Week 39: Day 2
Join Beth as she shares some thoughts on how Jesus understands our suffering.
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit. My name’s Beth and I am loving exploring Mark together this week!
Bible: Mark 15: 29-32
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Thoughts: Before this section that we’ve just read, Jesus has been put on the cross to be crucified. He is going through the biggest moment of suffering of his life and the people who he is dying for are stood around him throwing abuse at him and heaping insult on him.
I’m sure that one thing we all have in common is that at some point in our lives we have all been insulted, discouraged or been through suffering.
I remember being a little girl stood in a shop waiting for my mum and there was an older girl in the shop obviously in the same position as me. She looked pretty bored, like me, and looked like she was getting frustrated waiting for whoever had taken her to the shop, like me. As human beings we look for connection and friendship, so I jumped on this, as I watched this older girl and gave her a knowing smile. She looked back at me, gave me the worst evils that I’ve ever had in my direction and asked ‘do you want a picture?’ I was so humiliated and insulted.
When we go through suffering, in whatever way that looks for you and your life, we can know that Jesus has been there before us. Sometimes suffering can feel so hard because it can feel lonely, only we know how we feel and the impact that things we’ve been through have on our lives. We see from this story that Jesus has been through immense suffering, he knows what we are going through and we can invite him into those moments.
In 1 Peter 5:10 it says 'And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.’
Maybe you’re suffering now, there is something really difficult that you’re going through, Jesus has been through suffering too, invite him into it and know that even in the midst of it, Jesus can restore you and make you strong and firm even when you feel at your weakest.
Prayer:
Challenge: Read through the bible verse again and give God some time to speak to you and highlight a particular phrase or word.