“16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, headquarters) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on Him. 18 And they began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying Him homage. 20 When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.”

Mark 15:16-20

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There are plenty of people who claim to understand or faith. They say they know all about Jesus, all about God, all about the church and then offer their excuses why it’s not for them. They claim to know the Bible, they may have even been to church a few times. But for whatever reason they have never really investigated the truth. They never really considered in their hearts the things of God. 

Usually, it is because the truth has hit a little too close to the vest for them, they do not want to look at themselves in the light of Scripture. They don’t want someone telling them what to do and what not to do, and so it is easier to mock, revile and make fun of the faith. Keeping Jesus at an arms length, canging the subject, and acting foolish when confronted keeps you from having to have serious conversations about deep things. It ‘protects’ you from personal evaluation and a weighing of your life’s efforts and errors. 

These Roman soldiers had their own understanding of life and death, good and bad, power and authority. They had been witness to the ministry of Jesus, but it was contained within a religion that ‘wasn’t for them’ and so they ignored it and pushed Him aside. They convinced themselves that He must be some kind of huckster, some kind of sham. And so they gladly took to Him as if He was. No reverence, no respect, just base behavior and mockery. 

As we GoLove in Jesus’ precious Name, we are going to encounter people whose only response is juvenile nonsense. They lash out, they poke fun, they refuse to engage their minds. Rather than consider eternity, consequences and matters of the heart, they push away everything that threatens their false façade. Only when life gets to be too much to bear, usually in the face of the death of a loved one, do they open their hearts and minds to the options and opinions of faith. 

In those moments we must be grace and love for them. We must speak clearly from the Word of God to help them see His face, to hear His voice. We must turn up the compassion as strongly as they pushed away reason, and present the will head of God to meet them in that moment and to heal their wounds. It will not be an easy process, but  haven’t seen many other opportunities to break through the walls of people like this. There is an element of ‘heaping burning coals’ here, we kill them with kindness and mercy on the midst of their pain. Their hard-packed hearts have cracks and fissures that will allow a seed to be planted in those moments and we help cultivate the soil of their hearts. 

GoLove even the obnoxious mockers when you are given those precious opportunities. Let God do the talking by preparing your heart in defense of the truth and through concerted prayer ahead of time.