Save Yourself!

The chief priests and scribes who mocked Jesus as he hung on the cross were beyond blood thirsty. The absolute disgust and hatred they exhibited in their words and actions is hard to miss when reading the account of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Why so much hatred towards this man who miraculously healed and fed people, blessing and befriending those he encountered? To put it somewhat simply, the religious leaders were feeling seriously threatened by Jesus' actions and even more so by the message he was sending. Everything they held dear, including their position among the Jews, could be lost if they allowed Jesus to continue.

In Psalm 1 we are warned not to "sit in the seat of mockers". When talking about that Psalm with my young daughters I shared with them that a "mocker" is someone who teases and says mean things to someone to make that person feel bad. I also shared that the mocker does this usually because he wants to feel as though he is better than the person he is mocking. Certainly this was some of the dynamic going on in today's passage.

So what does this have to do with me? With you? I'm sure we haven't ever been caught outright "mocking" our Lord. But might we at times act as though we are "better than" the call of the cross which would ask us to die to ourselves that Christ might live in us? Don't we sometimes think or act as though we know better than God does? Don't we keep some excuses and rationales as to why we ought do things our way? When I do that I think it is a form of mocking our faith and relationship with Jesus.

Praise be to Him that he DID NOT save himself so that we could be saved! Thank you, Jesus, for all that you endured on the cross that I might gain life eternal with you.