ROOM 2 THE HOUR HAS COME!

AAs Jesus concluded his prayer in anguish and returned once again to his sleeping disciples, Jesus knew that this was the moment.

“The hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.”

Upon these words, one would imagine that the ruckus of human voices drew closer and closer. The orange glow of torches brightened the previously darkened Mount of Olives as a large crowd armed with swords and clubs approached menacingly.

In their midst, was a face so familiar to the Lord, a disciple who have followed him for the past three and half years, Judas whom the Lord regarded as friend.

Yet, Jesus’s arrest exacerbated the loneliness and abandonment Jesus just experienced with his three sleeping disciples. Now, one of the twelve disciples closest to him betrayed him in a most intimate way possible, with a kiss. As the gang of vigilantes arrested Jesus, the wound of Judas’ betrayal was further torn asunder as the rest of the disciples who moments ago vowed never to deny Christ, even when faced with death, deserted him and fled.

Furthermore, when Simon Peter was identified as a follower of Jesus, he not only denied him once, twice but thrice as he swore oaths totally disavowing himself of any relationship with Christ: “I don’t know the man!”

At the coming of the hour, Jesus not only experienced abandonment by his disciples, betrayal by Judas, condemnation by the Sanhedrin, and denials by Peter, he subsequently suffered immense physical pain and humiliation.

The flogging that Jesus received at the hands of the Roman soldiers was no ordinary caning!

You can watch what Jesus went through via this link.

WARNING: The following clip contains scenes of violence and may be uncomfortable to some.

“One physician who has studied Roman beatings said, As the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh… the sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure… At the least, the victim would experience tremendous pain and go into hypovolemic shock.” 1

Why did Jesus, an innocent man, the Son of God, have to go through this emotional and physical suffering? Isaiah 53:4 tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.”

Pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Mark 8:38 reminds me that “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Forgive me for the times when I have hidden my identity as a follower of Christ and when my thoughts, words and deeds betray the trust you have placed in me. Help me to follow you faithfully even when it requires me to face hardship and persecution. Amen.

Act: Consider how we may have “fled” and ran away from being associated as a Christian in times of persecution and pain. What are some steps we can do to change this?