READING: Mark 15:2-5, Matthew 27:11-14, Luke 23:1-12, John 18:28-40, Mark 15:6-15, Matthew 27:15-26, Luke 23:13-25, John 19:1-16, Mark 15:16-20, Matthew 27:27-31, Luke 22:63-65
The crowds, riled up by the Jewish leaders, saw Jesus as a threat. They wanted Him crucified, preferring even to have Barabbas—a known criminal—released over Jesus. On the other hand, Pilate surely did not see Jesus as an obvious rebel or threat; more than once he noted that he found no reason to charge Jesus (John 18:38, 19:6). In Pilate’s mind, Jesus was not guilty.
Indeed, He was not. Jesus is the perfect, sinless, Son of God who always pointed to His Father. Any fault found in Him is not His own; it is His becoming sin for us that we might become the children of God (2 Cor 5:21). Guiltless, He is the sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Scholars debate whether John the Baptist had a fully developed understanding of the suffering Messiah, but we readers know that “you were redeemed . . . not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb” (1 Pet 1:18-19).
We who are guilty but forgiven sinners must choose to live accordingly, fully devoted to the Lamb.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How much do you meditate on the truth that Jesus took your sin upon Himself?
DAILY PRAYER: “Lord, I praise You for being the sacrificial lamb.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Mark 15:21-24, Matthew 27:32-34, Luke 23:26-31, John 19:17, Mark 15:25-32, Matthew 27:35-44, Luke 23:32-43, John 19:18-27, Mark 15:33-41, Matthew 27:45-56, Luke 23:44-49, John 19:28-37
