Mark 15:6-15

Custom vs. Justice

 

Pilate tried to take the easy way out and ended up doing exactly what he did not want to do: sending Jesus to be crucified.

 

It had all seemed so easy. Jesus was so clearly innocent of any real wrongdoing. The reason for His appearance before Pilate was so obviously the envy of the chief priests. And Barabbas was so bad, so evil. Surely, when Pilate offered the crowd their choice of criminals to free, Jesus would be set free. The crowd always sided with someone considered innocent and just. Barabbas did not match the portrait of the kind of prisoners the crowd usually released.

 

So Pilate gave the crowd a choice. And the crowd chose to free Barabbas rather than Jesus. Now Pilate was stuck in the same mess he'd started with – an innocent man was before him, but there could be a riot if Pilate declared Him innocent. "What should I do with this Jesus, this one called the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked. And the crowd insisted that Pilate crucify Jesus. And Pilate submitted to the masses.

 

What happened to justice? What happened to righteousness regardless of pressure? It was gone! Thrown out the window, all because Pilate was too afraid to do the right thing from the beginning and declare Jesus innocent. The representative of Rome, the official entrusted with justice, put the decision in the hands of the people. He gave his authority away, and the King of the Jews was killed for it.

 

We men are so weak! We tend to fear people more than God. We would rather save our skins for now than our lives forever. Father, teach our justice officials to live for what is right. And teach us, Your people, Your children, to stand for what is right regardless of the pressures brought against us. May we be able to hear Your voice through the shouts of the multitudes, to see Your hand above the clenched fists of the mob! May we know You, and may we take courage!