Were You There When They Crucified the Lord? Matthew 27:11-26
Jesus Before Pilate
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest 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 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.
Reflection We sing the song during Lent, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? ...." We see here that all the people were there to ask for Jesus' crucifixion and punishment by death. There were the Jewish religious and secular leaders, the Roman governor and finally all the people were persuaded to cry out, "Crucify Him!"
And as we sing the song we get the sense that maybe we were there too. Maybe not in the sense of yelling, "crucifying him!", but maybe indirectly we crucified him as it was our sin that nailed him to the tree. And how did Jesus respond to all of this? He said nothing! That's right the Son of God did nothing to defend himself, but allowed this to happen, because he knew it was God's will for him to suffer and die on behalf of all those who shouted these words, and by application all of us.
That is why before we can celebrate Easter, we need to remember Good Friday. At the heart of the Christian faith is that we were dead in our trespasses until Jesus' death freed us from our sins and raised us to new life in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit just as He was raised from the dead. And this is the rhythm of the Christian life, daily dying to self and pick up our cross and following him.
Were you there when the crucified my Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble! Amen.
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest 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 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.
Reflection We sing the song during Lent, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? ...." We see here that all the people were there to ask for Jesus' crucifixion and punishment by death. There were the Jewish religious and secular leaders, the Roman governor and finally all the people were persuaded to cry out, "Crucify Him!"
And as we sing the song we get the sense that maybe we were there too. Maybe not in the sense of yelling, "crucifying him!", but maybe indirectly we crucified him as it was our sin that nailed him to the tree. And how did Jesus respond to all of this? He said nothing! That's right the Son of God did nothing to defend himself, but allowed this to happen, because he knew it was God's will for him to suffer and die on behalf of all those who shouted these words, and by application all of us.
That is why before we can celebrate Easter, we need to remember Good Friday. At the heart of the Christian faith is that we were dead in our trespasses until Jesus' death freed us from our sins and raised us to new life in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit just as He was raised from the dead. And this is the rhythm of the Christian life, daily dying to self and pick up our cross and following him.
Were you there when the crucified my Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble! Amen.
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