doing the wrong thing when you know it's wrong

wanting to satisfy the crowd, pilate released barabbas to them. he had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified. mark 15:15

mr. stott makes clear in today's reading the dilemma that pontius pilate faced--"he wanted to release Jesus", being fully convinced of Jesus's innocence; yet pilate also "wanted to satisfy the crowd", being equally determined to preserve his own reputation.

pontius pilate is one of those unfortunate characters in the bible who gets blamed for doing the exact same thing that we are all guilty of.

christians are "fully convinced" of Jesus's identity--His deity, His authority, His lordship--and we know everything we owe Him in terms of our obedience, our allegiance, our loyalty.

yet we also "want to satisfy the crowd", "being fully determined on perserving our own reputations."

we try, just like pilate did, to "have it both ways", by "avoiding a clear decision". but as mr. stott points out, it all comes down to "choosing between 2 kings".

we don't stand for our faith which we know to be true; by our silence, we express our allegiance to the "other" king.

as despicable as pilate is, i feel more affinity with him than i like to admit.

I thought it was my turn...

I'm sorry I posted out of turn. I should have looked at the dates more closely. Helen, I hope i didn't ge tin your way. Please feel free to post or perhaps we can switch.
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The trail before Pilate

The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate as a criminal facing a guilty charge and the punishment for their crimes. I don't know the exact circumstance a criminal would be brought to Pilate and not to any other government official but it seems that once a criminal is brought before him, he or she would proved to be guilty by the result of Pilate's interrogations and by his own sense of judgment. In the case for Jesus, Pilate's interrogations proved Jesus to be innocent. Stott points out that "on five distinct occasions Pilate is recorded as having declared Jesus innocent." I feel that the trial by Pilate was God's way of declaring to the world that Jesus was indeed innocent. He was sinless in God's eyes and for those who do not fear God-Pilate's testimony states "I find no basis for a charge against him."(John 18:38) There was nothing in Jesus that deserved punishment-let alone the punishment by death. However, He was indeed put to death and put to death by crucifixion. It's very puzzling to me that as I follow the story unfold, I find layers of irony and unexpected outcomes that turns out as it should have turned out-according to God's will.
The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate so that Pilate- a person of power in the world would declare Jesus as guilty and worthy of punishment by death. But, they got exactly the opposite. Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent. This should have foiled the plans of the Jews to have Jesus killed. Jesus should have been set free. Pilate's interrogations found no basis for Jesus' guilt and Pilate's heart was not with the Jews to put Jesus to death. Nevertheless, Pilate's final judgment fell in the favor of the Jews. At this one might think that Jesus became a victim in the hands of evil men but verse 31 of John 18 says that "This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death He was going to die would be fulfilled." "This" meaning the trail by Pilate.
For the Jews, a trail by Pilate would fulfill their desires to have Jesus killed and whatever their insidious motives may have been, they were given what they desired. However, it was ultimately God's will that was fulfilled. Jesus knew what would happen to Him despite His innocence and He did not fight against it because He knew the will of God and chose to obey.

This story makes me want to declare that Jesus was not a victim. He suffered in the hands of evil men and He died for my sins but He was not a victim of these evil men and He is not a victim of my sins. He is God and God's precious gift to the world. It is too amazing for me to fathom the full implications of the true outcome of this trial by Pilate. This trail declared Jesus to be innocent yet He was punished by death and it is His death on the cross that declares us to be innocent though we have been guilty since birth. Surely this is not the work of men but the work of God.

The Trial before the Sanhedrin

As I was reading today's reflection, once again, I was reminded that our lord, Jesus Christ, didn't surely come to be served but to serve. These people in the courtyard were making false statements just to prosecute Jesus. Just to see him die. Just to see him get hurt. If someone accuse me of something I didn't do, I'd probably do ANYTHING, even if it means harming others, to clear my name. Heck, even if I AM guilty, I would still defend myself. Why do we do that? When I begin to think about my motives it was pretty clear. It's because I, myself, come first before anyone. I'm more important to me than anyone. Even if I had no power to defend myself, I would at least die trying. On the other hand, Jesus had power. He had power and authority to defend Himself. He had power to end everything right there. He had power to give them justice that they deserved. Yet, what does He do? He humbles Himself and obeys the will of our Heavenly Father. He doesn't say unnecssary things. He knew His purpose on earth. He knew He was there to die not only for His people but even for those who were denying and accusing Him. That is Love. We often hear people ask each other, "What is love?". and we define love in so many ways. Love is caring, sacrificing, being a friend and etc... Where did it come from? Where is its origin? To me, there is no other way to define love but to think that love is 'what God showed us'. There is no one way to describe it. It's just what He showed us. I'm just simply amazed. I sit here in awe, knowing that we need to "be like Christ" as Christians yet fall soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo short. Only thing I can possibly say is... Thank you Jesus.

The Denial by Peter

I don’t know, that was pretty shameful of Peter, I would never do something like that to my savior. But I don’t know how confident I am now. I wonder how confident Peter was, when he told Jesus that he’ll never disown him. And I wonder how hard he tried to make, those who hated Jesus, believe that he wasn’t one of the disciple. Now I’m trying to remember when did I had confident like Peter, and when did I disappointed Jesus like Peter. I remember I was confident like Peter, after attending some of revival meeting, and some of the worship, I wanted to do so much for Jesus. But I also remember hiding my citizenship of kingdom of Jesus Christ, to not offend others. I guess here in North America, no one’s going to persecute you being a Christian. But there is chance that someone might not talk to you being so narrowed minded. So sometimes we wouldn’t talk about what we believe in too much. Peter is so much like us and I’m relief that I can relate to one of the disciple. And more and more I get to learn what I am about, and his amazing grace towards to us.

The Betrayal by Judas

Wow. I am amazed at today's reading. It's easy for us to think that the trials Jesus had to face were easier for him because he is the son of God but his prayer at Gethsemane clearly demonstrates that he was also in flesh and blood just like all of us. His prayer shows the fear and desperation because he knows the suffering he must face. The whipping, piercing, beating, and being nailed to the cross wasn't any easier for him. The bruises he had from the beating was real. The blood and water that spilled from his body was real. The humiliation of the son of God being crucified by his creation was real. I'm just overwhelmed by the obedience of Jesus Christ. How he can endure all that for someone like me. Someone who betrays his love by loving other things over him. His love is amazing! He would endure all the suffering and humiliation to save someone like me.