PODCAST

Misunderstood Messiah

March 29th, 2023

Mark 15:27-32

To the very end, Christ’s enemies misunderstood His identity and purpose.

He was crucified between two violent, criminal insurrectionists (Greek, lestas)—simple robbery was not punishable by death. Christ was himself misrepresented as a threat to the Roman political order by Jewish religious leaders whose authority He undermined. He was mocked by passersby who misunderstood His previous statements about tearing down the Temple and then rebuilding it in three days. He was challenged—in words harkening back to His own temptation in the wilderness—to save himself and come down from the cross.

In the same way, the same religious teachers who had sparred and squabbled with Christ from the earliest days of His ministry) falsely claimed that Christ did not save himself because He could not. But of course, the opposite was true! His enemies had no frame of reference for a suffering Savior. Messiah chose self-sacrifice over self-preservation, love over hate, and powerlessness over power. 

Author: Aaron Bolerjack