147. Saturday after Third Sunday in Lent.
“I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”
Matthew 27, 27-30. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
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The whole band gathered around Jesus; the Holy One is in the midst of the ungodly, the Lamb among wolves, in order that I may forever have communion with all the saints. His body is stripped naked, that he may give me the garment of righteousness, and adorn me with heavenly beauty. He allows himself to be decked out as a king, thus giving the rabble something at which to jeer, and causing him sharp pain; they put on him a scarlet robe, which adheres to his wounds and is soaked with his blood; and they crown him with thorns, the curse of the earth, which sink into his flesh, — this is his royal crown! — and they put a reed into his hand as a sceptre; and then he is in derision hailed as the king of the Jews. My God, why is this necessary? He suffers this because I, who should have had dominion over all creatures, had become the slave of my own lusts, and had turned God’s blessing on the earth into a curse. This he suffers in order to save me from the dominion of the devil, and give to me the crown of life. — They spat on him, they spat the Son of God in the face; and this the Father saw and tolerated! They took the reed, his royal sceptre, and beat him on the head with it; and yet God did not strike them dead. He, whose is the kingdom, and the power forever, allows himself to be thus abased, and ill-used, and mocked, in order that he may hold his royal sceptre in grace and mercy over us wretched sinners and give us eternal salvation. Blessed be the Lord Jesus; the shame has been taken away, and the glory remains to us!
If you, dear friend, who by the grace of Jesus have a heart filled with yearning after communion with God’s people, must yet a little while dwell among the wicked, remember the Lord as he was in the common hall, endure evil without being angered, and rejoice in the thought that soon you shall be at home, in the house of the Father, in the company of none but saints. When the world seeks to strip you naked and expose to view your infirmities, then think of Jesus in the common hall of judgment; wrap yourself in his righteousness, and adorn your life with his heavenly virtues. And when the thorns of care threaten to prick you, or when it is your lot to suffer poverty, loss, or want, for the sake of your faith; or when you are beaten, or spat on, or your name is dragged in the mire; then remember Jesus in the hall of judgment, and esteem it an honor of which you are not worthy, to be like him. You deserve nothing but punishment; and yet you shall, for the sake of the crown of thorns which Christ wore, receive full reward for your labor, and receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Lord Jesus, we thank thee; we thank and praise thee for all things! Praise be to thee for thy humiliation and suffering! Praise be to thee for thy glory and salvation! Help us to believe in thee, and to praise thee forevermore. Amen.
Father of heaven, whose love profound
A ransom for our souls has found,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy pardoning love extend.
Almighty Son! Incarnate Word!
Our prophet, priest, redeemer, Lord!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy saving grace extend.