Good Morning Friends,
“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.’ 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. 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. 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. 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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