And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
Jeremiah 38:19
"Perhaps there is nothing which men so much abhor as shame. We find that death itself has often been preferable in the minds of men to shame;....And we read of an ancient king, Zedekiah, that albeit he seemed reckless enough, he was afraid to fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, lest the Jews who had fallen away to Nebuchadnezzar should make a mock of him.
In the Savior's case, shame would be peculiarly shameful; the nobler a man's nature, the more readily does he perceive the slightest contempt, and the more acutely does he feel it.
He was put to shame in three ways-
--by shameful accusation,
--shameful mockery, and
--shameful crucifixion.
1. And, first, behold the Savior's shame in his shameful accusation. He in whom was no sin, and who had done no ill, was charged with sin of the blackest kind. He was first arraigned before the Sanhedrim on no less a charge than that of blasphemy.
2. But next, Christ not only endured shameful accusation but he endured shameful mocking. When Christ was taken away to Herod, Herod set him at nought. The original word signifies made nothing of him.
3. Let me conduct you to the cross.
The rough wood is laid upon the ground, Christ is flung upon his back, four soldiers seize his hands and feet, his blessed flesh his rent with the accursed iron; he begins to bleed, he is lifted into mid-air, the cross is dashed into the place prepared for it, every limb is dislocated, every bone put out of joint by that terrific jerk; he hangs there naked to his shame.
The person of Christ was stripped twice; and although our painters, for obvious reasons, cover Christ upon the cross,
-He who had clothed the earth with jewels and made for it robes of emeralds, had not so much as a rag to conceal his nakedness from a staring, gazing, mocking, hard-hearted crowd.
Jeremiah 38:19
"Perhaps there is nothing which men so much abhor as shame. We find that death itself has often been preferable in the minds of men to shame;....And we read of an ancient king, Zedekiah, that albeit he seemed reckless enough, he was afraid to fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, lest the Jews who had fallen away to Nebuchadnezzar should make a mock of him.
In the Savior's case, shame would be peculiarly shameful; the nobler a man's nature, the more readily does he perceive the slightest contempt, and the more acutely does he feel it.
He was put to shame in three ways-
--by shameful accusation,
--shameful mockery, and
--shameful crucifixion.
1. And, first, behold the Savior's shame in his shameful accusation. He in whom was no sin, and who had done no ill, was charged with sin of the blackest kind. He was first arraigned before the Sanhedrim on no less a charge than that of blasphemy.
3. Let me conduct you to the cross.
The rough wood is laid upon the ground, Christ is flung upon his back, four soldiers seize his hands and feet, his blessed flesh his rent with the accursed iron; he begins to bleed, he is lifted into mid-air, the cross is dashed into the place prepared for it, every limb is dislocated, every bone put out of joint by that terrific jerk; he hangs there naked to his shame.
The person of Christ was stripped twice; and although our painters, for obvious reasons, cover Christ upon the cross,
there he hung-the naked Savior of a naked race.
-He who clothed the lilies had not wherewith to clothe himself; -He who had clothed the earth with jewels and made for it robes of emeralds, had not so much as a rag to conceal his nakedness from a staring, gazing, mocking, hard-hearted crowd.
-He had made coats of skins for Adam and Eve when they were naked in the garden; he had taken from them those poor fig leaves with which they sought to hide their nakedness, given them something wherewith they might wrap themselves from the cold;
but now they part his garments among them,
and for his vesture do they cast lots,
while He himself, exposed to the pitiless storm of contempt,
hath no cloak with which to cover his shame."
Charles Spurgeon