Him.
MY COMMITMENT: May my words and actions toward Jesus match my heart.
- This is a harsh accusation today. What we saw from the Scripture passage was hard to look at: Jesus being mocked by Roman soldiers. But it’s a serious accusation for us as well: are we mocking Jesus?
- To do or say one thing while meaning the opposite is mockery.
- This morning let’s recommit ourselves to fully following Him. May what I say I believe match what I actually live out.
