The people yelling these words from Mark 15:29-30 added to the immense humiliation that Jesus experienced on the cross. What makes these comments uniquely sharp is that they take hold of words Jesus spoke himself and attempt to “throw them back into his face,” so to speak. “Jesus, you said you were powerful, but it is clear you were completely wrong!”

Christians can sometimes look at Jesus Christ’s humiliation exclusively as a big theological concept: the pre-incarnate Son of God humbles himself to become a human-being, and to suffer and die on a shameful cross. A humiliating descent into hell. This is the message of Philippians 2:6-11 and this is indeed the great humiliation of Christ. But the danger of only looking at Christ’s humiliation in these terms is that it could become something completely unrelatable to us. In some respects it is unrelatable, given how glorious Jesus was and how far he humbled himself, but we can quickly lose sight of the fact that in Jesus Christ “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15). To put it another way, Jesus knows what it is like to be teased and mocked unjust­ly for things he said that were true. Jesus also knows what it is like to have people bully him and use words to try to make him feel like something less than dirt.

If you have ever experienced public and unfair humiliation, whether it was in a group of friends in your high school, or maybe somebody said something that ridiculed you at a public meeting, the first temptation is to want to strike back and vindi­cate yourself somehow.

Romans 12:19 reminds Christians to never avenge them­selves, but leave it to the wrath of God. Jesus Christ displays this as he hears these taunts on the cross. He doesn’t need to vindicate himself, even though of all people he was the most capable of doing this. He could save himself. He was going to rebuild the temple in three days. But Jesus leaves it in his Father’s hands and endures this shame so that all sinners can cling to his suffering in their place.

The second reaction that people who are publicly humili­ated have is a tendency to slink back and close up. They harbor resentment inside. This latter option leaves a person feeling very alone and rejected and not knowing who to turn to. Many people have suffered humiliation in life-scarring ways.

But the gospel reveals a Saviour who has endured all degrees of humiliation, and can sympathize with us as no other can. He is not indifferent to our humiliation. No, he cares more than all others because he himself has experienced that pain in far greater ways than any of us.

We are sinners who are part of a sinful human race that has brought these kinds of experiences into God’s good creation. As much as we may have incurred humiliation in some unfair way, no one is faultless; no one, except of course the one who is like us in every respect, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). We can bring our burdens humbly to him, trusting that as our best brother, he will always care about those who turn to him for help.

For Further Study⤒🔗

1. What forms of humiliation have you experienced? Has it affected your confidence? Do you fear being publicly ridiculed for lack of knowledge?
2. How does what Jesus Christ did for sinners affect how you will respond to those that attempt or even succeed at humiliating you?