“Pilate…had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then wove a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.” Mark 15:15-19
Lisa and I went to see the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ with trepidation. Friends forewarned us of its violence, so we were shocked when we saw people walking into the theater with a tub of popcorn and a big box of Sour Patch Kids.
This didn’t seem like a popcorn and candy kind of movie.
Afterwards, Lisa told me she kept wanting to say, “Stop hitting Him!”
It was painful even to watch, and gruesome.
And yet God is kind to give us, in the Scriptures, such a vivid portrayal of what He went through to win us back to Him. The Father watched His Son endure hideous treatment; the Son endured despicable abuse from the very people He was dying to save. We must not let the familiarity of the cross ever eclipse its grotesque treatment of our Savior.
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