By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 15:15
So Pilate, wishing to
satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged[a] Jesus, he delivered
him to be crucified.
(ESV)
The wheels of justice in nations
like the United States where everyone has a right to due process, move slow and
can be frustrating at times. This is
especially true for victims of crimes that must wait for due process to play
out before receiving closure. While
slick defense attorneys playing the system can unnecessarily drag out the
process, the main purpose of the slowness of the process is an opportunity for
presentation of all the evidence to ensure an innocent person is not unduly
convicted of a crime. However, the case
for Jesus as presented in Mark
15:1-15 records an innocent person purposely offering himself up for crimes
he did not commit by not offering a defense so he can become a substitute,
taking the death penalty for guilty individuals choosing to accept His
acquittal. Barabbas is the first of many
to experience this acquittal.
The main accusation the chief
priests, elders, and scribes had against Jesus was his answer to the high
priest's question, “are you the Christ, the son of the blessed.” (Mark
14:61). Jesus provides an honest
answer by stating “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the
right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark
14:62). This is an honest answer but
not the answer the high priest wanted to hear for it meant there was one of higher
spiritual authority standing in front of him and the end of the spiritual
control the religious elite of Jesus’ time had over others.
The scenario played out in Mark
15:1-15 has similarities to what occurs in a court in the United States
today. Jesus’ accusers deliver Jesus to
Pilate and Pilate presents the charges to Jesus and asks how he pleads (Mark
15:1-2). Jesus does not come out and
claim to be the King of the Jews, but instead tells Pilate he has said so. Pilate did not specifically come out and
accuse Jesus of being the King of the Jews with his response, but Jesus'
response may have made him pause to wonder if that was how Jesus and those
accusing Jesus perceived what he thought about Jesus and the events transpiring
before his eyes. Absent a definite guilty
plea, the trial proceedings go on as they typically do in court and the accusers
present their case to which Pilate asks Jesus again how he will answer his
accusations (Mark
15:4). However, this time, instead
of presenting a defense as typically occurs in a court proceeding, Jesus
remains silent offering no defense. The
unusualness of a defendant offering no defense amazed Pilate (Mark
15:5).
However, Pilate has one way to
get out of the pickle he finds himself in, the power to pardon one accused as
was his custom during Passover (Mark
15:6). Knowing there was a murderer,
Barabbas, awaiting execution in jail (Mark
15:7), Pilate asks if they wanted him to pardon Jesus, believing Jesus was
being falsely accused out of envy (Mark
15:10). However, instead of asking
for the release of Jesus, the chief priests stir up the crowd to ask for
Barabbas the murderer. Perhaps further
amazed, Pilate then asks what he should do with Jesus, the King of the Jews to
which the crowd calls for him to crucify Jesus (Mark
15:12-13). Now believing the crowd
calling for the crucifixion of one not accused of a capital crime under Roman
law would reduce the harsh sentence they wanted to bring against Jesus, Pilate asks
the crowd what evil Jesus has done. However,
the crowd is adamant about their call for the crucifixion of Jesus, to which
Pilate releases Barabbas to avoid a riotous mob.
However, this trial is unique for
the defendant, Jesus is not seeking acquittal from the death sentence for Isaiah
53 and Psalm
22 foretold of Messiah suffering this type of death. Jesus is not your typical innocent person undergoing
trial for a crime he did not commit but a person with a mission as the Lamb of
God (John
1:29) to offer Himself for the sins of humanity. Jesus is the promised savior of Genesis
3:15, the one that died for the sins of humanity even though he committed
no sin (2
Corinthians 5:21). The temptation of
Jesus was Satan’s first attempt to tempt Jesus into not going through the agony
of the cross (Matthew
4:1-11). Jesus even asked the Father
to let the cup of wrath pass from him but then surrendered to God’s will (Matthew
26:39). As the Lamb of God, Jesus is
the substitutionary lamb of sacrifice for sin that provides redemption from sin
with Barabbas the first beneficiary.
Like Barabbas, we too can become
beneficiaries of the substitutionary death of Jesus for our sins by professing
our belief in the substitutionary death and burial of Jesus and enjoy newness
of life by sharing in the resurrection of Christ. If you are reading this and have not become a
beneficiary of the substitutionary death of Jesus, I invite you to do so now
for we all have sinned (Romans
3:23) and are under a sentence of death (Romans
6:23), but Jesus stands ready to die for sinners even though he did not sin
(2
Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:8).
Please pray with me now to claim the substitutionary death of Christ for
your sin,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
God’s love for us is so extensive
that He willingly sacrificed His son to die and provide forgiveness for our
sins (John
3:16). Jesus’ resurrection means
that not only do we have legal forgiveness of sin but a future of newness of
life demonstrated by the resurrection of Christ. May God bless everyone reading this post, may
we all be safe in this crisis, and may everyone reading this claim newness of
life by claiming the substitutionary death of Christ for their sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment