“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.” (Mark 15:19)
“Again and again.” It means to do something over and over. Repeatedly. Without stopping. Just when you think it’s over, it happens once more. Again and again.
“Again and again.” It’s what my sin pattern feels like. It’s more than a feeling. It’s actual. I sin again and again. Repeatedly. Without stopping. When I make promises to God and think it’s over, it happens once more. When a sin is conquered, another crops up in its place. Again and again I wonder how I could be so foolish. Again and again I find myself saying “I’m sorry.” It’s like I get spiritual amnesia. Sin erupts again and again.
“Again and again.” Jesus was beaten over and over. Repeatedly. The soldiers didn’t stop. Just when He thought it was over, another blow to the head. Again and again. Struck with a wooden staff from a tree that He made. Struck with a tool intended for shepherding. Struck with something used in history to part seas. Struck by men he placed in their mothers’ wombs. Bludgeoned again and again.
“Again and again.” His mercies. New every morning. As the sun rises, every morning, again and again - so too the mercies of God. How can it be? Doesn’t the Father get tired of our pattern? Doesn’t the Father want to give up? What does the Father do with the pain and punishment we deserve? “Again and again.” Jesus wasn’t struck repeatedly for sins He committed again and again. It was for ours. The Father knows us. The Father loves us. The Father atoned for us. Our “again and again” pattern matched, no, superseded by Jesus’s “again and again” concussion.
Though it was done in jest, the soldiers response was spot on: “Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.” It’s the only proper reply. And, you guessed it, it is to be done again and again.
“Again and again.” It means to do something over and over. Repeatedly. Without stopping. Just when you think it’s over, it happens once more. Again and again. Because Jesus was struck again and again, just when you think His grace has run out, He showers more on us - again and again.
“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.” (Mark 15:19)
Again and Again…I am incredibly grateful for God’s grace and love and not turning His back on me.