Lent 2026 Day 39: Fri 3 Apr
Mark 15:16-20, 33-37
16 Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on His head. 18 And they began to salute Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him. 20 After they had mocked Him, they removed the purple robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him…
33 …From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 34 At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 When some of those standing nearby heard this, they said, “Behold, He is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last.
While we may be impressed by the power and spread of the Roman Empire we may also be shocked at the barbaric cruelty of its armies and leaders. Roman soldiers were not the ones who wrote epic poetry or debated in the Senate. Those who had the imaginative technical and architectural skills to design roads, aqueducts, forts and staging posts would be busy at the frontiers of the Empire. Those who were stationed in the Praetorium would be the thugs whose job was to maintain control and suppress any opposition. They were familiar with cruelty and brutality. They whipped people. They hammered nails into hands.
Their new victim was given the treatment. For their amusement they toyed with Jesus, mocked him, beat him, pushed down a ring of hard, sharp thorns onto his bare head. “Hail, King of the Jews!” They had no idea that their empty words contained more meaning and truth than they’d ever understand. Give him some whacks, too, and a mouthful of spit. How long this lasted we do not know, but Father God looked on in pity as his Son bore the insults and the torture.
And so, to the cross. Six hours of unimaginable pain. The blood from his nailed hands and feet, that crown of thorns, the lashes on his back, blood dripping and congealing. Flies buzzing round his face. It’s a truly pathetic sight. Unrelenting agony. The soldiers didn’t care – it was all in a day’s duty. Those who wanted him dead didn’t care, either. Whatever they thought of Roman barbarity, they’d used it for their own ends. Organised religion and human dignity have not always been bedfellows – flick through Foxe’s book of Martyrs, read about the Spanish Inquisition, be amazed at the Church’s one-time obsession with witches, and wonder what is going on “unofficially” today.
The light went dim. God who said, “Let there be light”, caused darkness to fall. Three hours of life left. Jesus’ final cry to Father God comes from Psalm 22. These words, written centuries before, were fulfilled that moment on the cross. Had God forsaken Jesus? Not in the sense of giving up on him or wandering away. Father God was present, aware that every sin of this world, past and present, was placed on his back, everything that went against the holiness of Father God, the empire of Satan and all that is repugnant. Father God had to let Jesus do this alone. Jesus carried the weight of sin on the cross and the punishment that was due to each one of us.
You do not need to be anguished or pained today – Jesus willingly carried all that for you. Marvel, instead, at the amazing gift of freedom from sin he gave you and be thankful.
Were you there when they crucified our Lord?
Father God, I cannot comprehend the weight of the sin that Jesus bore on the cross. For you it was the price that your holiness demanded. For me it is a gift beyond measure. Thank you. Amen.
Paul