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Mark 15:16-20
Rotation
Mid-Lent Worship
Pastor Charlie Vannieuwenhoven
Dear friends in our Savior,
A detective was investigating a church burglary. But he had a problem. The suspect whom he knew had
committed the crime wouldn’t admit to it. Try as hard as he could, he could not get a confession out of the man.
So after awhile, the pastor of the church stepped in and asked to speak to the suspect alone. Within minutes, the
preacher emerged and gave the name of the pawn shop where the stolen items could be found. The detected was
amazed. “How did you do that?” he asked the pastor. The pastor replied, “I told him you could send him to jail,
but I could send him to hell!” It’s funny how people will behave differently in the presence of different people.
The burglar thought he could bluff the police detective, but he changed his tune quickly when he realized that he
was in the presence of an all-seeing God.
In Lent, we follow the passion or suffering of Jesus as he continues forward on his mission to the cross of
Calvary. Who was this Jesus of Nazareth? Was he the king that he claimed to be? Was he the Son of the
almighty, eternal, and all-knowing God? Who do you believe Jesus to be? Do you believe the claims that he made
about himself, despite the treatment he allowed himself to go through here on this earth? The Romans soldiers in
our text for tonight show by their actions what they thought about the claim that Jesus made about himself that he
was a king. As we hear about how they treated our King and Savior, we protest their vile abuse and mockery of
Jesus. We shudder at their cruel mistreatment of Jesus. How can they escape the lowest pit of hell on the day of
final reckoning before God for their torture of his Son? Not one of us wants to be standing near those soldiers
when Jesus comes again on the last day wearing a crown of glory instead of a crown of thorns. Which is why we
must be made aware of times that we find ourselves doing the exact same thing! And when find ourselves treating
Jesus as those soldiers did, then we must fall on our knees and pray, “Father, Forgive Me for Despising My
Savior’s Claim.”
Mark 15:16-20 (NIV) 16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together
the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it
on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the
head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked
him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
These soldiers treated Jesus so cruelly because they didn’t take him seriously. They didn’t put any stock in
his claim that he was a king. They had heard that claim. Anyone in Jerusalem on the Sunday prior had heard
about Jesus’ triumphant entry. These soldiers too had no doubt heard about the Jews lining the streets
triumphantly hailing Jesus as their king and long awaited Messiah, the Son of David who came in the name of the
Lord. They had heard the Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate with the charge that he claimed to be a king, and by
so doing was a threat to Caesar. And they had heard it from Jesus’ only lips during Pilate’s interrogation of him.
They heard his claims. They just didn’t take him seriously.
And their actions showed it. Everything that they did to Jesus in our text shows that they were despising
and mocking his claim to be a king. They put a crown on him—but not a royal crown. His was a crown of thorns
which pierced into his skull as they pressed it onto his head. They put a purple robe on him, or one that looked like
something royalty might wear. But they didn’t treat him like royalty. They spit on him. They took a reed, one
that looked or was intended to imitate a scepter—which was a sign of power and rule for a king, and they beat him
on the head with it repeatedly. They addressed him “Hail, king of the Jews,” mocking the address that was used
for Caesar, “Hail, Caesar.” We’re told that they even called together other soldiers to have fun mocking this small,
weak, pittance of a man who claimed to be the king of the Jews.
What a joke this was to them! As soldiers of the most powerful army in the world, they knew there was no
other power than Caesar. If Jesus were a king, where were his armies? Where were the body guards who would
protect him? Where were his expensive robes? His scepter? His crown? Was this fool of a carpenter the best
Israel could come up with for a king? What a joke! To them all the grand religious debate surrounding Jesus was
just childish and foolish and deserving of contempt. And that is what they displayed in their actions. Contempt.
They didn’t believe they were standing in the presence of a king, much less the Son of almighty God.
