The Cross or the Crowd?
This week we hit "Jesus, Barrabas, and Pilate" in our 24 Hours That Changed the World study, and I'll tell you, it's tough stuff. The verse that wacked me upside the head (and the "saddest verse in Scripture" according to Adam Hamilton, the author) is Mark 15.15: " And wanting to satisfy the crowd (despite KNOWING that Jesus was there because the religious types were jealous and Jesus was innocent), Pilate released Barrabas to them. He then ordered Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified ." Jesus wasn't condemned to die because of anything He did or a compelling case against Him (however adventurously fabricated!), but because Pilate wanted to "satisfy" the crowd. That made me begin to consider myself: how many times have I done something because someone else would think positively of me or like me for it? And not just past tense, but present as in the times I say yes to something knowing I shouldn't or any