Mark tells us today that Jesus' enemies prefer having a criminal in their midst than the Savior of mankind. Pilate works to secure His release but gets nowhere with the religious leaders who are determined that Jesus will die. Pilate is stricken to the heart with fear, not only because he's being used as a pawn in a game he doesn't understand, but also because there's something about this man Jesus that is unusual enough to make Pilate think he will be offending a god or gods if he allows anything to happen to Him.
"Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did." (Mark 15:6-8) We know nothing about Barabbas other than what we are told about him in the gospels. A number of uprisings took place in the first century AD and we have no way of knowing which rebellion Barabbas was the leader of, but it's ironic that he is actually guilty of sedition against Rome whereas Jesus---an innocent man---is accused of sedition against Rome without any basis in fact.
In a sense Barabbas represents us all. We are guilty. We have no excuse. We can mount no defense. Yet Jesus stood in our place, accused of our crimes, and took our punishment on Himself. The prophet Isaiah foresaw the moment in time when the Messiah would stand accused of crimes He didn't commit, "Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)
The crowd that arrives in verse 8 is not composed of the religious leaders. The religious leaders are already there for the purpose of having Jesus condemned to death. They are not interested in the fate of Barabbas. But knowing that Pilate customarily pardons a Jewish prisoner at Passover, the supporters of Barabbas arrive on the scene early in the morning to ask for his release. Pilate sees this as an opportunity to offer them Jesus instead. "'Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?' asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead." (Mark 15:9-11) The supporters of Barabbas don't know Jesus is in custody until they arrive at the palace, since His arrest and trial before the Sanhedrin took place in the middle of the night. They are now faced with a difficult choice. Barabbas is a folk hero to them, a brave man who tried to set his people from oppression, and they don't want him put to death for his crimes. On the other hand, Jesus is the current hero of the common people, a man of the line of David, a man who might lead a more successful rebellion than that of Barabbas if He can be persuaded to do so. While the supporters of Barabbas ponder this conundrum, the chief priests manage to say all the right words to sway their opinion against Jesus.
Seeing that the entire assembly is now asking for the release of Barabbas, Pilate tries to appeal to their common sense. If they want the violent and murderous Barabbas on the loose, surely they don't want the non-violent and popular rabbi put to death! "'What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?' Pilate asked them. 'Crucify Him!' they shouted. 'Why? What crime has He committed?' asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, 'Crucify Him!'" (Mark 15:12-14)
It is at this point that the gospel writer Matthew tells us a message is delivered to Pilate from his wife. "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.'" (Matthew 27:19) Claudia, Pilate's wife, had a bad dream during the night regarding Jesus. She could not have known that while she tossed and turned in bed Jesus was being accused and mistreated by the Sanhedrin, yet she sensed in her spirit that something evil was afoot. She finds no relief upon waking but continues to suffer the after-effects of her awful dream. Sitting in the palace overwhelmed with a sense of foreboding, perhaps over a breakfast she has no appetite for, Claudia finds out that the Sanhedrin have delivered Jesus to her husband to pass judgment on Him. In a panic she sends a message to Pilate which must have unnerved him greatly. He's already wishing he was anywhere on earth but sitting on the judgment seat at Jerusalem; his wife's message confirms his feelings that he must set Jesus free if at all possible.
Matthew tells us that Pilate tries again to substitute Jesus for Barabbas, but the combined hysteria of the chief priests and Barabbas-supporters is reaching a fever pitch. "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!' All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children!' Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified." (Matthew 27:24-26) Mark's account is briefer than that of Matthew's; he simply says, "Willing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified." (Mark 15:15)
After having Jesus flogged, Pilate will try once again to set Jesus free. He will bring the severely beaten Jesus before those gathered at the palace to demonstrate that He is no threat. Jesus won't look like a rabbi, a miracle-worker, or a king then. But it will all be to no avail. Nothing will satisfy the enemies of Jesus except His death. Every time Pilate asks them what they want him to do with Jesus, they will shout, "Crucify Him!"
We will close today's passage with this quote from James Coffman, who points out the fact that we must all make a decision about Jesus. "Sooner or later, every soul is confronted with the same question: 'What then shall I do unto Jesus who is called Christ?' The problem will not go away. The decision cannot be avoided or transferred to another, or endlessly deferred. 'What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He?' That question is the moral watershed down which the several streams of eternal life and eternal death move inexorably to the wide seas. Pilate sought to drown his conscience, the plea of his distressed wife, and the proclaimed verdict of innocence in the cacophany of a hysterical mob, but the decision was his. Even if his mind did not fully grasp it, his lips surely admitted it. 'What then shall I do......?"
What shall we do with Jesus who is called Christ? Is He who He says He is, or isn't He? If He is who He says He is, then we should make Him the Lord and King of our lives. If He is not who He says He is, then He cannot be a rabbi, a good man, a prophet, or a great teacher. These are the only choices we have. Either Jesus told the truth or He did not. Either He proved His identity or He did not. Every human being who hears the gospel must make a decision about it and must ask himself or herself, "What shall I do with Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment