The soldiers gather the whole battalion, strip Jesus, put a scarlet robe on him, press a crown of thorns on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. They kneel and mock him: 29"Hail, King of the Jews!" Every piece of the joke is aimed at showing how far this man is from a throne, and every piece is more accurate than they know. The risen Jesus will claim all authority in heaven and on earth with complete seriousness (Matthew 28:18). The soldiers stage a coronation to humiliate him and rehearse something true.
On the way out of the city they compel a passing man, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross (verse 32). Jesus had said that anyone who wants to follow him must take up his cross (Matthew 16:24). Simon never volunteered. He was walking by at the wrong moment, and the words became literally true for him.
At Golgotha they offer Jesus wine mixed with gall, 34"but when he tasted it, he would not drink it." In Gethsemane he had already accepted the cup. He meets the cross with a clear mind. The written charge over his head names him King of the Jews (verse 37), and it is true. Two robbers are crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left (verse 38), the places James and John had once asked for (Matthew 20:21-23).
What follows echoes Psalm 22. The soldiers divide his garments by casting lots, as Psalm 22:18 describes. Passersby wag their heads, as in Psalm 22:7. And the chief priests say 43"He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him." Those are the words the psalm puts in the mouths of the wicked. Hostile witnesses, speaking out of contempt, say what the psalm had already written for them.
The taunt 40"If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" repeats the devil's opening words in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3, 6). The temptation to prove himself by saving himself returns at the worst hour.
Then comes the line at the center of the scene, spoken by men who meant something else. They intend it as proof of a fraud. Every part of it is true. He had saved others, the sick, the blind, and the dead raised, all through this Gospel. And his refusal to save himself was the plan. Coming down from the cross to spare his own life would have emptied every other rescue of its meaning. His enemies describe the logic of the moment with perfect accuracy while believing they are describing his defeat.
Almost every sentence spoken at the foot of the cross was meant as mockery, and almost every one turns out to be gospel. What looked to every eye like God losing was God's power working the way he had said it would, hidden from the people standing closest to it.
Where something in your life looks like defeat, ask whether God's saving work might be hidden inside it.
Prayer
Father, we confess how often we judge your work by how it looks. Thank you that even the mockery of your Son's enemies could not help speaking the truth about who he was and what he was doing. Thank you that he refused every way to make the cross easier on himself, so that it could be enough for us. Open our eyes to see your saving power in places that look like defeat. In Jesus' name, amen.