Lue 22:63-65

Posted by DJL on Mar 4, 2013 in Lenten Devotions | 2 comments

Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” They kept heaping many other insults on him.

The irony is that we have just been privy to a prophecy of Jesus’ coming to pass. Only moments before Peter had denied his lord three times, exactly as Jesus predicted he would. And now, moments later, Jesus is subjected to abuse, insults, and mockery, including the request that he prophesy. Irony, indeed, of the most bitter sort.

They do not know what they are doing, of course. They didn’t hear Jesus’ dire prediction, were not present for Peter’s brash profession of faith, or witness his despair when the cock crowed after his denials and he saw his Lord’s face turned to them. They know none of this and so continue on in their brutal work with little care for justice or equity and none whatsoever for religious piety or prophecy. The do not know who Jesus is.

But we do. We know that Jesus is going to his death just as he said he would. We know that he suffers these abuses on behalf of his disciples both then and now. We know that he chooses love for the people of the world – even the people who are abusing him right now – over safety and security. We know that he came to preach a kingdom of peace and reconciliation and to heal and feed all in need and oppose anything that stands between the children of God and abundant life.

They know none of this. We do. What difference does that knowing make?

Prayer: Dear God, when we remember the mockery and abuse Jesus suffered let us not look away but rather see in his manifold indignities reminders of your great love for all people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.