How To Deal with Being Mocked and Ridiculed. (Mark 15: 16-32)

For over 3 years now I have preached through entire books of the bible. It is a privilege to do that because I have learned a lot in doing so. One of the things that has occurred to me is that in doing this, I have been forced to preach on subjects I would never have preached on had I not being doing what is called expositional preaching.

Today is going to be one of those days, having arrived at Mark chapter 15 that I find myself preaching on something that I would probably never even have thought to preach upon. But in doing so I also believe I have learnt a great deal about something I have never really thought about in detail. 

There was a lot going on in that passage. First the soldiers mock and beat Jesus. Then this man called Simon is forced to carry his cross.

The Jesus is crucified and both during his crucifixion and as he lies dying on the cross, he is continually ridiculed and mocked. And i ends with not only the religious leaders ridiculing him but random people and even the other people crucified beside him also mocking Him.

It seems to me that there is one theme that ties this all together. Do you see what I see, almost every interaction Jesus has with people through these last tragic events involves people mocking him. This seems to me one of the main points that Mark wants to make in his account of these events. 

I have preached through the crucifixion of Jesus many times , especially around Easter, but I don’t think had a not being preaching through this book that it would have occurred to me to speak on the subject of mocking or being ridiculed. It seems to me that God, through this passage, wants us to know something about the consequences of mocking people.

Other parts of the New Testament focus on this area also. We are warned against it by Jesus whilst during his Mount of Olives message.

Peter in his 2 Epistle warns us that mockers will come in the last days. People continue to mock today, they mock both Christ and Christianity, and they mock Christians. Now, I don’t mean they just question our faith, yes, some do that, but I mean people sometimes ridicule the Christian faith and they mock the Lord and sometimes they even make fun of us.

So, I want to ask some questions of this text this morning. I want to ask, who is doing the mocking? Why are they doing it and what does it mean? I also want to ask is if we too are mocked then how should we handle it? So, let’s re-visit the text to look again at what we will be thinking about this morning. 

So, let’s begin at verse 16 (OHP 2)

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.

(Mark 15: 16)

So, they take him to the courtyard of the Roman fortress that is built at the side of the temple grounds. And they call out the whole garrison of soldiers. Expert sources I have checked on this matter tell me this would at least have been 200 people there, but there might have been as many as 600 soldiers there. However, this much I can say, he is surrounded by a very large number of Roman soldiers. Verse 17 then tells us.

They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”

(Mark 15: 17-18)

Purple was the colour of royalty, so what they are doing is mocking him, and they are making fun of the fact, that they heard he had claimed to be, or others accused him of, being the King of the Jews. They also put a crown of thorns on His head which combines mockery with brutality in one action. Interestingly the focus of their mockery is the claim that He is “King of the Jews”. Look what happens next.

Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

(Mark 15: 19-20)

So, the mocking continues.

The story then continues.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

(Mark 15: 21)

Historians know there was a custom that a condemned criminal had to carry his own cross, and Jesus was no exception. However, Jesus is so physically weakened by His scourging and His beatings he crumples beneath the load and the soldiers force somebody on the spot to carry the cross for him. It worth noting that the physical suffering he endured combined with mockery gives us a very real insight into fallen human nature. 

People particularly like to mock someone when they are beaten down in other ways. When you are physically weak or emotionally drained that is when people are most likely to ridicule you and because of that it hurts all the more. 

The next phase of the passage deals with the crucifixion itself

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

(Mark 15: 22-25)

Golgotha was apparently a smooth rounded hill that apparently from a distance looked like the top of a skull. There was a tradition among the woman of Jerusalem that they would offer victims of crucifixion wine mixed with myrrh to help deaden the pain slightly of what was to come.

But in this case, Jesus refused it. One commentator I read said Jesus did this not because he desired to suffer any more than necessary, but because He wanted to go into the presence of His father with his eyes wide open. Then we are told they separated His garments and hang Him on a cross and from there He would have watched as they cast lots for the only thing he owned, a cloak. The is one further point worth noting – verse 26.

The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the Jews.

(Mark 15: 26)

So even in His crucifixion they are mocking Him and, ironically, they are mocking Him for who in fact He really was. People make fun of Christians and say things like we use God as a crutch. In other words, they mock us for relying upon and being upheld by the Lord. They are of course absolutely – Correct in what they say. The next time someone says, your faith is a crutch. Try saying, yes. Maybe then ask and what do you use for a crutch, a bottle, drugs, shopping, an affair.

