11 Now Jesus stood before the governor,
and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You
have said so.” 12 But
when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to
him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no
answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
15 Now at the feast the governor was
accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a
notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So
when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release
for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they
had delivered him up. 19 Besides,
while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have
nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him
today in a dream.” 20 Now
the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and
destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of
the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate
said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all
said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil
has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining
nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his
hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it
yourselves.” 25 And
all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for
them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
Matthew
27:11-26
After being tried in a district court
by the highest district leader, Pontius Pilate, Jesus was actually found not guilty. Pilate’s wife knew that Jesus was
innocent. She said about having a dream
regarding Jesus, and called Him a righteous man. Even Pilate knew that the religious leaders
handed Jesus to him because of envy.
True, by the high priest Jesus was sentenced to death penalty with the
accusation of blasphemy just because He admitted that He was the Christ, the
Son of God, and that He was the Son of Man (Matthew 26:57-68). Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of God,
the Son of Man, Immanuel. But the leaders
of the Jews had already brewed up a plot to kill Jesus (26:3-4).
The religious leaders already wanted to
kill Jesus even before there was any trial.
Thus, no matter the result of the trial would be, they just had to find
a way to kill Him. The religious court
was actually a joke. They failed to
establish any evidence that could serve as a basis to give Jesus a death
sentence. All the testimonies and
accusations could not agree with each other.
That was a clear sign that they cooked up the false accusations and
testimonies. Even when they accused
Jesus of blasphemy, they could not mount any evidence against it. In fact, the evidences in support of Jesus’
claim as the Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of Man, were so many. Yet because of their motive they ignored the
obvious evidences in order to pursue the obscure one.
As they led Jesus to Pilate, the
governor too could not find any fault in Him.
Even he questioned the crowd’s cruel desire to crucify Jesus. And the crowd basically could not answer
Pilate’s question “Why? What evil has he done?” Because there was none. It was hatred, envy, fear, personal ambition,
and also ignorance that came together into an evil force to push their agenda
to murder an innocent man. And He is not
a mere man, He is the Creator of the universe.
He is the God of all the world.
He is God incarnate.
Pilate was in a state of panic. As governor, he had to judge civil matters
very often. Judging was never a
difficult matter for him before. He had
done it many times over. But this one
was different. Immediately after his
wife sent him a message to release Jesus, Pilate was stressed out. He had to use his trump card. As was custom, during the Passover the
governor would release a prisoner or someone charged with a crime. This was a very important custom because it
gave a chance for the innocent to be released in order to avoid governmental
mistake of sentencing someone innocent.
So if the people knew that a certain person was actually innocent and he
or she was just charged with a crime he/she did not commit because some
powerful people had envy over that person or some powerful evil person needed a
scapegoat, and so on and so forth, the innocent person could be demanded for
release. And the governor had the power
to release the person so demanded.
This method was Pilate’s last resort to
release Jesus. He was hoping that the
crowd would come to their senses and then demanded to release Jesus. Now, I myself believe that Pilate had
investigated who and what Jesus did. I
believe that Pilate had heard about Jesus doing miracles and all the good
things. He himself was pretty confident
that from among the crowd that day there would be some big numbers of people
who would demand for Jesus’ release. In
that way, he could be free both consciously and politically, from sentencing
someone he knew for sure to be innocent.
And in that way, he also could release the crowd from the burden of
destroying the life of an innocent. This
way the crowd could avoid the wrath of God for condemning someone that spent
His entire life doing God’s will.
So, Pilate set it up in such a way that
the likelihood of the crowd to choose to release Jesus was big. Pilate was right! The crowd indeed chose for Jesus to be
released. The problem was that the Jesus
the crowd demanded was a different one.
The crowd chose not the Jesus who quieted the storm, they did not choose
the Jesus that fed thousands of people with just two fish and five bread, they
also did not choose the Jesus who resurrected someone who had died for four
days, they even did not choose the Jesus that had healed their kids, their
moms, their dads, their wives, their husbands, their brothers, their sisters,
their grandparents, their best friends and more, they did not choose Jesus who threw
out demons, and unfortunately they did not choose Jesus who was peaceful and
authoritatively taught them the truth.
No! They chose the criminal
Jesus. They chose the violent
Jesus. They chose the Jesus who was involved
in murder and rebellion. All because
they were thirsty for blood, the blood of an innocent man. So instead of choosing Jesus the Christ who
had used His hands to heal others, they chose Jesus Barabbas, the convicted
felon who had used his hands to kill others.
And so Jesus Barabbas the guilty was released, whereas Jesus Christ the
innocent was condemned on the cross.
The crowd in Jerusalem had to choose
between two Jesus in that day. In the 21st
century we too must choose between two Jesus.
The first Jesus is the authentic Jesus whose sacrificial act on the
cross to save us from sin and death we are remembering even today. The first Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible who
is God incarnate. The first Jesus is the
Jesus who does not promise an easy life, or material wealth, or physical
health, or continuous comfort, or worldly pleasure, or fame, or power, or position,
or earthly success. The first Jesus is
the Jesus who desires to transform us into His image and thus frees us from sin. The first Jesus is the Jesus who says that if
we follow Him we will also be hated by the world, because He was hated by the
world. The first Jesus is the Jesus who
says that if we follow Him we will suffer in this world just as He suffered. The first Jesus is the Jesus of heaven.
But today there is a different Jesus
being offered to us. This second Jesus
is the fake Jesus who never sacrifices himself for us. This second Jesus is not the Jesus of the
Bible but he is the Jesus imagined by the world. The second Jesus is the Jesus who promises
easy life, material wealth, physical health, continuous comfort, worldly
pleasure, fame, power, position, and earthly success. The second Jesus is the Jesus that wishes not
to transform you but just accepts you the way you are and lets you to continue
your life of sin. The second Jesus is
the Jesus that if you follow him you will be loved by the world, because he is
loved by the world. The second Jesus is
the Jesus that if you follow him you will not suffer anything in this world
just as he never suffers anything. The
second Jesus is the Jesus of the world.
