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Pilate granted the crowd’s wish and ordered Jesus’ crucifixion

Pilate looked out over the crowd. So, it had come to this. He thought. People who usually had no use for him were now coming to him, looking for him to pass judgment on one of their own. It was exhilarating to have such power. With one word he could bestow life or death.

At every Passover Festival, the Roman governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the crowd asked for.  At that time, there was a well-known prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. So, when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Who do you want me to set free for you? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus called the Messiah?” He knew jolly well that the Jewish authorities had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

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While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night I suffered much on account of him.”

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. But Pilate asked the crowd, “Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you?”

“Barabbas!” they answered.

“What, then, shall I do with Jesus called the Messiah?” Pilate asked them.

“Crucify him!” they all answered.

But Pilate asked, “What crime has he committed?”

Then they started shouting at the top of their voices: “Crucify him!”

When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!”

The whole crowd answered, “Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and on our children!”

Pilate then set Barabbas free for them, and after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified (Matthew 27:15-26).

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One small word

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

Throughout the Bible, there are small words that make powerful impacts upon our lives. Consider the word “Let”. To “let” means that we have a responsibility in a given matter. It means that we must give permission or allow the opportunity for God to do something in our lives, or through our lives, that He desires to see happen.

When God says, “Let,” He is telling us that there is no reluctance on His part to see something happen. Therefore, it is up to us to humble ourselves before Him and respond to His command appropriately.

Here are some of the “Lets” we find in the Bible:

  • Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7).
  • Dear children let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18).
  • Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19).
  • Yet if, anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter (1 Peter 4:16).
  • If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:5-6).

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“Jesus saves” is a populat slogan on bumper stickers, signs at athletic events, and even banners being pulled across the sky by small airplanes. Sadly, few who see the phrase “Jesus saves” truly and fully understand what it means. There is a tremendous amount of power and truth packed into those two words.

Jesus saves, but who is Jesus?
Most people understand that Jesus was a man who lived in Israel approximately 2000 years ago. Virtually every religion in the world views Jesus as a good teacher and/or a prophet. And while those things are most definitely true of Jesus, they do not capture who Jesus truly is, nor do they explain how or why Jesus saves. Jesus is God in human form (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God, come to Earth, as a true human being (1 John 4:2). God became a human being in…

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Walking in Jesus’ footsteps requires total obedience to God’s commands

English: The Ten Commandments, illustration fr...

English: The Ten Commandments, illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For many years, I convince myself that SELF INDULGENCE was the biggest problem a Christian face; then as I grow older and wiser, I realize that I, like all Christians have difficulty obeying God’s commands consistently. The enemy has sown the seed of disobedience in our hearts, which created a struggle between good and evil. Therefore, being obedient to God is the single most difficult thing to do in our Christian lives.

It all started in the Garden of Eden. “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if you eat from that tree, you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). It did not matter that God told the first family that death is the penalty for breaking the rules; nonetheless, both man and the woman decided to disobey God command anyway and eat from the forbidden tree. Since then, the human race has had a rather difficult time, obeying God rules.Disobeying God commands leads to sin.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible has a lot to say about obedience. In the story of the Ten Commandments, we see how valuable the concept of obedience is to God. Deuteronomy 11:26–28 sums it up like this: “Behold, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command, you today. A curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods, which you have, not known”.

Let’s be honest, disobedience runs rampant in the Church. It was a problem before Jesus’ time, and it is a problem today. No one among us can honestly claim that he or she is blameless in this regard. Nevertheless, we must endeavor to achieve total obedience to God if we ever hope to walk in Jesus’ footsteps; but, that can only happen if we surrender our entire beings to Him. A good place to start is to practice what we preach.