Introduction
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. We gather together with family and friends, we exchange gifts, and we celebrate the birth of Christ. For many Christians, even though we know Christmas is to celebrate Christ’s birth, we can often get so distracted by the other aspects of Christmas that we forget to think of Christ! Our last article spoke on the kingship of Christ, that He rules and reigns on the throne of David, and that is a wonderful reason to celebrate. In this article I want to focus on the birth of the savior. Christ rules and reigns, but He had to go to the cross before being seated on the throne.
The Savior is Mocked
It seems like God enjoys telling wonderful stories. Throughout history God has been sovereign over all events that take place. In the book of Isaiah the false Gods are challenged with explaining past events and why they happened as well as future events and why they will happen (Isaiah 41). Only God knows that information. When Christ came, He came to reveal the Father to us (John 1) and to die on the cross in obedience to the Father (Philippians 2). These events were no surprise to God, He had planned this before the foundations of the world (1 Peter 1)! When Christ is being taken to the cross, He is mocked by the Roman soldiers. These men did not know the scriptures, nor did they know who Jesus truly was. All they knew was a man was standing before Him who was called the “king of the Jews” and he was about to die on the cross. How can a king be such a poor man who is on his way to die? The soldiers mocked his title of king in several ways.
Matthew 27:27-31
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
In this passage from Matthew we can see that Jesus was mocked with the adornment of “kingly” items. He was given the scarlet robe, a crown of thorns, and a reed scepter. Little did the soldiers know, they were perfectly representing the true king standing before them. The scarlet robe was placed on His back to mock Him, but it represents his purpose for standing before them and His going to the cross! The color scarlet was made from a rare dye, and this dye was a permanent dye, you could not wash it out. Jesus takes on this scarlet robe that cannot be washed by man, and He intends to wash it. Isaiah 1:18 says, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.’” God had planned before the foundations of the world to send Christ as a ransom for sinful man. He would go to the cross, take upon the wrath of God that we deserved, and give to us His righteousness. Christ went to the cross to wash our scarlet sins white as snow. He accomplished it, and his accomplishment is represented by that scarlet robe.
They also placed the crown of thorns on His head. This must have been a painful experience, having those thorns pressed into His skull! Once more, the soldiers attempt to mock Jesus. The crown is meant to represent the glory of the king, and a king wants a crown made of precious metals and stones. Jesus is given a crown of thorns! These soldiers unknowingly represented another purpose in Christ going to the cross. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they were cursed. Adam’s curse is that He would toil in the ground and there would be thorns and thistles (Genesis 3). The thorn is a symbol of the curse of the fall. Here, Christ dawns the crown of thorns, a representation of the fall, as He intends to take it to the cross! He is dying to reverse the curse! Christ accomplishes this goal, and when we see Him for the first time after his resurrection, He is tending the garden (John 20). Jesus’ glory is that He, as the second Adam, accomplished what the first Adam could not. He lived a life of obedience to God, and was able to be a representative for us to undo the curse of the fall.
Lastly, the soldiers gave Jesus the reed, which is a weak stick. They gave this reed to Him as His scepter. A scepter represents the power of the king, He wants a strong scepter to represent how great His reign is. The soldiers mock Jesus by giving Him a weak stick scepter. Once more, they don’t understand who is truly standing before them. Jesus’ rule is explained in Isaiah 42, and we see the mention of the reed.
Isaiah 42:1-4
1“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2“He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. 3“A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4“He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Here we see that the reigning King, the one in whom God’s soul delights, will bring justice forth. It will go to the nations, and the nations will wait expectantly for His law. In this passage we have the line, “a bruised reed He will not break.” This describes how His reign is going to go forth. It is not a sudden drop-in, but a rolling out of His authority. His justice will go forth, and He is ruler over all, but it will take time. The dimly lit wick will not go out. To set out a dimly burnt wick is simple, a small gust will do it. Yet, the rule of the one who is to come is gentle as it rolls down justice. This is Christ’s rule as king, and His kingdom is like a mustard seed that starts off small and grows large (Matthew 13).
The soldiers thought they were mocking this man, and that He was no king. Yet, everything they did fulfilled scripture. They represented the rule of this king perfectly! Jesus had to go to the cross as our savior before He could sit on the throne. This was the temptation of Satan in the wilderness, he offered Christ the nations. If Christ accepted, there would be no redemption for man. Christ denied the temptation, went to the cross, and received the nations from His Father.
Conclusion
It is because Christ died that we now have access to the throne of grace. He is our mediator, and He needed to die on the cross to redeem us. This Christmas, we need to keep this in mind. It is not just that Jesus came to this earth that we celebrate, it is that He came to die on the cross, to take upon the wrath of God in our place. This is why that baby in a manger means so much to us as Christians, He is our savior and our king.