MATTHEW 27:24-31: So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him”
In the New Testament book of Jude, we are given one of the most difficult commands to consistently obey – Keep yourself in the love of God (Jude v.21). What this does not mean is God’s love to us is dependent upon our “keeping ourselves in it by obedience.” His love is constant regardless of our conduct. But what it does mean is to keep directing your mind and heart on the love God has for us. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John4:19). And to maintain a fervent first love for the Lord Jesus, we must diligently not look at ourselves and our efforts to love Him but look constantly toward Him and the many displays of His first love to us.
Today’s scripture takes us to such a place where His love shines brightly on the backdrop of the blackness of sinful men’s treatment of Him. Get alone with this detailed scriptural account of the brutality the Lord Jesus had inflicted upon Him by His sinful creatures. Meditate on every word of suffering He endured without a word or act of resistance. Picture standing nearby and watching this spectacle. Hear the agonies of pain from the Godman crying out from His humanity. Watch the soldiers strip Him and expose Him to public humiliation. See them thrust upon His brow a twisted crown of thorns bringing forth blood dripping into His eyes and down His face. Listen to the cruel words of mockery. Try not to drown out the grotesque sound of grown men spitting into the face of God. And then, stare at the barely recognizable Son of God, marred by the beatings, as they drag Him away to be crucified.
Now, without a word, think long and hard on all He endured and do so realizing it was for you and me. And if the Spirit of God grants the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him in His suffering, first love will be recovered, intensified, and maintained in one’s heart (Ephesians 3:18-19). How could it not be to the heart seeing Christ in this light?
PRAYER: “Father, direct Your Spirit to draw me to behold the sufferings of Your Son for me.”
QUOTE: “We keep our hearts aflame with love for Jesus as we meditate upon His sufferings for us.”