The governor was Pontius Pilate. "Are you the king of the Jews?". The Jewish leaders would have tried to make out that Jesus was a revolutionary, or in danger of causing civil unrest. The governor would fear any unrest, for that would make him less than popular with his superiors. So, they hoped this would cause Pilate to have Jesus put to death.
The religious leaders brought all sorts of accusations against Jesus, but He remained silent in the midst of it all. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to remain silent, but it can also be the most powerful thing to do.
Pilate knew what the Jews were up to, but he was not willing to face them down directly, so he tried to find an indirect route out of the dilemma. So he gave the people a choice, they could free Jesus, or free Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a well-known trouble maker.
Pilate's wife had a dream about Jesus and warned her husband not to have anything to do with Him.
The crowd demonstrate their fickleness in choosing Barabbas over Jesus. Just contrast this with their response a few days earlier when Jesus entered Jerusalem.
Then they compounded their sin by calling for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate knew there was no justice in this, but was unwilling to take a stand. So he infamously washed his hands of the matter. The people foolishly accept the blood of Jesus upon themselves, not realising what they are doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment