Has Anyone Ever Mocked You (Matthew 27: 27-44)
Have ever had somebody laugh at you. The times that hurt for most of us it seems is when it happened to us in childhood. But how about as an adult, that’s painful as well, but what about this, has anyone ever laughed at you because of something spiritual, or because you’re a believer in Jesus Christ. All of us have had the experience then of being laughed at, made fun of or mocked and frankly it can hurt, being laughed at hurts. Being made fun of is no fun being mocked can leave lasting marks on us. But you’re not alone, everybody here has had the experience at some point and no less than Jesus himself also experienced it. But beyond that he was mocked and then crucified. So, but in the run up to that he was mocked and laughed at ridiculed. What I’d like for us to do is look at his experience and see what we can learn from him about how to handle this sort of painful experience in our life. Now we have been going through the Gospel of Matthew we’re in the midst of the trial and the up-and-coming crucifixion of Christ and we’re going to break in where it says in verse 27.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
(Matthew 27: 27-31)
In this passage we’re given a number of things that happen just before the crucifixion. I want us to look at them and make the point before we start that Matthew seems to be making a rather big issue out of the fact that they mocked him. They kneel before him , they mocked him, they spit on him and took the took thorns and twisted them into a crown and placed it on his head. Then they struck him on the head, and they mocked him. The mocking and the abuse continue.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus’ wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
(Matthew 27: 32-44)
We now see the chief priest also mocking him with the scribes and the elders and verse 44 even the robbers who were crucified with him insult him. Now we’re going to look at several things that happened but, in a sense, almost everything in this passage in one way or another with one possible exception is an illustration of being mocked and ridiculed and insulted.
The first part of this passage tells us that Jesus was mocked by the military not just a few soldiers but the whole Garrison of the Praetorium were involved.
You have heard me say before that the temple was not a single building, it was 35 acres, and it had a wall around it and perched on one of the walls was a fortress called here the Praetorium and that's where the Romans stayed and they looked over the whole courtyard.
This was so that if there were some kind of a riot they could be immediately on the spot. That’s where they were and it said there was a Garrison of Roman soldiers there,we know out from outside the Bible that a Garrison of soldiers could be as many as 500 soldiers, maybe it was because of the Passover events that were going on, maybe they were fearful that the Jews might try to start a riot, whatever the case they’re in the Roman fortress overlooking the temple and there are probably as many as 500 Roman soldiers nearby at the point that this happened. With the whole Garrison were around him they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, now why would they do that.
The answer is rather simple the scarlet robe was the one worn by royalty, so what they are doing is mocking him. He had been accused of being the king of the Jews so these Roman soldiers are having sport if you will, and they put a scarlet robe on him and mock him as if he is a king. They twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head this is more mocking, you’re a king ,a king deserves a crown, so they took thorns and made a crown and crammed it into his head. In and of itself would have been an extremely painful thing. Then they put a small branch in his right hand again this is to a sarcastic mocking way of saying you’re a king here is your sceptre and then they mockingly bowed their knee and say, ”hail king of the Jews”. It also tells us, they spat on him, and they took the branch and struck him on the head and then they led him away to be crucified. They beat him to the point of nearly knocking virtually unconscious, it was a vicious violent beating and then they let him off to be crucified.
The book of Isaiah says that his vestige was marred more than any man before, in other words he was beaten almost beyond recognition. But notice as much as the physical suffering which was overwhelming Matthew also focus on the mental anguish of his Mental anguish, the mocking, the scorn or and contempt they poured on him, they derided him, they mimicked him. People will tell you it can take a lifetime to get over humiliation. As someone once said, I quote. “Laughter is a gift of God but there is no gift of God which is more frequently abused and converted from a blessing into a curse. When laughter is directed against good people, when it is used to belittle and degrade, when it is employed as a weapon with which to torment the weak with ridicule then instead of being a balm to the soul it becomes a deadly poison”. God’s given us the gift of humour can be a good medicine, to make light of our struggles but that same gift of God could be used for great harm.
As a matter of fact in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says we’re to walk in love and not walk in sin, and then he lists sins like you would expect, sins like sexual immorality, uncleanness and covetousness and in that list of sins he throws in foolish talking and coarse jesting suggesting that that on the same level as these other sins. Some types of humour are designed to hurt, as a matter-of-fact sarcasm comes from a Greek word which means to tear the flesh like dogs, to enrage and speak bitterly, there is a sarcasm that can cut to the bone and it’s that kind of harmful humour that ought not be part of the life of a believer trying to follow Jesus Christ. That’s what Jesus Christ experienced here, he experienced being mocked, being ridiculed with scorn and contempt they mimicked him in such a way as to make fun of him, before leading him off to be crucified.
