15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
The Crucifixion
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself!Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
There's one really important question here that everyone deals with, whether they realize it or not.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?”
Everyone will have to answer that question. Will you hate Him, like the religious leaders? Will you mindlessly reject Him because everyone else does, like the fickle crowd? Will you decide you're just not interested in dealing with this at all and put it aside, like Pilate's wife? Will you deliberately choose to just get rid of Jesus, like Pilate? All of those choices result in the same thing - sacrificing eternity.
There's only one choice that can save us and that is to choose salvation, to choose forgiveness, to choose Christ.
But here all we see is incredible wickedness. Evil has taken over and it's not enough to just crucify Jesus, He is mocked, spit on, blasphemed, defamed, slapped, punched, scourged - He endures suffering beyond what we can even imagine - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
And He endured it all for us.
He stayed on the cross, not because He couldn't come down, but because He wouldn't.
He knew that He alone could pay the penalty for our sin - the only pure, spotless Lamb, sacrificed for all mankind. He endured the sorrow and iniquity of every single person that has ever lived or will ever lived, all at the same time - it's indescribable and unimaginable what He endured.
For love. For mercy. For forgiveness. For justice.
And on the cross, He offered forgiveness - verbally. Even to those who killed Him, who mocked Him, who reviled Him, who tortured Him, who rejected Him - if they would only repent, they could still be forgiven. In the midst of excruciating pain, He shed tears for those who shed His blood.
Unimaginable love and compassion demonstrated in such an overwhelming way. Thank you Jesus! May we not only repent and receive you, but live our lives in obedience to you in gratitude for what you have done for us.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Matthew 27:45-66
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