Daily Bread 2011 Matthew 27
Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday February 8th, 2011 Matthew 27:22-26
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 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, “His blood is 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.
What Does This Mean?
As Jesus is on trial before Pilate, He does not refute Pilate when he asks Him if He is a King? His only reply is, “You have said so!” All the while, Pilate has many reservations about the whole ordeal. Meanwhile the chief priests and elders stir up and persuade Pilate to release Barabbas, a known criminal and stir up the crowds to follow their lead.
Surely we see the irony in the innocent Son of Man being sentenced for claiming to be the Son of God and a murderer being set free. The buzz of the crowd starts escalating and all the more they shout “Crucify Him”.
Crucifixion was often performed to terrorize and dissuade the onlookers from perpetrating the crimes punishable by it. Victims were left on display after death as warnings. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. (Wikipedia)
Importantly, though the Romans carried out the legal means for the crucifixion, the Jewish leaders clearly instigated the process and incited the crowd to shout “Crucify Him!” This gives us the sense that all of humankind (Jews and Gentiles) were involved in nailing Jesus to the cross.
What Does This Mean For Us?
We are approaching the period of Lent, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter, where we celebrate the Resurrection. We often sing the song, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Where you there when they nailed him to the tree? Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.”
While it easy to develop disdain for those who carried out this plan to crucify the Lord, when we contemplate that Jesus went to the cross to die for the sins of the world we see in an indirect sense we were there too. When the Jesus was nailed to the cross he was fulfilling what John said when he saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
When we understand the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on that fateful cross it should cause us to tremble. Before we can understand the joy of the Resurrection, we need to come to grips with the pain of the cross. Through the unjust sentence of the ruling authorities, Jesus brought about justice for us, which is also called “righteousness”. The wages of sin is death and Jesus paid our penalty though he did not deserve the horrible things that were done to him. Sometimes this causes me to tremble how about you?
Jesus you paid a debt you did not owe so we could be set free from sin and live for righteousness. Help us to live our lives out of gratitude for what you have done for us! Amen.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 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, “His blood is 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.
What Does This Mean?
As Jesus is on trial before Pilate, He does not refute Pilate when he asks Him if He is a King? His only reply is, “You have said so!” All the while, Pilate has many reservations about the whole ordeal. Meanwhile the chief priests and elders stir up and persuade Pilate to release Barabbas, a known criminal and stir up the crowds to follow their lead.
Surely we see the irony in the innocent Son of Man being sentenced for claiming to be the Son of God and a murderer being set free. The buzz of the crowd starts escalating and all the more they shout “Crucify Him”.
Crucifixion was often performed to terrorize and dissuade the onlookers from perpetrating the crimes punishable by it. Victims were left on display after death as warnings. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. (Wikipedia)
Importantly, though the Romans carried out the legal means for the crucifixion, the Jewish leaders clearly instigated the process and incited the crowd to shout “Crucify Him!” This gives us the sense that all of humankind (Jews and Gentiles) were involved in nailing Jesus to the cross.
What Does This Mean For Us?
We are approaching the period of Lent, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter, where we celebrate the Resurrection. We often sing the song, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Where you there when they nailed him to the tree? Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.”
While it easy to develop disdain for those who carried out this plan to crucify the Lord, when we contemplate that Jesus went to the cross to die for the sins of the world we see in an indirect sense we were there too. When the Jesus was nailed to the cross he was fulfilling what John said when he saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
When we understand the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on that fateful cross it should cause us to tremble. Before we can understand the joy of the Resurrection, we need to come to grips with the pain of the cross. Through the unjust sentence of the ruling authorities, Jesus brought about justice for us, which is also called “righteousness”. The wages of sin is death and Jesus paid our penalty though he did not deserve the horrible things that were done to him. Sometimes this causes me to tremble how about you?
Jesus you paid a debt you did not owe so we could be set free from sin and live for righteousness. Help us to live our lives out of gratitude for what you have done for us! Amen.
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