Jesus Despised the Shame

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2

Despise:
To regard with contempt or scorn.
To dislike intensely; loathe.

Jesus despised the shame of the cross…can we blame Him?

I know what it’s like to be wrongly accused of something, and it can be maddening…especially when your accuser is dug in against you and refuses to listen to reason.

But I’ve never been wrongly accused of something, arrested, beaten, scourged, stripped, nailed to a cross, and hung to die like a violent criminal.

And when they had a chance to set Jesus free, the mob chose to set Barabbas free instead.

And the soldiers gambled for His clothes.
They gave Him vinegar to drink.
His friends all left Him to die alone.

Naked for the world to laugh at,
He died with the sins of the world
on His head.
He suffered the shame and the pain temporarily, so that every believer wouldn’t have to suffer for eternity.

He despised the shame.
I’m sure it hurt His heart more than His body, watching the depravity of man revolt against the God who made them.

He died without dignity.
He died without compassion.
He died without friends.
Those hands that touched and healed so many were nailed in place with no hands to hold His own.

Shameful.
No person deserves such disrespect, and the sinless Son of God certainly didn’t earn such brutality.

But He went there willingly…so that the price tag of our sin could be PAID IN FULL, once and for all.

Thank you Jesus, for bearing such shame upon yourself…for a bunch of sinners like us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gae-n0Pb7Q