THE HUMILIATED KING

Stafford Greer, Bearspaw Lead Site Pastor

"And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." Mark 15:18-20

Are you familiar with bandwagon jumpers? It is usually regarding sports teams where fans from a failing and struggling team will stop cheering for their team and will instead cheer for the successful team that looks to be able to win it all.

As a life-long Blue Jays fan and long-time Oilers fan, my bandwagon has been pretty empty for a long time. Except for 1992 & 1993 when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series and the Oilers, twice, came within one win of claiming the Stanley Cup, both of these franchises have not performed well. In fact, 2006-2016 has been called the decade of darkness for the Edmonton Oilers because of how how terrible they were despite having four first overall draft picks.

As humans, we are drawn toward successful and powerful people, leaders, brands, teams - anything that offers us a chance of tying into that power - as if their success and power can trickle down to us and offer us some hope.

When Jesus was born, angels sang and heralded his praise and princes and kings bowed down to worship and bring him gifts. After reading the Scripture above, we see that people are still kneeling before Jesus, only this time to mock him. Instead of bringing gifts, they deliver blows with their fists. They crown him with thorns, dress him up, and mock him for his position of “power.” As the guards look at the crumpled, bleeding Jesus and then compare his stature against that of Rome, Jesus looks like a joke. Where is his army? Where is his power?

As we get close to Easter Sunday when we can celebrate and worship the risen Jesus, we are excited to align ourselves with the one who has triumphed over the grave, conquered death, and offered us salvation through his blood. This is the king that we can more easily worship. However, we cannot worship the resurrected king and neglect the humiliated king. They are one in the same.

In the book of Revelation we read the disciple John hears a voice. Turning expecting to see his friend Jesus in all of his glory, he instead sees a lamb as if it were slain. Even in the narrative of Revelation; a story that tells of no matter how dire things around us look, Jesus still conquers and reigns, he still bears his wounds and his humiliation.

In a different part of scripture, the Apostle Paul writes that we do get to share in Jesus’ glory, but that we don’t get to do that without sharing in his sufferings as well:

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” - Romans 6:5

And again later on in that same letter:

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” - Romans 8:17-18

Are we OK with that? Are we OK worshiping a humiliated king? Are we OK being humiliated for his glory?

The Apostle Peter (you know, the same Peter who betrayed Jesus and denied even knowing him), would later write in his letter, “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed”. - 1 Peter 4:13.

Our society will continually try to highlight the importance of winning, of having the strong leader, or choosing the right person with all the charisma, and will manage their image to ensure that the most people will be drawn to them for fear of looking weak. Yet, we worship a king that willingly gave up his position, surrendered his life to a world that mocked him, not so that we wouldn’t have to ourselves, but so that we could join him - in both his sufferings and his resurrected glory.

This season of Lent has been teaching us to release the things that we often cling to that give us a sense of control and power and instead lay them down so that our hearts are softened and are available to be filled with Jesus and be drawn closer into the One who isn’t afraid to be humiliated for the glory of God.