In the midst of His great physical pain and suffering as well as intense humiliation, Jesus was not thinking of Himself, but of others. His heart, thoughts, and prayers were focused on those people who were weeping for Him as well as on those who were putting Him to death, Jews as well as Romans. He knew that were in grave danger. The judgment which His Father would bring on the nation of the Jews as a result of their actions against the Son of God would cause them great suffering and pain.
We should learn from Jesus’ humble and humiliating suffering. In our society our tendency is to lash out at those who do bad things to us, malign us, or belittle our faith and beliefs. Many believers file lawsuits or air their grievances on social media often with anger and spite. And when we suffer we often complain, cry and become filled with self-pity especially when we are falsely accused.
That is not what Jesus did when He was so cruelly abused and maligned. As Jesus was suffering, His concern was not His own pain but the feelings and needs of others. He comforted the grieving women. He forgave His executioners, both the Romans and the Jews. He granted mercy and salvation to the repentant thief. And, no doubt, His thoughts were for us as well, for He bore the weight of our sins. He experienced the wrath of God because of us, so we too are to be counted among those who nailed Him
to the cross.
When we or our faith are slandered we should weep for those who do it for they do not know Christ. They are on their way to eternal hell and that is sad. And when we ourselves suffer then, we should seek the help of Jesus so we may offer our pain for His glory. Knowing that our suffering is serving His eternal purpose will help us endure.