by David E. Strope
Mockers derided Him.
“And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’” (Matthew 27:29).
“He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Matthew 27:42).
Deniers blasphemed Him.
“Those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross’” (Matthew 27:39–40).
Revilers snarled at Him.
“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing” (Matthew 27:44).
As in Jesus’ day, so, too, today mockers deride Jesus Christ, deniers curse and despise Him, and revilers snarl even from the plunge into Hell.
But remember . . .
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God made flesh came to earth to die for sinners— for you, for me. He bore the full measure of the Father’s wrath, which was owed not merely to one but to all. Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Jesus Christ came to earth to die for blasphemers, for sinners who wagged their heads at the foot of the cross, and for you and me. Although we live in another time, we too wag our heads with curses, oaths, blasphemy.
Jesus Christ looked in mercy at one malefactor and promised, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Jesus Christ came into the world to die, granting mercy to the worst of sinners, to the thief at His side, to you, to me.
All the events of Calvary—His vicious trial, shameful crucifixion, His death as Son of God made flesh, His burial and resurrection from the dead the third day—were the plan of God, Three in One. “Him [Jesus], being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:23–24).
Stop.
Pause in wonder.
Worship.
Adore this God.
Let the love of Christ be fresh in your heart and mind. Allow Christ’s great redemptive work at Calvary to constrain you. Move to worship in heartful, affective adoration. Live for Him, Who loved you and gave Himself for you.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son
that thou mightiest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
“Love Lustres at Calvary,” in Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotion (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 76.
David E. Strope is the interim national representative of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
Video credit: “The Sacrifice” by The Wilds, used by permission.