The crowd in Jerusalem chose Jesus
Barabbas over Jesus Christ. They chose
the second Jesus over the first and authentic Jesus. What about you today? Will you choose the first or the second
Jesus? Many Christians today choose the
second Jesus. In their mind, following
Jesus must bring them the embrace of the world.
Their heart is set to gain the world.
They’d rather lose the authentic Jesus than losing the riches of the
world. So even if the newly invented
Jesus is contrary to the Bible, they do not care. All they want is the Jesus that they can
enslave for their own satisfaction. And
they set up this fake Jesus over the church.
Then they force their pastors to preach in the name of the fake Jesus so
they would not be offended, so they would be comforted every time, so they
would be allowed to sin all the more, so they could be told they are going to
heaven. The problem is, the second Jesus
also uses the name Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, in their
wickedness, the Jerusalem crowd sent the innocent Jesus Christ to the
cross. They wanted Jesus the Christ to
be dead. They could not stand Him who
was Holy. They could not stand Him who
was the Truth. They could not stand Him
who was the embodiment of the true God.
They had to get rid of Him. They
had to kill the true King because they wanted a different king. This Jesus Christ they could not manage or
control. They wanted a Jesus they could
control. They wanted a Jesus that would
give in to their desire every time. Much
like our era today, isn’t it? Many
Christians today too want a Jesus they can control, who would give in to their
desire every time. But in all those wild
shouts to get rid of Him, in all the excuses of the governor Pilate, and in all
the evil motive of the religious leaders, Jesus was silent. He did not say a word. Brothers and sisters, this is the glory of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man.
It is not like He could not speak or
anything. He did not even try to defend
Himself. If he would open His mouth to
defend Himself, he would definitely persuade the crowd to choose Him. He was the Wonderful Counselor after
all. He could also have called the
angels of heaven to defend Him. But He
did not. If He did, He would not suffer
a thing in the hands of sinful man. He
could have obliterated the entire universe for treating its Creator in such
evil way. He did not even show His
glorious glow like what He did on a mountain in front of Peter, James, and
John. He could have called the winds,
the waters, the earthquake, and the terror of natural disasters in order to
show His power. He could inflict plagues
on the people that shouted to crucify Him, but He did not. He could do so much more signs and wonders
that time and He would escape the death penalty right there on the spot. But He didn’t. Why?
He marched to Calvary to be crucified. The Bible writes that He obeyed the Father
even to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-8).
The true King sacrificed Himself so His people would not need to suffer
the terrifying wrath of God. The Son of
God died on our behalf so the people whom He has chosen since before the
creation of the world, including you and me, and people after us, will live for
all eternity with Him. This is the
greatest love of all. The love of God is
so deep and wide and high. Had he
defended Himself, we all would die for all eternity. Had He called it quit when the people shouted
“crucify Him” and when Pilate gave in, we would all be condemned in hell
forever. Brothers and sisters, let me
tell you, this is the true Jesus, the first Jesus, the one and only authentic
Jesus we should choose.
The world pressures us to choose the
fake Jesus, the second Jesus. But let me
tell you today, the second Jesus never lays a finger to help us. He is not Jesus Christ. He is a clown borrowing the holy name of
Jesus Christ. With his pretension he has
deceived a lot of people even today.
With his deception many Christians have shouted “crucify Him” regarding
the authentic Jesus. The fake Jesus
persuades many people today that the authentic Jesus, the true Jesus Christ, will
not be compatible with their lifestyles.
Let me tell you that only the true authentic Jesus Christ can defend you
before God the Father. The fake Jesus
can’t. The second Jesus will leave you
to yourselves when you have to deal with God face to face. The second Jesus will leave you to die
eternal death. But the first Jesus will
cover over your sins and defend you before the Father, so you will life with
Him for all eternity. Between these two
Jesus, which will you choose?
The obvious choice is to choose the
authentic Jesus, isn’t it? In the mind
yes! But in everyday life, many would
pragmatically choose the second. Because
following the true Jesus Christ is not easy.
The world will surely hate you when you follow Him. You will suffer as He suffered, though
perhaps not as heavy as He did. Yet
suffering was not everyone’s cup of tea.
To endure suffering requires the strong spirit within. Some people would endure suffering for a
certain cause they really want. But to
endure suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ is at another level
altogether. You don’t see the end with
your earthly eyes. Only the eyes of
faith can see it. Only the authentic
love of Christ can endure it. And many
people can’t handle it. Thus they prefer
to abandon the Jesus who is the Christ over the Jesus who is “Barabbas.” They choose to get rid of the first Jesus
over the second Jesus.
As we are in this Lent season, I
encourage you to dig deep within your heart of hearts. See what is actually in your heart. Do you really realize the true Jesus Christ’ love
for you? Have you truly internalized the
true Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for you?
When you have done so, challenge yourselves to choose. Think about the first Jesus, the authentic
Son of God, the Son of Man who died on the cross carrying our sins. Think about the second Jesus who promises
your earthly riches, glory, and comfort.
Between these two Jesus, who will you choose? You alone must choose in deepest of your soul
before God. Nobody can choose for
you. As for me and my family, I have
chosen the first Jesus, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the
God incarnate, the Jesus who suffered the wrath of God in order to save us, the
Jesus who endured suffering and wanted to transform us into His perfect image. Yes, suffering in this world for His sake
will become our portion, so as the eternal life in heaven with Him and His
Father. And I encourage you to choose
the first Jesus, the authentic Jesus, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the Son
of Man. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment