Christ despised by those whom he had come to save
Greetings friends
(Ps 22: 6-8) "But I am a worm, and not a man; reproach of men, and despised of the people. All who see me mock me; they stretch their mouths, shake their heads, saying, He entrusted himself to Jehovah ; free him; save him, since he was pleased with him. "
In that state of humiliation Christ was at the mercy of his enemies, and what did they do? Not satisfied with having managed to get the execution order out of Pilate, they went to the place where he was being crucified to mock him and belittle him as much as they could.
This is one of the great paradoxes of the cross: while the holy Son of God suffered the curse of the law because he had decided to present himself as an offering for sinners, men, instead of showing their gratitude, gathered to express all the contempt and hatred they were capable of. Instead of looking at the cross and saying "it was for me," they took advantage of those moments when the Son of God had been helpless to insult him.
1.Teasing and contempt of men against God
Let us now look at the content of his mockery: "He entrusted himself to Jehovah; free him; save him, since he was pleased with him." As in another psalm David said, they were "sons of men who vomit flames; their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongues are sharp sword" (Ps 57: 4). Each of his words had been coldly calculated to inflict as much damage as possible. No doubt, there was a lot of devilishness in them.
2.The cross of Christ exposes the evil of the human heart
Everything that happened around the cross serves to give us an exact idea of the degree of evil in the human heart. On the one hand, the absolute lack of gratitude towards a God who sacrifices himself for man, but on the other, the hatred rooted in the human heart, which if possible would lead him to kill his own Creator. And that was exactly what the man did. As the apostle Peter says:
(Acts 3: 13-15) "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus, whom you gave and denied before Pilate, when he had decided to release him But you denied the Saint and the Righteous, and asked that you be given a murderer, and killed the Author of life, whom God has risen from the dead, of which we are witnesses. "
3.Christ manifests no feelings of revenge or hatred
The picture before us is overwhelming: Jesus on the cross made the central object of man's hatred, but he does not respond to his mockery and insults. His thoughts do not depart from his Father, whom he addresses at all times. What a good example so that we too can face the hatred of others!
All this leads us to meditate on the greatness of his love. Let us observe that in his prayers to the Father there is no feeling of revenge. When he was being crucified he said: "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). And shortly before, when they went to arrest him, he told his disciples that if at that time he asked the Father for twelve legions of angels, he would grant them instantly (Mt 26:53). And who among us would allow him to be humiliated by having in his hand the possibility of being delivered? This also demonstrates its unique perfection. His resignation from any attempt at self-defense might seem to some to be an act of weakness, but quite the opposite; He manifests an incredible power that is controlled at all times by his love and his desire to glorify his Father.
Credits for the author Luis de Miguel de la Biblica school.
