...and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said (Mat 27:29).
When doing right becomes costly, many people quietly change their definition of right. They begin with conviction but retreat when doing what is right makes them unpopular, misunderstood, or disadvantaged. Matthew 27:27–31 shows us Jesus standing in that very place: surrounded by people who mocked righteousness, yet refusing to become like them.
Doing right is not always welcomed. In fact, doing right can sometimes make you the uncomfortable person in the room. Philippine politics often gives us a familiar picture: a person may speak against wrongdoing, but instead of being thanked, he may be attacked by those who benefit from it. In the company of sinners, sin feels normal, while righteousness can feel like an insult. When everyone is walking in the wrong direction, the person walking straight can look like the problem.
Normally, we expect doing right to bring reward. Study hard, and you expect good grades. Work honestly, and you expect trust. Treat people well, and you hope they will treat you well. But Jesus shows us that righteousness does not always produce immediate earthly rewards. He did right, yet He was mocked, beaten, humiliated, and eventually crucified. He could have fought back, but He did not. He could have argued His case, but He remained silent. His righteousness did not make His suffering disappear.
That is why Christians should not be surprised when doing right sometimes costs us something. We cannot expect evil people to reward us for refusing to join them. If our goal is to please people, pressure will eventually make us compromise. But when our goal is to please God, we can endure rejection without abandoning conviction. A straight road is not wrong simply because everyone else prefers the shortcut.
Jesus reminds us that righteousness sometimes requires grace more than courage. We need God's grace when honesty costs us an opportunity, when forgiveness makes us look weak, or when standing for truth makes us unpopular. The question is not always, “What will this cost me?” but “Whom am I trying to please?” When God is the answer, even a costly right choice becomes an act of worship.