Jesus is then forced to carry his own cross to the place called Golgotha and the load became so great that he fell beneath it. At that time Roman soldiers had the ability to conscript somebody on the spot and in this case verse 32 tells us that they drafted Simon of Cyrene to help carry it. Cyrene was a place in North Africa, so this man from Africa is the one that bears the cross and they compelled him to carry the cross all the way to Golgotha. Some have suggested that this man probably had saved his money t to be able to go to the Passover in Jerusalem and now he’s finally made the trip of a lifetime and he gets in Jerusalem and as an innocent bystander when this parade of suffering happens to pass by, just out of chance he gets chosen to carry the cross. What a turn of events for him. However, that chance meeting that Simon had with the saviour brought him salvation. Someone has said that Simon came to Jerusalem to sacrifice a Passover lamb but he met the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for him. What perhaps Simon had seen as his day of shame, became his day of glory. There was a tradition from outside the scriptures that Simon became a believer and he went back to Africa and preached the gospel there. There is in fact some indication of that even in the scriptures themselves when Mark tells us that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus, so Mark in writing his gospel narrative mainly to Roman believers mentions these name as if the readers at Rome knew who these guys originally from North Africa where. According to tradition, Simon not only went back to Africa, and he led his family to Christ apparently and they went to Rome and were known in the Christian community as outstanding believers. This one man called Simon, would go on to touched two continents Africa and Europe with the Gospel because on this day he met Jesus Christ and helped carried his cross.
The next event in this passage is the crucifixion itself. The crucifixion take place at a place called Golgotha; we do not know how this place got its name but we don’t know what that name means. It was the place of the skull, but at any rate he was crucified in the area called the place of the skull. This was a custom on occasion that because crucifixion was so painful that they at least had a little mercy and gave them wine mixed with gall which simply means something bitter that deadened the pain. Some therefore were trying to be at least a little compassionate on this person who was crucified, but the interesting thing is that the text says verse 34 that he did not drink it. Many suggest this was because he wanted to be fully conscious when he bore the sin of the world, at any rate they then crucified him and verse 35 says they divided his garments casting lots and Matthew adds that this was in fulfilment of a prophecy of Psalm 22, which says, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for them”. Every person in this day had five pieces of clothing, an inner garment, an outer garment, a girdle a head covering and sandals. From what we can gather there were four soldiers and what they really gambled over and cast lots for was that outer garment, some suggest perhaps they each one got an item of clothing and then cast lots over the main outer garment. Matthew says that's another indication of fulfilled prophecy. After doing that they just sat down and watched over him. They also wrote on a pice of wood and placed it abover his head at the top of the cross the accusation made against him, “This is Jesus, king of the Jews”.
Now again let me make a couple of observations, one thing in the context of this immediate passage that is another mockery going on here. They were mocking him, did the Roman soldiers believe he was a king. No, they are the ones that it is said mocked him earlier about this very thing. So, to put that above him was another form of mocking him, but let me ask you was that a true statement? Absolutely he was indeed king of the Jews, he fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah the king of the Jews. So, at this point there is in a sense the climax of the Gospel of Matthew and Matthew now lands on this as if to say this is the climactic indication of even though Jesus is crucified and they tack sarcastically a sign over his head saying, this is Jesus the king of the Jews, it still ironically un beknown to them was proclamation of the truth. Some have suggested that that was the first gospel track, and that is not a bad analogy. Jesus Christ is crucified. One speaker I heard described it this way.
“He was scourged that we might be healed, he was stripped that we might be clothed, he wore a crown of thorns that we might wear a crown of glory, he was mocked that we might be honoured, he was put to a painful death that we might joy enjoy life forever more. Jesus Christ died in our place so that we not would not have to die”.
The next thing that happens is he gets mocked again, this time by people who are passing by, and even by the two robbers who were crucified with him, one of the right the other on the left. Again he is mocked, those who passed by cursed him and mocked him saying, you said you would destroyed the temple and build it in three days, you can’t even save yourself. If you’re really the son of God come down from the cross and save yourself. We started out seeing the soldiers mocking him and now it’s the people who are passing by and even the other crucified with him, mocked him.
Listen to what Peter says about this in first Peter chapter two, he says.
“For this you were called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, he who committed no sin and who had no deceit in his mouth, when he was reviled did not revile in return, when he suffered, he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously”.
