“The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. They came up to him again and again and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly in the face.”, John 19:2-3 NET
• Words can powerfully impact us when we truly care about the people saying things to us (which I am sure Jesus cared about these people because He cared about everyone). That combined with the physical beating Jesus had already received and these soldiers hitting him in the face again and again must have been unbearable!
• I truly believe the spiritual forces of evil were just going after Jesus with everything they had and because Jesus and the Father loved us, God allowed them to do so.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”, Ephesians 6:12 NET
• I know I keep repeating myself but it is because it is sometimes so incredibly difficult for me to remember this in the midst of suffering and so I keep ministering to myself with these passages.
• So on the surface, the battle looked like it was the Jews, the soldiers, etc. versus Jesus, but in reality, the battle was Jesus, the Jews, the soldiers, etc. versus the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm even though the Jews, the soldiers, etc. did not realize it. Only Jesus knew this.
“Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him.” So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look, here is the man!””, John 19:4-5 NET
• Think about how humiliating it could have felt to Jesus to be brought out to the people He opposed in the shape He was in. You would think that the Jews would have pity on Him but as we will see tomorrow, that was not the case.