People who bully others do it for various reasons. Some do it to show they’re better than others; to make them feel worthless; or to demonize them in order to justify their hatred and give a pretext for harming or hurting them more. It’s revealing to see how the soldiers at Jesus trial treated him. Once Pilate gave the sentence that Jesus should be crucified, the soldiers set about bullying him–harassing and demonizing Jesus in preparation for crucifixion. We read this in Mark Ch 15, “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 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. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.” These bullying tactics served to justify in the soldiers’ minds that Jesus deserved to die. We must be very careful lest we too bully others just to boost our own self-image.
Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr.
Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr. is the founder and chairman of UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc.). Under his direction, UMI has grown to be a leading publisher of Christian education resources for churches in the African American community. Read More