Notice when he was reviled, he did lash out in return. Take note, he is our example, therefore when we get laughed at, when we get scored for any reason, we should simply commit ourselves to God in the knowledge that he is the one judges righteously.
There’s one more little event in this passage and that is it says other people scorned him and tells us again the chief priests and the scribes mocked him saying.
“He saved others himself he cannot save himself, if he's the king of Israel let him come down from the cross and then we will believe him”.
Again, the religious leaders mock him. So, the soldiers have mocked him, those passing by mocked him, and of all people the religious leaders mock him with bitter and biting sarcasm.
Let me ask you a final question, if he was the son of God then why did he not come down? The answer is he needed to stay up there to bear our sins in order to save us.
I grew up in a rural area of Northern Ireland and in the summer I worked on local farms. I once heard the story of a farmer who had gone to his barn one morning and found ahen sitting on a bunch of chicks and the farmer touched the hen and discovered that it was cold, it was dead. The farmer said what happened was a weasel had come along in the night and attacked the hen attaching itself unto the hen’s neck and head and sucked all the blood out of the hen until it died. The hen had not moved but stayed on the nest to save the chicks, whether that’s true or not I don’t know, but I’ll tell you this that’s a great illustration why didn’t he come down from the cross.
The religious leaders said, look, you come down and we will believe in you. But if he came down form the cross then we wouldn’t have the chance to respond in free will and believe in him and be saved. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, on that day some might have believed in him if he had come down with the cross, but millions today and throughout history have believed in him because he stayed up on the cross died in our place, so that we would not have to die.
In spite of all this suffering physically and emotionally described for us in great detail by Matthew it seems to me that the one of the points Matthews seems to be drawing our attention to is how Jesus responded to all of this.
Firstly, he knew who he was, and he knew he was doing the will of God. That may seem like stating the obvious, but it’s deeply significant.
In conclusion let me spell out a couple of things for you.
Number one, Jesus Christ knew what it was like to be mocked. He was mocked by ignorant people, religious people, fellow condemned people, everyone. So, he knew what it was like to be mocked. That’s important because if you are laughed at especially if it is because of you love for him that somebody ridicules you or mocks you the first thing you need to know is this, Jesus Christ knows what that is like. That important.
The writer to the Hebrews says.
“We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
So, when you are feeling cut to the bone, when you feel the emotional pain of somebody laughing at you just remember that is one thing that Jesus really understands. Remember in these areas of life he understands all of the emotion that we go through because he experienced it firt and to the ultimate degree.
The second thing I would like to say is Jesus knows what it feels like to be mocked, but he also knew how to respond to it. How do you handle that kind of thing, you try and be like Jesus and recognise that what you are doing is in the will of God, and that is what enabled him to withstand the torture and ridicule, and it will help you also to think that way. I know that sounds simple, but that’s very important. Jesus Christ knew that he was the son of God, and he was mocked for it, he knew he was king of the Jews, and he was mocked for it. The point is their opinion is not what matter, it can be disregarded, what mattered to him was the will of God. That he did what God told him to do and he stayed on the cross and he died in our place to save us.
I do believe we can learn from this passage, but it’s a tough lesson to learn, but it seems to me but there is something here we can learn about being laughed at, and that is that when you’re laughed at just remember who you are and what the will of God is for you and don’t listen to the people laughing. When you mocked or abused remember and hold onto the fact that you are valuable to God.
Remember and say to yourself, my value comes from whom God said I am, and not what other people say about me. Say to yourself, I have the righteous of God in Christ. I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind, I am a new creation, justified, sanctified, and redeemed from the curse of enemy. Delivered from the powers of darkness, need I say more. I just needed my feelings to line up with what God said about me, and not what other people say, particularly those who neither know or care about you or God. When somebody laughs at you, you can feel belittled you may feel humiliated, devalued, well here is the solution. Jesus didn’t succumb to that because he knew who he was, and you just needed your feelings to line up with what God already says about you. Let the Holy Spirit to remind you and choose to believe what you know, instead of what you feel.
Let me tell you friends, feelings are not dependable, they lie to us. God’s word is true, it takes practice, but I am better at it than I’ve ever been. I’ve been laughed at in my life. I’ve been laughed at because of my Christian faith, been ridiculed and so I am sure have you. But I know we don’t have to listen to them because I know who I am in Christ and I trust you do to and can focus instead of wallowing in what God says about you, and disregarding what anyone else says about you or the Lord.