Lenten Reader | Day 38

April 2nd, 2026

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Mark 15:16-32

Forsaken

As prophesied in Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Jesus was first forsaken by man. No one defended Him. No one spoke up for Him. Not the soldiers, not the passersby, not the chief priests, not the scribes, not the two robbers and certainly not Pilate. More gravely, not his disciples, not his friends, not Andrew, John, James or Peter. He was forsaken.

He was abandoned, deserted, rejected. He was mocked, beaten, crowned with thorns, spat upon, given bitter wine and then crucified. Too often we neglect to consider the humanity of Jesus. He was, as hard as it is for us to comprehend, 100 percent human. In his humanity, at his most difficult moment, He was forsaken. This Jesus, the same Jesus who taught that, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Have you ever felt completely abandoned? I imagine being on trial as one of those moments. Most of us have not experienced that. But what about losing a close friend or family member to an unexpected death? That hits closer to home for sure. Maybe you did something serious that you later regretted, and the shame was almost unbearable. You felt completely alone. Jesus must have felt infinitely more.

He was forsaken. However, the Father assures us time and time again that if we are his children then we are never forsaken. We are never alone! God's promise throughout scripture is just that, “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). He will not forsake you! We probably should be driven to tears by the truth of Jesus' suffering. But let those tears turn to joy as we turn to our Father for peace!

Chris Pridemore