Jesus Sentenced To Be Crucified

Each of us is given the opportunity every day…

John 19:1-16

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Each and every man in these verses shows our need to hang on to the things of this world. Pilate, shows his inability to do what is right for fear that he would lose his job. The Jews in the crowd, which I am sure many of whom believed Jesus to be the Messiah, refused to speak up in fear of no being accepted. This world is full of these reasons.

In order for us to truly act on behalf of the Father, we must be faith filled. It is a hard move to make sometimes, as that movement in Faith may seem to cost you something of this world. It could be a job, it could be money, it could be something you feel is greater than either of those, but we cannot allow our eyes to get in the way of our hearts.

It seems for a moment that Pilate could see greatness in Jesus, that he was moved by the resolve of Jesus. We all at one point are moved by His life and the Gospel, but we fall short of the Faith needed to act on that belief. Why? My friends, the devil is good at what he does. His distractions are proven. Only one person existed that can move us to act in Truth, Faith, and Love…Jesus.

His life speaks to us and tells us that there is more. That fear need not be the driving force behind our decisions to act. At the root of action towards what is Kingdom movement and what is right in the eyes of our Father is the belief that Jesus has already acted on our behalf. That the toughest decisions have already been made for us. We just need to walk with Him.

We need not jump through hoops, or do anything amazing. We just have to Believe that if we ask Him for help, that the help will come. Jesus died on the cross so that we would live. Jesus made all the right moves to ensure that if we act in His name, that all that we do will result in the glorification of the Father through Jesus.

Pilate knew it. Many, if not all, of the Jews knew it. You know it. Act in Faith. Step forward in Faith. Pray on your decision to act. It is promised that He will respond in the perfect manner. He always has. He always will. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK