“I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”  Isaiah 50:6

 As a youngster, the scene from “Mutiny on the Bounty”, of a young man being flayed alive for some misdemeanour, appalled me, and my sympathies went to Fletcher Christian and his famous mutiny.  Later I read Captain (later Admiral) Blye’s account of the need to keep strict discipline, and justifying extreme punishment.  I suppose the high priests too felt justified in their trial of Jesus.

 They just didn’t get who they were dealing with.  In their mockery of a trial they got Him to admit that He was the Messiah, the Christ; they condemned Him as deserving death, and took their case to Pilate since they were not permitted to carry out the death sentence themselves.  First, some began to spit on Him, and cover His face, and to strike Him, saying to Him, “Prophesy to us you Christ!  Who is it that struck you?”  Later, Herod too with his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and mocked Him.  Pilate unwillingly bowed to the pressure of the Jews and handed Him over. 

 The film “The Passion of the Christ” was criticised for the length of the whipping scene.  But there Christ, perhaps already half dead, continued to turn the other cheek to those who were so enraged with Him that they were tearing their hair out, or at least tearing their robes.  But the disgrace didn’t stop there.  The governor’s soldiers called together the whole battalion, clothed Him in purple, plaited a crown of thorns on His head and in mock salute, having spat upon Him and struck Him, knelt in false homage to Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

 No doubt the priests sincerely thought they were doing God a favour in getting rid of Jesus.  But one can be sincere and wrong, as it were.  He had to die – this was His destiny, His purpose.  He came to suffer and die in our stead, take all our punishment, and go on to do what only God could do: win victory over death itself, and give new and eternal life to all who have faith in Him.

 Thank You Jesus for doing this for us!  Amen.