Monday, March 16, 2015
Matthew 27:27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
APPEARANCES VS. REALITY
It is not unusual to see a king surrounded by his soldiers, but these are the governor's soldiers. They stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. It was probably a worn-out soldiers cape, masquerading as a royal robe. They put a crown on His head, but it was worse than child's play, not just a crown of branches, but of thorns. They put a scepter in His hand, but it was just a reed, and they used it to beat Him on the head, pounding in the thorns any time they wanted to. Surrounded by the whole company of Roman soldiers, He appeared helpless.
The reality was that Jesus was the Christ, the King, the Son of the Living God. Before Him every knee would one day bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The injustices that Jesus suffered pile up like a mountain, and as we stand at the foot of it looking up, it appears so great it blots out the sun, for that mountain includes our sins, too. "He was wounded for our transgression ..."
But as the Spirit lifts up our eyes, we see the reality that it is but a foothill compared to the mountain towering behind it. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
That mountain of sin came down on Him and drove Him to the grave so that we might be carried to the top of the mountain of God's grace, and have access to Him-- calling upon Him in every trouble, enjoying His deliverance even in death, and glorifying Him with our very life and breath.
The more things change in our world, the more He stays the same, yesterday, today, and forever!
