The Shame of the Cross (Mark 15:15-20)

“He was like one people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him” (Isaiah 53:3). From among the twelve that Jesus chose to be His closest followers, one betrayed Him, all forsook Him, and Peter denied that he knew Him. When Jesus revealed to the Sanhedrin that He was the Messiah, “They all condemned Him to be deserving of death. Then some began to spit on Him, to blindfold Him, and to beat Him saying, ‘Prophesy.’ Even the temple police took Him and slapped Him” (Mark 14:64). Why did Jesus endure this?

When He was judged before Pilate as the King of the Jews, the crowd chose a murderer to be released instead of Jesus. Pilate handed Jesus over to be flogged and then crucified. “Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, headquarters) and called the whole company together. They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on Him. And they began to salute Him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They kept hitting Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying Him homage. When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him” (Mark 15:15-20). Why didn’t Jesus stop them?

Only in the honor-shame culture values of the New Testament can we begin to fully appreciate the suffering of the Messiah. Why did He do it? “Yet He Himself bore our sickness, and He carried our pains, but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). It’s been a year since I’ve seen my only son Andrew. The week before he was to return to the United States, I received word that because of Covid-19 he would be unable to come home. I will need to wait several more months to see him. With this longing in my heart for my son, I consider the love of God the Father when He sent His son to atone for my sins.

Jesus was cursed, shamed, scorned and humiliated. Why? We find the answer in Hebrews 12:2: “Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” Jesus had come as the Messiah to bring salvation. He had come to declare the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus accomplished these things on the cross. On the cross Jesus bore our sickness and carried our pain. We are healed by His wounds and through His sacrificial love we find ourselves welcomed into the kingdom of God!