Mocked And Condemned For Me

Daily Devotions with Pastor Chuck

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Consider this passage from Matthew,

“In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, and saying, ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe Him.'” (Matthew 27:41-42 – NASB)

The “chief priests,” the “scribes and elders,” they seemed to be a cold hearted people, would you not agree? Here on a “cross” hung One who had taught, healed, fed the multitudes, raised the dead and yet these men, acclaimed as the religious elite of the Jews, were “mocking Him.” It is a sobering thought to think of all Jesus went through to purchase my salvation . . . most sobering indeed. And when I read about these “priests” and “scribes and elders,” I have this tendency to hate them, a desire to see their judgment carried out! I have this desire to read that Jesus came down from that “cross” and showed them just who He really was!

Such thinking is worldly thinking. What is most necessary about this very moment in history is that Jesus did not think of Himself, did not seek to unleash His mighty power for His own benefit, did not come down from that “cross” as He very well could have, but instead, He carried out the work He had come to do. He, who was not guilty of any crime, stayed on that “cross” and He, through His great sacrifice, made it possible for a sinner like me to be saved from the penalty due my sin. Mocked and condemned for me . . . it is a good thing to recall to our minds just what God has done for us in Christ,

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21 – NASB)

Jesus, “who knew no sin” took upon Himself “sin on our behalf.” He suffered the punishment due you and I that we “might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Oh the “priests” and the “scribes and elders,” they mocked Him, but we know, don’t we brethren, that at “the cross” the greatest act of love ever carried out, from the foundations of the earth until now, and for that matter, forever, took place!

Issac Watts, in his old hymn, on the love of Him who died for my sin, who suffered in my place . . . .

“Such love demands my soul, my life, my all . . .” (from: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross)

Have a good day brethren . . . and as you walk may you be reminded of just what Christ has done for you, and instead of groaning that it is Monday, rejoice in Jesus . . . . . . . be oh so joyful that He did not come down from that cross.