You know what I like my crutch, better than you’re crutch. Whenever people mock you more often than not, they will be mocking you for who you really are. 

Then in verse 27 we are given this added detail.

They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left.  So the scriptures might be fulfilled that says; “He was numbered among the transgressors”.

(Mark 15: 27-28)

So, we are told this happened in order that biblical prophecy might be fulfilled. 850 years earlier back in the book of Isaiah it said this about the future Messiah that,  “he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors”. And that Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled here.

Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!”

(Mark 15: 29-30)

So, they mock Him, this time it is the passers-by who mock him. All these supposed great powers you have, and you can’t even save yourself they say.

Let me ask you a question, could Jesus have come down off the cross if He ,wanted. Absolutely He could have. They said, save yourself and come down. He chooses to save us and stay up there. He chooses to save us and not come down.

William Booth the founder of the salvation Army said; “It’s the fact that He stayed on the cross that makes me believe in Him”.

The mockers wanted evidence He was the Messiah by coming down from the cross. Those who know Him as Lord  recognise that it was His staying up there that made Him our saviour.  There is one more little episode left in this passage, it ends by telling us this.

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

(Mark 15: 31-32)

The Chief Priests mock Him. The Religious teachers mock Him. Even those crucified alongside Him mocked Him, and look at what they said.

“He saved others”. So, again, in the very mocking they mock him by saying exactly what He did. Even the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross heaped insults on Him as well. So, at the end they all get in on the act. Everyone in this passage in one way or another is seen to mock, make fun or insult Jesus.

So why does Mark draw attention to all this Mocking and abuse al this insulting? This is what I believe is the point.

Jesus endured the mocking in order to continue doing the will of God.

In simple terms, he endured the ridicule, and he didn’t come down from the cross even though He had the power to do so. He satyed there and endured it in order that he might continue to follow the will of the father.

Why do people mock other people.

You might say it is because they feel threatened -True

You might say it is because they are jealous – True

You might even say they do it because they are frightened of the truth – True.

All these statements are true, but the overarching reason people mock is simply because they are sinners. One commentator I read said. Jesus was mocked by everyone. Jesus was mocked by religious sinners, Jesus was mocked by ignorant sinners and Jesus was mocked by condemned sinners.

So, here is the lesson. When you are mocked for being a believer, consider the source of the ridicule. 

 Are they mocking because they are jealous. Are they mocking because they are frightened. Or are they mocking because underneath they feel convicted and want to project their feeling onto someone else. Are they in fact ridiculing you for something that is actually true. Are they mocking you because you love the Lord, because you rely on the Lord. Are they by ridiculing you, really just ridiculing the Lord. Like so many before them have done for over 2000 years.

Sometimes when we are mocked or mistreated or misunderstood, we naturally get upset.  Jesus never responded to verbal abuse. He did not listen to their demands that he come down from the cross. So when you are ridiculed it’s OK to get upset. Just be careful you don’t get influenced. Jesus didn’t respond in the way they wanted, because they weren’t asking in a genuine way. Even if he had responded in the way they asked it would not have taught them anything.

One of the lessons I believe this passage teaches is that we are not to listen to or respond to those who make fun of what we believe or who we believe in. There ridiculing of the Lord should remain their problem, not something that become our problem or at worse something that influences what we believe. They are probably mocking you for something that is true anyway. So, accept that, and don’t get discouraged.

But also, don’t get distracted. Because if you start living your Christian life as a reaction to them you will not only get discouraged but you may get distracted from doing the work of the Lord. As believers it may be a hard message to hear but in a spiritual sense we need to stay on the cross.

Imagine Jesus had listened to His mockers. If Jesus has responded to His mockers and done what they said. Imagine he had saved himself, and not us. If He had come down off that cross none of us would be sitting in the grace of God today. This worldwide community of people would not even exist, no church, no community of faith, worldwide.

The lesson this morning is this. If you pay attention to, or listen to the wrong message, then great damage can be done. Not only to you but to other believers. So, don’t get distracted, don’t listen to the mockers, just remain committed to doing the work of God regardless of what other say or do. Continue to follow Jesus in your work life. In your home life and in your personal life as well.