Dishing It Out

Mark 18: ¹⁶ Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. ¹⁷ And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, ¹⁸ and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

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“She is a drunk” laughed the students in my class. I joined in on the laughter as I did not like this teacher anyway. She seemed to be very mean and I enjoyed everyone bringing her down a notch.

• There have been times when I joined in with those who mocked people.
• There have been times when I felt great being part of the crowd who was ridiculing a person.
• There have been times when I delighted in talking about a person in a negative way.

JESUS was going to be executed, yet the soldiers took time to stage a fake military leadership gathering in order to mock HIM. The planning took time so that all the soldiers could be there, more than likely standing in their ranks. Hundreds gathered. It must have taken hours as they stood waiting to get their turn to get their jab in. Some thought “Maybe I’ll hit HIM with a stick.”

• GOD wants me to understand I have the same hatred as any other person.
• GOD wants me to know that only HE can remove my hatred and replace it with HIS grace.
• GOD wants me to remember what HE went through in order to rescue me.

JESUS had a beating that was fueled by misguided hatred. That hatred started out as a small ember of dislike, then grew into a raging fire of hatred. GOD wants me to realize that I may not like everyone, but I need to love everyone, just as HE does.

• Is there someone in your life who just rubs you the wrong way?
• Are you letting that person transform you into a cold bitter person?
• Can you examine your heart and ask GOD to transform it into HIS heart of compassion?