Apocalypse 15:1-4 / Luke 21:12-19
When we read about the sufferings of Jesus in the gospels, we can see that he underwent three types of tortures.
The first was the scourging and that was to whip the accused 39 times (which was seldom needed) with leather straps that had lead ball-bearings at ends.
The purpose was to whip the person to within an inch of his death and then stop so that other forms of torture can continue.
The third torture was the crucifixion - put the cross on Jesus, march Him up to Calvary and then execute Him slowly.
Those where the soldiers' orders and they carried it out meticulously and mercilessly.
What was difficult to understand was the in-between torture.
The soldiers wanted to make fun of a half-dead Jesus.
The soldiers took off His clothes and put a robe on Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, put a stick on His hand and hailed Him "King of the Jews"
And then, they spat on Him. Spittle was not intended to hurt the body. It can't.
Spitting at a person is meant to degrade him and to insult his dignity. We can say it's a psychological torture.
By doing so the soldiers felt big by making Jesus look small.
Well, as Christians, we may be spared of physical torture, but we can be assured that we will have our share of the spittle.
It comes in form of gossips, back-biting, slandering, lying, accusations.
Oh yes, we have had our share and we have also retaliated with drop for drop.
But let us stop this vicious cycle of spitting at each other by heeding what Jesus told us in the gospel: Your endurance will win you your lives.
Others may spit at us, but we don't have to spit back.
Jesus didn't. In fact, He endured the spittle all the way to the cross, and there He won life for us.