02/12/2021 - ONLY THOSE WHO LOVE CAN ENDURE

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Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands. Mark 14.65

It was only when the council decided that Jesus was worthy of death that the Lord’s torture began, with people spitting on Him as a sign of contempt. How many of them had come to Him in the previous days, in order to receive relief for themselves or a relative? Surely, those who spat on Him or did other evil things benefited from the gifts the Master used to bless the people. However, since they were not saved, they turned against Him and assaulted Him.

It is necessary to lead the saved to sanctification. No matter how much sympathy they may have for the Gospel, if the lost are not born again, they will continue as subjects of the kingdom of evil. There needs to be real change so that they will care about doing only the Lord’s work: Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; For riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations (Proverbs 27:23,24).

The party was just beginning in Hell, which managed to make the leaders of Judaism consider the Son of God a criminal worthy of death. The devil, who has no foreknowledge – which is the prerogative only of the Most High – didn’t take notice of the fact that by killing Jesus, the dominion of darkness would be at an end. He knew that the Savior would destroy him, but could not imagine that this would happen in three days. Thank God, for He knows what He is doing! Hallelujah!

Some covered the Savior’s face to punch Him. How wicked! People that serve the devil obey him in everything, without the slightest awareness of the evil they do to those in their hands. This is what rapists, murderers and other servants of Satan do. When a person stands up against Christ’s Church, he is lost; otherwise, even if he suffers harm, he would let God repay him.

Isn’t that what Jacob did when Laban changed his wages ten times? He saw his father acting correctly, when the shepherds of Gerar took the water wells he dug. Isaac wanted the divine reward, and that made Abimelech, king of Gerar, ask him to stay away from them because he had become powerful: Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him (Genesis 26.12). Ten thousand percent more!

What humiliation! Christ suffered in silence, He did not curse or ask for mercy. His reward would come when He faced Satan alone and defeated him. The demons not even remotely suspect of their own defeat. They instigated the servants of the high priest to slap the Master, belittling Him in every way. But the Father honored Him greatly by giving Him all power in Heaven and on Earth. He won!

What will happen to these wicked people on the Day of Judgment? Why mistreat the One who gave His blood on their behalf? The Lord’s greatest reward is to see those who have mistreated Him beg for and obtain His mercy. He is not against those who are used by the adversary, because His mission is to rescue them. God will lead them to repentance. What do you say?

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares