"And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."
In this lesson, Jesus stands before Pilate and is condemned to the cross. He is rejected by His own people and His freedom is traded for that of a criminal called Barabbas.
As we now look back to the horrible events that led up to the crucifixion of our Savior, we sometimes get caught up in the emotional part of it all and overlook the underlying lessons of that sad day.
Jesus was born a Jew, and until He had completed His divinely prophesied death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, he was bound to obey the Law of Moses just as any other devout Jew would have been. Those who condemned Him to the cross were His own people, the Jews, and along with being extremely jealous of His popularity and appeal, they actually thought that Jesus was a blasphemous traitor to the Law. Although Jesus tried to teach them that a NEW law of FAITH was coming, they rejected Him and nailed Him to the cross, not realizing that by doing that horrible deed they were allowing eternal salvation to be offered to anyone willing to accept it.
Although the personal suffering of Jesus dying a miserable death on that cross can be emotionally overwhelming, we must remember that realistically a far more overwhelming event took place that day. God came to earth in the form of a human man, His only begotten earthly Son and walked among a chosen few then allowed himself to be tortured, grossly humiliated and eventually killed so that we, through simply believing in Him and those events, may have life eternal.
Therefore when we think back to the crucifixion, it is perfectly fine to ponder the suffering of Jesus the man, but our thoughts would better serve us to reflect on the awesomeness of God the undisputed Master of all things known, in the form of His earthly Son, having subjected Himself to all that for our sake.~
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