Rachel Workman: 20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and
the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus
to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you
want me to release to you?”
The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!” Wow what have they done but spoken for innocent children here.
26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. This is always painful to read. I don't know how long this went one. It stated that they mocked him until they were tired of it. Jesus endured this probably longer than we first imagine. Thank you Jesus, because I lack for better words.
The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!” Wow what have they done but spoken for innocent children here.
26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. This is always painful to read. I don't know how long this went one. It stated that they mocked him until they were tired of it. Jesus endured this probably longer than we first imagine. Thank you Jesus, because I lack for better words.
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Allen Michaels: 20 But the chief priests
and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus
executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered. Funny how the crowd loved Jesus on Sunday because they
thought he was going to inaugurate his kingdom. Then they hated him on Friday
when power appeared to be broken. In the face of the mass uprising against
Jesus, even his friends were afraid to speak up.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the
Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify
him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder,
“Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but
that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in
front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your
responsibility!” This is a typical example
of caving in to peer pressure. Kind of like when I watch things on TV that God
would not want me to watch, or getting dragged into arguments instead of
walking away. Sometimes we just find it easier to conform than to obey. But
that’s OK because “secretly” we can still be Christians when it’s just us and
God. Yea, that’s not gonna fly come Judgment Day.
In making no decision, Pilate made
the decision to let the crowds crucify Jesus. Although he washed his hands, the
guilt remained. Washing our hands of a tough decision doesn’t cancel our guilt.
It merely gives us a false sense of peace. We can’t make excuses. We must take
responsibility for the decisions we make.
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on
our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus
flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the
Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They
stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted
together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his
right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the
Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and
struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had
mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they
led him away to crucify him. People often make fun of
Christians for their faith, but believers can take courage from the fact that
Jesus himself was mocked as greatly as any one. Taunting may hurt our feelings,
but we should never let it change our faith.
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Tomorrow's Reading for Matthew 27:32-44
32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from
Cyrene,[g] and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’
cross. 33 And
they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).
34 The soldiers gave
Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to
drink it.
35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for
his clothes by throwing dice.[h] 36 Then they sat around and
kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing
the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
38 Two revolutionaries[i] were crucified with him, one on his right
and one on his left.39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.
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