Luke 23:35-38 (NIV) The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
There were lots of people gathered on and along that roadway that ran right next to the crosses. Many crucifixions gathered only a few weeping family members, with other passers-by dropping their eyes away from the helpless suffering and hurrying on. But Jesus’ crucifixion was a huge deal for both His supporters and His enemies.
It was His enemies that were the loudest. The high priests, the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes all came to see the spectacle of this supposed Messiah hanging helpless on a cross. Just like many are brave next to a caged lion but would run in terror if the beast was suddenly loosed, so these men felt comfortable cursing and taunting Jesus now that He had been taken down, yelling their challenges and insults inches from His face as He hung on the low cross with His feet just inches off the ground.
Their challenge was that, if He really was the Messiah, He should do something miraculous: free Himself from the cross and come down; prove to them that He was the Son of God, and then they would believe in Him. In their shouts, Jesus could hear the voice of the enemy trying one last time to turn Him aside from His assigned task: “If You are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3, 9). But this time, instead of answering satan with Scripture as he spoke through the mouths of these leaders and soldiers, Jesus just remained silent, completely focused on the job that He was even then accomplishing.
Pilate had dictated the wording for the placard that had preceded Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, and that was now nailed above His head: “This is the king of the Jews”. Everyone who was crucified had a placard over their heads clearly identifying the crime that had put them on the cross, so there would be no mistaking the consequences that would follow if a person violated Roman law. But in His wording, Pilate had inadvertently proclaimed a truth that was far greater than he knew: Jesus really was the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah, whether His people were willing to receive Him as such or not.
Father, some of us have been taunted by those who oppose You, but few of us have had to endure that taunting while our lives ebbed away as we hung naked and bleeding as a result of the cruelty of sinful humanity. Jesus could have lashed out, even from the cross, and simply incinerated those who were taunting Him. But love, even for His enemies, prevented it. He could easily have freed Himself from the cross and proved who He was. But the same love stopped Him, because if He came down instead of dying, all hope of eternal life for these people who were taunting Him would be extinguished. Instead, of vindicating or avenging Himself, He simply and silently completed the task He had come to do: to die as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world, even the sins of those who were right then baiting and taunting Him. Instill in my heart, Lord, that same patient, self-sacrificing love for others. Amen.