Mark 15:16-20

Find a way to separate yourself from whatever’s going on around you so you can fully enter into today’s passage. if you haven’t read the introduction to Mark’s Gospel, read it here.

As you read Mark 15:16-20, picture the scene and imagine the emotional state of the soldiers.

Cruelty results when one person consciously or unconsciously dehumanizes another person. The soldiers in this scene have no regard for Jesus’ humanity and much less for his deity. In order to inflict this kind of abuse on him, they have to dismiss all notions of his personhood and convince themselves that he is a sub-human being. As they grow more and more numb to their cruelty, they become more frenzied in their abuse, and in their mindless demeaning of another person they diminish their own humanity.

Have you ever witnessed someone being mistreated by a group of people? What was your emotional reaction?

Read Mark 15:16-20 noticing the lack of response from Jesus.

He could have vaporized them with one word. But Jesus openly receives the abuse and does not put a stop to it. God in the flesh experiences the emotional, psychological and physical pain of abuse.

Have you ever felt or sensed that someone was treating you as less than human? Try and picture that now. How does it make you feel to know that Jesus fully understands what happened to you?

Take a few moments to express to Jesus anything you are thinking or feeling right now.

Is it possible that you have ever inadvertently treated someone else as less than human? If so, take a minute to confess this to Jesus and then allow his forgiveness to wash over you.

As you end this time of reflection, take a moment to express what it means to you to know that Jesus understands your pain. Then ask him to help you see other people as he sees them. If you sense that there is an action you need to take, write it down and make a plan for following through.

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