Daily Bread 2010 - Luke 23
Daily Bread 2010 – Luke 23
13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."[c]
18With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" 19(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
22For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
It is interesting that the two most powerful people in the world at the time of Jesus (30 A.D.), King Herod and Pontius Pilate, both agreed that there was really no just cause for Jesus to be executed. Herod was a ruler in Galilee where Jesus came from, and although he was Jewish, they were a client state of the Roman Empire. He was the son of King Herod, who murdered the innocents (and his own family) and intended to kill Jesus, if he had not been warned by the Magi to leave the city. Pilate was the ruler of the Roman empire that dominated the world at that time.
But the irony in the story is it is not these power hungry rulers that eventually called for Jesus’ crucifixion, but the chief priests, the rulers and the people. Wanting to release Jesus as Pilate could find no basis for capital punishment, the people cried and demanded, “Crucify Him.” And further they let a known criminal Barabbas go instead of Jesus.
While we can see why the rulers would want to snuff out Jesus, as his following was growing. One wonders why the people were so mad at him. After all, most of his ministry was spent healing the sick, demon possessed, and announcing the coming of the Kingdom.
The only answer I can think of is that this is the way God wanted the Son of God to be led to the ultimate purpose of his mission the cross. In a sense, these events show that the one in control of all these events is God. Jesus could have easily called down supernatural powers to prevent all of this, but throughout the story Jesus fails to prevent any of this from happening. These events help remind us Jesus was crucified for all of our sins.
In a sense, Barabbas, is the ultimate example of the message of the cross. The one is who is guilty is let free, and Jesus, the guiltless one, pays the price for someone else’s sin. We just finished celebrating Holy Week, and yesterday we saw that though the events of Good Friday were bleak, there is a reason it is called “Good Friday”. For without Good Friday, we could not celebrate Easter. Without Good Friday there would be no forgiveness of our sin.
Jesus we thank you for choosing to go to the cross for our sin so that we might be justified by what you accomplished on the cross. And today, the day after Easter we can rejoice that You are Risen, just as you said! Help us to live our lives in thanksgiving for this great act of love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."[c]
18With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" 19(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
22For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
It is interesting that the two most powerful people in the world at the time of Jesus (30 A.D.), King Herod and Pontius Pilate, both agreed that there was really no just cause for Jesus to be executed. Herod was a ruler in Galilee where Jesus came from, and although he was Jewish, they were a client state of the Roman Empire. He was the son of King Herod, who murdered the innocents (and his own family) and intended to kill Jesus, if he had not been warned by the Magi to leave the city. Pilate was the ruler of the Roman empire that dominated the world at that time.
But the irony in the story is it is not these power hungry rulers that eventually called for Jesus’ crucifixion, but the chief priests, the rulers and the people. Wanting to release Jesus as Pilate could find no basis for capital punishment, the people cried and demanded, “Crucify Him.” And further they let a known criminal Barabbas go instead of Jesus.
While we can see why the rulers would want to snuff out Jesus, as his following was growing. One wonders why the people were so mad at him. After all, most of his ministry was spent healing the sick, demon possessed, and announcing the coming of the Kingdom.
The only answer I can think of is that this is the way God wanted the Son of God to be led to the ultimate purpose of his mission the cross. In a sense, these events show that the one in control of all these events is God. Jesus could have easily called down supernatural powers to prevent all of this, but throughout the story Jesus fails to prevent any of this from happening. These events help remind us Jesus was crucified for all of our sins.
In a sense, Barabbas, is the ultimate example of the message of the cross. The one is who is guilty is let free, and Jesus, the guiltless one, pays the price for someone else’s sin. We just finished celebrating Holy Week, and yesterday we saw that though the events of Good Friday were bleak, there is a reason it is called “Good Friday”. For without Good Friday, we could not celebrate Easter. Without Good Friday there would be no forgiveness of our sin.
Jesus we thank you for choosing to go to the cross for our sin so that we might be justified by what you accomplished on the cross. And today, the day after Easter we can rejoice that You are Risen, just as you said! Help us to live our lives in thanksgiving for this great act of love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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