Do you think their actions would have been different if they had known this? You’d like to think so. But I
wonder. We can think about all the people today who treat our Savior and his claims with the same contempt. We
think of the learned people in universities and colleges around our world today who make it their goal to argue and
ridicule any students out of Christianity. There are those people. We look at those in the field of science who
ridicule the Bible’s teaching of creation or as came up again very recently in the debate about embryonic stem-cell
research, the Bible’s claim about the sanctity of life which starts at conception. We can talk about those who
despise those who believe that there is one absolute truth to which we are subject. There are those who have
become so jaded about life itself that they hold in contempt any who, like us, think that there is a deeper meaning.
You hear people in politics and in the entertainment world who are constantly whining and complaining that the
Christians would just be quiet and keep our religion to ourselves. All these people in their actions are treating with
contempt Jesus’ claim to be their king.
But lest we cast stones on others and try to take the speck out of their eyes, it is good that we look in the
mirror and first take the plank out of our own eye. Do we take seriously our Savior’s claim to be our King? Do
we take Jesus seriously when he says that He alone is the only way to eternal life and those who don’t believe in
him will be in hell? Do we take Jesus seriously when he says that he wants to be the number one priority in the
way that we use the time that he has given to us, the talents that we have, and the resources that he has blessed us
with? Do we take Jesus seriously when he says that we should not look out for our own interests but for the
interests of each other? Do we take Jesus seriously when he tells us to respect and obey our leaders and those in
authority over us who must give an account for their work? Do we take Jesus seriously when he tells us to
continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we take Jesus seriously when he tells
us that faith without works is dead? To say no to any of those shows that we are just as guilty as those soldiers
mocking Jesus and despising his claim to be our king.
As we come face to face with our mockery of Jesus, face to face with our sin of idolatry, we can do nothing
but fall on our knees and beg our Lord, “Father, forgive me for despising my Savior’s claim. Please do not hold
my sins against me, for Jesus’ sake. Rescue me from the deepest pit of hell that I deserve and give me the strength
to serve Jesus as my Lord and King.” And the beauty of this scene before us today is that God does. He forgives
your sin. As difficult as it is to see our Savior treated so inhumanely, it is so beautiful to see Jesus actively taking
our place of suffering. We don’t see Jesus fighting back or trying to get away. He allowed himself such cruel
punishment to be the sacrifice that we needed for our sins. What we could not do, Jesus did. What we deserved to
face, Jesus did. The gift that we do not deserve, Jesus’ gives.
What an awesome Lord! He did exactly what a king is supposed to do. He went to battle on behalf of his
people and did what was necessary to protect them and keep them safe eternally! His actions validated his claim.
And our King was not defeated, as it appeared to many on that Good Friday so long ago. He rose from the grave
victoriously reigning over his enemies. And he ascended into heaven to reign on his throne to this day. Jesus is
our King! As our King, he is ruling over all things, controlling the universe, for the benefit of his church. All
things are subject to him, including you and me. God created us. He redeemed us. And he made us his own
through the work of the Holy Spirit. He is indeed our king.
And now as our King, we show him love and respect and honor as we follow his wishes, trust in his
wisdom and care, and gladly obey his word. Our Savior has claimed us as his people. He made a claim on us. We
belong to him, not to ourselves. We are his people, here to serve not ourselves and our own interests, but to do the
will of our Father. When we as Christian mothers and fathers teach our children about the way of Jesus, we show
him to be our king. As willingly give of our time to gather in his house and worship him we show him to be our
King. We show him to be our King when we treat our customers with respect and support our employers. We
show Jesus to be our King when we look after the needs of our hurting neighbors or give of our own time to help
them on a project. We show Jesus to be our king when we submit to every word of Scripture as God’s will, even
those doctrines and guidelines that are hard to understand or that we don’t like. We are glad and honored to be the
servants of a King who has taken care of us in such an awesome way. We show in our actions the faith and trust
that is in our hearts for our King.
Though many deny and mock our King, we pray that we will always acknowledge and honor him. The
Roman soldiers did not take Jesus’ claim seriously, did not think that they were standing in the presence of
almighty God and they made it clear in the way that he treated him. We pray that God not only forgives us our
sins, but that as his people, who love him and are thankful for all that he has done, that we may honor and obey
him and show in our actions that He is indeed our King! As subjects of his wonderful kingdom of grace, knowing
that he is the foundation of our lives, we live to serve and honor our King. Amen.