If we had been with Jesus any length of time, what would it have been like to watch the injustice thrown at Him. He had healed many, taught the Sermon on the Mount, fed great crowds with abundant food, and comes the stormy sea. But now He did not raise any word of protest nor cite what He had tried to teach. His suffering and pain demons trained restraint that His true character and purpose sustained. His calm demeanor was for us, that we can experience His presence and sense of meaning each day, no matter who we are with or the circumstances we find ourselves.
“We sometimes use the term “savior complex” to describe an unhealthy syndrome of obsession over curing others’ problems. The true Savior, however, seemed remarkably free of such a complex. He had no compulsion to convert the entire world in his lifetime or to cure people who were not ready to be cured.” - Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew
“Having achieved the predetermined conviction they wanted, the members of the council unleashed their anger against Jesus. “Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, ‘Prophesy!’ The guards also took him over and beat him” (Mark 16:65). They expressed their contempt for Jesus by spitting on him. They ridiculed him, mocking his claims to be the Messiah. The guards beat him, demonstrating their domination over him. Their actions were designed to inflict physical pain as well as to break him emotionally and spiritually. They were meant to demean him as having no value. Their objective was the total defeat and discrediting of this one they viewed as their enemy.” - Excerpt, Following Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark by Steve Langford
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