...recognize the Son of God...

“16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole cohort. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two rebels, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him”

Mark 15:16-32.

In Mark’s crucifixion scene, it is a story drenched in mockery, and it closes with such absorbing mockery. Jewish passers-by, including the leaders, speak up about the claims Jesus made, explicitly and implicitly, and His warnings against the Temple. And such claims are thrown back in Jesus’ face. Jesus can’t even rescue himself, they say, let alone destroy and rebuild the Temple in three days. And – the sharpest cut of all – everyone knows that the Messiah should be defeating the Romans, not dying at their hands. If he really is the King, he should come down from the cross. That would give them reason to believe.

What I hear Mark saying is that, just because Jesus is King of the Jews, He must stay on the cross. That is his royal task and reign. That is what He has come to do; it is the climax of his kingdom-vocation. The mocking and taunting, the shame and humiliation, come together with the dark extremes of pain and torture, as the inner core of what it all meant, the reason why the cross gives faith and hope to Mark’s little community, and to all Christians as we meditate on these events.

I feel Mark saying that the cross is the vocation of the Son of God, given to Him by the Father, and acted out to the full. Indeed, this is how the kingdom of God comes at last. We are perhaps meant to hear, with the ears of faith, the same voice that spoke at the baptism of the Son of God, saying with sorrow and pride the same words: ‘You are My Son, the Beloved; with You I am well pleased” Mark 9:1-11. But it was one of the Centurions who crucified the Son to speak the these final words: “Truly this man was God’s Son” Mark 15:39!

So today, consider the irony of your failures to recognize the Son of God in your life. Today we are all called to recognize the Son of God, and His death, not in our thoughts and opinions, but our hearts and souls. Such recognition of the Son of God must CHANGE OUR DAILY LIVING.

MAKE THIS YOUR PRAYER TODAY!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.