DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Rejected and Victorious
by Judy Webb
"Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So, they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate." (Mark 15:1)
"Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified." (Mark 15:15)
To save his own skin, Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted. One commentary put it this way: the guiltless one delivered to die in order that the guilty might go free. Pilate was a weak politician, yielding to the mob mentality. We certainly know about mob mentality, just remember the riots, burning, and looting of a few years ago. Even then, weak politicians did nothing to stop it.
A few wiser people attempted to advise Pilate against his actions. Even his own wife, as we read in Matthew 27:19. “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 about him.' But Pilate did not listen, and he handed Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified."
There are several guilty parties here. “…but the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:11) Caiaphas the high priest, Judas the betrayer, and the Jewish people all had the scriptures which predicted the coming of the Messiah. They should have known better, but they chose self-preservation and denial. They had a better plan.
This declaration was news to me. I had always thought there were no levels of sin…sin is sin…but this verse seems to contradict this and teaches there are degrees of sin.
"This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross." (Acts 2:23)
It all backfired, as we read in Acts 4:11. “Jesus is ‘the stone the builders rejected, which has become the Cornerstone." (Read these words also in Psalm 118:22.)
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, forgive us for we know not what we do. You are the Cornerstone, our firm foundation and we need you every hour. Come Holy Spirit, be a presence with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
