Joel M Bradshaw

38Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 

41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.–Matthew 27

1. I face this issue when I watch The Passion of the Christ (2004 movie).
2. I mutter to myself, “Don’t you do that to my Jesus!”
3. And yet, He wouldn’t be my Jesus if He didn’t suffer and die in my place paying the debt for my sins.
4. The issue is the same with what they told Jesus in His final moments.
5. If He saved Himself, Jesus couldn’t save them.
6. If He got rescued from the cross, they couldn’t be rescued from their sinful state.
7. I wonder if Jesus pondered that irony in his final moments as they sarcastically sneered at Him.–JMB