"Rejected and Mocked for Us" Apr 15, 2022

Rejected and Mocked for Us

On Good Friday, we arrive at the day that all of human history had been barreling toward since God promised to crush the head of the serpent in Gen 3:15. The day when Jesus, the very Son of God, the man who had never defied God’s law, was crucified in the way usually reserved for the worst criminals in the Roman Empire. By this horrible death, He paid the price for our sin “once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb 7:27). 

As the Gospel story of Jesus’ passion unfolds today, we witness the light of the world being led from one interrogator to another and finally condemned to a cruel death by crucifixion. Drawn like Peter, we follow Him who has also befriended us so completely. We are disturbed and inspired at the same time.

Read on every Good Friday, John the Evangelist’s passion narrative portrays Jesus as completely in charge from beginning to end. Totally innocent, He embraces all humanity in our sinfulness and willingly accepts suffering and death to become an unmistakable sign of God’s reconciliation and healing for a broken world. Through the shame and horror of it all, His cross becomes a beacon of hope stretching across all time.

As we reflect on the events of this day, we could consider many aspects of Good Friday: the fulfillment of prophecy, the attitudes of the ruling authorities toward Jesus, or the disciples abandoning Him. But today, consider for a moment the mocking that Jesus endured for us on the cross. Notice all of the groups that mocked and scorned the Lord Jesus. The Roman authorities mockingly placed a sign over Jesus that said, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” People passing by derided Him. Chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him. Even the robbers crucified with Him reviled Him.

What do all these groups have in common? On the one hand, not much. They were from all levels of society. The Roman authorities were at the top of the heap in first-century Palestine. They had no concept of a suffering conqueror. Military might had won the empire, and military might would keep the empire. The people passing by represent the majority of the Jewish people. Even though it probably wasn’t the exact same crowd who welcomed Him on Palm Sunday, the people passing by were many of the same people who were looking to Him for miraculous healing or deliverance. They misunderstood His kingdom and mocked a crucified Messiah. The chief priests and other leaders mocked the idea of salvation through suffering. “He saved others; he cannot save himself!” Even the two criminals crucified alongside Him were mocking Him as they were dying with Him. Perhaps all that these groups had in common is that none of them could see that Jesus was accomplishing His mission through His intense suffering.

Every level of society in first-century Palestine rejected Jesus. It wasn’t as if all the powerful rejected Him while all the outcasts believed in Him. It is true that many poor and rejected people saw and believed in Jesus, but both many rich and many poor rejected Him. Here at his lowest point, as He suffered in every way, everyone around Him was mocking His pain. And He endured that for us, His beloved people. 

At my lowest moments, I often long for a simple encouragement from the people who are closest to me. I need those reminders to keep my eyes focused on what is most important and lasting. But imagine if, at your lowest moments, all you heard was more mocking, more slander, more shaming. This is what the Lord Jesus endured for us. 

The tragedy of everything that these groups said in mocking is that they were close to the truth. He is the King of the Jews. He was going to rebuild the true temple in three days through His resurrection. He truly is the Son of God. And by freely choosing not to come down from the cross, He did save others. 

Through the pain of this mocking, He was accomplishing the mission that He had been born to complete. Even as they scorned Him, they could not see that Jesus was completing His mission and winning a people for Himself. As Hebrews later tells us, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). On this Good Friday, let’s run to the one who scorned the shame of the cross for us and won for His beloved people such a great salvation.

Our celebration of Christ’s passion unites us today with the ongoing passion of the world. Wherever there is violence and oppression, especially against the most vulnerable and the innocent — children, refugees, and those enslaved in human trafficking — the passion of Christ radiates God’s steadfast love and hope to them.

Today let us unite our hearts to the divine heart of Christ in solidarity with all suffering peoples. As we journey in prayer and reflection on the mystery of His passion and death, we yearn for the day when, through Christ, all sin and suffering will come to an end in the triumph of His resurrection.

Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School