Today´s Scripture: John 19
For many of us this year has been a very tough one. Mainly because of
the worldwide pandemic we have all experienced loss in many different degrees!
Many have lost their loved ones; their health; their jobs, their homes… you
name it! But sadly the greatest loss of all, is that some have lost their faith
and hope!
No matter how much you have endured, let me remind you of God´s love for
you:
John 3:16 (AMP) “For God
so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that
He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts
in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Yes, you probably know this verse by heart. But do you realize the true meaning and the depth of the first words?
As Isaiah 53:10-11 stated: “Yet the Lord was
]willing to crush Him, causing Him to suffer; If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an
atonement for sin], He shall see His [spiritual]
offspring, He shall prolong His days,
and the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper
in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He shall see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the
Righteous One, My Servant, shall justify
the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with
Him], for He shall bear [the
responsibility for] their sins.”
Throughout all of John 19, the author
vividly describes the sufferings Jesus endured for our sake! I would like to
share the comments of the first verses from Spurgeon´s Verse Exposition on the
BIble:
John 19:1 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged
him.”
This
was one of the most terrible punishments to which a man could be sentenced. The
Roman scourge was no trifle. It tore off the quivering flesh of the agonized
sufferer for it was constructed on purpose to do so. It was generally made of
the sinews of oxen, intertwined with the knuckle bones of sheep, and small
slivers of bone. This torture our blessed Saviour endured. These are the stripes
with which we are healed.
John 19:2 “And the soldiers platted a
crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
Mockery was blended with cruelty. They might have
made him a crown, yet surely it need not have been one of thorns unless they
intended to put him to the utmost torment that they could conceive. By this
crown of thorns our blessed Lord was crowned King of the curse, for the earth
was cursed through Adam’s sin, and part of the sentence pronounced by God in
the garden of Eden was, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee.” So Christ wore the mark of the curse which man’s sin had brought upon
the world.
John 19:3 “And said, Hail, King of the
Jews! and they smote him with their hands.” This was the homage which the
Son of God received from men; harmless and gentle, he came here with no purpose
but that of doing good, and this is how mankind treated him.
John 19:4-5.” Pilate
therefore went forth again, and saith unto them Behold, I bring him forth to
you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth,
wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the man!”
Was there ever such a sight of majesty in misery
before or since? Yet he needed not to endure all that ignominy, he was no
vanquished monarch unable to maintain his own rights. He was still “over all,
God blessed for ever,” and could have smitten everyone there to death if he had
pleased to do so. But he was the Lamb of God’s passover, so he meekly suffered.”
John 19:15. “But they cried out,
away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I
crucify your King?”
Crucifixion was so awful and degrading that polite Romans wouldn’t talk
about it in public. The Roman statesman Cicero said of crucifixion: “It is a
crime to bind a Roman citizen; to scourge him is an act of wickedness; to
execute him is almost murder: What shall I say of crucifying him? An act so
abominable it is impossible to find any word adequately to express.” The Roman
historian Tacitus called crucifixion “A torture fit only for slaves.”
It would take many pages to describe each and every
verse in today´s chapter: ALL the physical and emotional agony Jesus endured
for LOVE: for you and me! (Isaiah 53:4-5)
My prayer is that we may find rest and comfort in our earthly sufferings focusing on Jesus: “...who is the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross…”…”3 Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2a-3) Amen!
Mari