The Word This Week
John 19:1…
As the trial of Jesus before Pilate continues, we find Jesus in the midst of a great public storm, orchestrated by the religious leaders…
The assembled crowd is not the same crowd that welcomed Jesus the previous Sunday. That crowd hailed Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey as the long-promised Messiah – The King of the Jews.
“Hosanna!” they had cried with one voice. “Save now!”
This crowd, rising in the early morning hours of the day Jesus was crucified – before Jesus’ followers had been awakened – had a totally different desire. This crowd, manipulated by the religious leaders, wanted Jesus crucified because the religious leaders wanted Jesus crucified.
The only thing standing in the way of their desire to see Jesus crucified was their sworn enemy, the Roman governor Pilate. As yet Pilate remained unconvinced by the Jewish leaders or the crowd Jesus deserved to be put to death. Pilate declared Jesus innocent of anything worthy of death three times.
Not knowing this crowd had been assembled by the religious leaders specifically to support their cause of having Jesus put to death, Pilate appealed to the crowd hoping they might overrule the religious leaders. Instead, he found himself overruled.
If a prisoner was to be released it must be Barabbas – not Jesus! They were very emphatic about it.
Pilate now realized he had stepped into a trap he could not escape from. Even having Jesus scourged could not satisfy their Satanically-inspired blood lust. Pilate – already in trouble with Rome for the difficulty he had in keeping the peace in Israel – faced a career-saving choice: either kill an innocent man or potentially kill his career.
He chose to save himself, as most men would. Jesus on the other hand – chose to save the world, allowing Himself to be made sin - that even men such as Pilate could be made righteous if only they would.
Pastor Bill
As the trial of Jesus before Pilate continues, we find Jesus in the midst of a great public storm, orchestrated by the religious leaders…
The assembled crowd is not the same crowd that welcomed Jesus the previous Sunday. That crowd hailed Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey as the long-promised Messiah – The King of the Jews.
“Hosanna!” they had cried with one voice. “Save now!”
This crowd, rising in the early morning hours of the day Jesus was crucified – before Jesus’ followers had been awakened – had a totally different desire. This crowd, manipulated by the religious leaders, wanted Jesus crucified because the religious leaders wanted Jesus crucified.
The only thing standing in the way of their desire to see Jesus crucified was their sworn enemy, the Roman governor Pilate. As yet Pilate remained unconvinced by the Jewish leaders or the crowd Jesus deserved to be put to death. Pilate declared Jesus innocent of anything worthy of death three times.
Not knowing this crowd had been assembled by the religious leaders specifically to support their cause of having Jesus put to death, Pilate appealed to the crowd hoping they might overrule the religious leaders. Instead, he found himself overruled.
If a prisoner was to be released it must be Barabbas – not Jesus! They were very emphatic about it.
Pilate now realized he had stepped into a trap he could not escape from. Even having Jesus scourged could not satisfy their Satanically-inspired blood lust. Pilate – already in trouble with Rome for the difficulty he had in keeping the peace in Israel – faced a career-saving choice: either kill an innocent man or potentially kill his career.
He chose to save himself, as most men would. Jesus on the other hand – chose to save the world, allowing Himself to be made sin - that even men such as Pilate could be made righteous if only they would.
Pastor Bill