“Now it was the governor’s custom at the
Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner,
called Barabbas. 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?’ For he knew it was out of envy
that they had handed Jesus over to him.
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.’ But the chief priests and the elders
persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. ‘Which of the two do you want me to release
to you?’ asked the governor. ‘Barabbas,’
they answered. ‘What shall I do, then,
with Jesus who is called Christ?’ Pilate asked.
They all answered, ‘Crucify him!’
‘Why? What crime has he
committed?’ asked Pilate. But they
shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’” (Matthew 27:15-23)
It was the most horrible miscarriage of
justice in the history of the world. An
innocent man was to be executed. And
what made it even worse was that the judge knew the man was innocent and sent
him to be executed anyway!
Pilate was a very weak man. He knew there was no evidence against
Jesus. His wife had warned him about the
innocent man. But Pilate was not willing
to make the crowd angry. He relied too
much on the support of the crowd in order to keep his position. If the crowd turned against him, Caesar might
well remove him from his place, or worse.
And so, he gave in to what the crowd wanted.
He was on the judge’s seat. A judge who pronounced judgment based upon
what the crowd wanted. That’s not the
kind of judge I want!
Thank God that we have a Judge who will pay
no attention to the crowd. The only
voice He’ll listen to is the One who pleads on our behalf!
And remember, the crowd is often wrong. But there is One who will never lead you away
from what is right!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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