And He was numbered with the transgressors

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. 

- Matthew 15:22-32

Yesterday we read that Pilate answered and said to the crowd again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  This accusation (and mockery) becomes instead a triumphant symbol of Christ.  In yet another inadvertently prophetic act in the story of Christ, Pilate's inscription of Jesus' accusation above the Cross becomes a title, and shows that the people had risen against their own King, and that the cross was the means by which Christ established His Kingdom.  The third hour is nine o'clock in the morning. 

 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.  That Christ was crucified between two robbers not only fulfills the Scripture (Isaiah 53:12), but it also shows that He is completely identifying with sinful humanity.  As the prophetic verse from Isaiah reads, He is in the unique position to make "intercession for the transgressors" and to be Judge.  We observe His humiliation and the shame imposed upon Him, all of which He bears as "the sin of many."  It is a comment on this scene that even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him:  He is considered lower than the robbers.

When we consider Christ as sole Judge, we must consider what we see here in this scene in today's reading:  the innocent man, crucified, with all the sins and shame of the world piled onto Him.  He is the "lowest of the low," in the worldly sense of that phrase, where even those crucified with Him revile Him.  It is a telling scene that in our world this can take place.  It is something that must make us aware of ourselves, of our own tendency to project our sinfulness onto someone else, our capacity for denial and derision in an attempt to mirror onto others things we need to examine within ourselves.  Jesus serves permanently as Savior not only because He liberates all of us from sin, but because He serves as this One who has been lifted onto the Cross in order to lift us all with Him.  This is the act that breaks the barrier of death for each of us, because death and sin are intertwined in meaning and effect -- and because His life is stronger than the death that is imposed upon Him (see Luke 11:20-23).  It is that life that transcends all things that Jesus shares with us by voluntarily going upon that Cross, and accepting the mission that has been given to Him.  He is uniquely the One who is able to Judge because of the completeness of this mission.  The Creator becomes the creature, and experiences the evils which can be put upon us by that which seeks to enslave through lies, thus defeating death.  If this is a strange thing to grasp, consider what He asks of us in following Him.  We are each to take up our own crosses.  What that means is that whatever burdens we may come up against in life, our crosses also belong to Him and to His experience, and that we follow Him in giving over that burden to Him in exchange for the ways in which He teaches us to bear it, or not.  Jesus tells us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).  To bear our cross with Him is to follow His way, to find the light of the Spirit to lead us and be active in our lives, to learn who we are and what we can become in bearing fruit He asks of us.  In this transcendent way, the "prince of this world" is defeated, because we participate in His victory, His way.  The "death of death" is what we witness here at the Cross, although to our worldly sight it appears to be something quite different.  It is a lesson to all of us that seeing is not necessarily believing, that what we think we see isn't always going to be correct, and may in fact be entirely missing the mark.  It's the truth of the heart in Christ we seek, and His meaning that we need to give what we see and seek in life.  There are those who see only a "loser" to spit on and ridicule here.  What do you see?  And how does He see you?