Crucify Him!

Mark 15:13-15: “So they cried out again, ‘Crucify Him!’ 14 Then Pilate said to them, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ But they cried out all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’ 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”

The rejection of Jesus by the very people He came to save is an extremely hard account to read. It is hard because we read a few chapters back that just a couple days before this bogus trial there was a triumphal entry in Jerusalem where, “Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” This was a Kingly welcome. In addition, in just a few days they were to be yelling "Crucify Him!", "Crucify Him!" This painful account was prophesized in Isaiah, when he wrote, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.”

Truth be told, the crowd that cheered Him into the City of David deserted him. The cheers became jeers. They were willing to release a known criminal Barabbas, to convict an innocent man. The brutality of the scene is multiplied by the cries, "Crucify Him!", "Crucify Him!" The blood lust cannot be quenched; the players in this game have gone too far, planned too long, for anything to stop their jealous rage. He was going to die. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her”, is being played out and yet they still cry out, "Crucify Him!", "Crucify Him!"

We as Christ followers have all cried, "Crucify Him!", "Crucify Him!" However, we through the power of the Holy Spirit realized the awesome gift that Jesus had given to us. He took the punishment that was really meant for you and me. He did this without complaint; He was compelled by love. We should respond to that radical love by living a radical life. That radical life is a life that is in rebellion to what this world says is acceptable. I now have a responsibility to live as Jesus wants me to live, not how I want to live, or the way the world tells me to live. In fact, every time I do my own thing and not listen to what He tells me to do through His word, I say, "Crucify Him!", "Crucify Him!". I must live a Christ honoring life because of what He did for me.

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: Deut. 28 New Testament Mark 15:27-47