Gathered around the table in the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples, last week, we looked a little deeper into the story of the Last Supper. Through the disciples, we gained the sobering reality that we all have a little bit of Judas in us. (Missed a devotion? Catch up here.) But further into the story, things have gone from bad to worse. The supper has ended, Jesus has been betrayed in the Garden by the kiss of death from Judas, and the Pharisees have taken Jesus into custody. In this week's passage, we find Jesus standing before Pilate in the court, and Pilate gives the people a choice. Start this week’s devotion by reading John 18:29-32, 38-40: “So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, ‘What is your charge against this man?’ ‘We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!’ they retorted. ‘Then take him away and judge him by your own law,’ Pilate told them. ‘Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,’ the Jewish leaders replied. (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)
Then Pilate went out again to the people and told them, ‘He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?’ But they shouted back, ‘No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!’”
How can this be? Those who had praised Jesus as he entered the city were now demanding his life. As the people cried out for Jesus to be crucified, they also cried out for Barabbas to be released. Why would they pick Barabbas over Jesus? How could they make such a foolish decision? It’s easy to judge staring at the facts some 2,000 years later. After all, Barabbas had been a violent revolutionary who deserved the fate that awaited him, and Jesus had done nothing wrong. The obvious conclusion as a Christian is that if Jesus had been released, God's plan for our salvation would not have been fulfilled. And, while this is absolute truth, a beautiful story is there to be uncovered when we look further into the scene...
