Matthew 27:39-40

Matthew 27:39-40

And the ones who passed by were blaspheming Him while shaking their head and while saying, “The one who destroys the temple and in three days rebuilds it: save yourself!  If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

Thoughts for Today

Before I get too far into my first point for today, I need to make sure I remain humble.  I need to confess that what I’m about to say can be taken very judgmentally and harshly.  So please read today’s post with the understanding that I’ve been in these shoes and I’ve made these mistakes.  I don’t speak what I say below in judgment against anyone.  I speak them because I’ve been there and I know what it is like.  And the truth is that when we realize that we are in this place, it’s not a good place to be.

First Thought:

The Bible tells us that the people walking by Jesus were blaspheming against Him.  The Greek word, which literally is blaspheme (βλασφημέω), means “to speak in such a way as to harm the reputation of another.”  These people weren’t just walking by and being disgusted.  These people were taking the opportunity to defame Jesus.  This is the typical “Kick ‘em while their down” mentality.  Human beings do this all the time.  We see an easy target and we belittle them.  We look for opportunities to improve our standing by pushing the people around us down.

Have you ever kicked someone while they are down?  Why is this such an easy thing to do?  What is a good alternative to this practice?

Second Thought:

Next, these people mock Jesus.  They through His words back in His face.  They laugh as they see Him upon the cross yet remember that Jesus told them that He could rebuild a destroyed temple in three days.  They laugh because they don’t understand.  They laugh because of their own limited mindset.  Their own human limitations are what brings about the mocking attitude.

Have you ever mocked what you don’t understand?  Have you ever had the experience of being shown that what you were mocking is actually the better way or the right behavior?  Why do we tend to mock that which we don’t understand?

Third Thought:

For my third point, I’m going to come back to my first point and extend the “Kick ‘em while their down” discussion.  Because of their relative safety (not being on the cross) and Jesus’ current predicament (being on the cross) the people walking by feel safe in demeaning Jesus.  They feel safe throwing Jesus’ words back in His face.  But look where it leads.  They say to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, come down off the cross.”  their arrogance in their mocking and vicious assault actually puts them in an antagonistic position to God’s plan!  The Father desired for Jesus to be crucified so that the sins of humanity could be done away with.  The people who had an open mind would understand this.  But the closed minded mockers asserted that the only way He could prove that He was God was by coming off the very place the Father had asked Him to go!  We need to be careful that in our arrogance and in our mocking we do not find ourselves opposing the will of the Father.  That is a scary – and easy – place to find ourselves.

Has your attitude ever brought you into opposition with the plan of God?  How does that realization make you feel?  How do you try and avoid that predicament now?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 27:41-44