John 19:12-15 - The Crowd Crying Crucify
I’ve always been a light sleeper and I’ve always been an early riser. So that Friday morning I was already started stir when I heard the commotion in the street. People were running down the road. They were shouting to one another. It seems that something was happening at Pilate’s palace.
I dressed quickly and made my way to my observation bench. It seems that during the night someone had been arrested by the religious leaders and they had sent him on to be judged by Pilate. Soon the man’s name was revealed. It was Jesus. So this was going to be how all this played out?
I decided to make my to Pilate’s palace. A crowd was already there and was getting larger by the minute. This big of crowd this early could only mean the religious leaders were stirring the pot and rousing people of our their beds.
I begin observing the people what were there. Many of them were people I had seen just a few days earlier when Jesus rode into town. But today, they were different. There was no joy, no celebration, no excitement. Today there was anger, harshness, and hate. Spurred on by the religious leaders they were demanding Jesus be crucified. I wondered if any of them had any good reason for making this demand, but was afraid to ask.
You could tell Pilate was uncomfortable. He clearly did not believe Jesus was guilty of anything deserving death, but he was afraid of the crowd. He became very nervous when they threatened to give Caesar a bad report about him and accuse him of treason. The crowd grew larger and larger. The shouts grew louder and louder. A full scaled riot seemed inevitable, so Pilate gave him. He ordered Jesus to be crucified.
It appeared that Jesus was going to be crucified not for his actions but because of the actions of others. As it turns out, that was exactly the way God planned. It.
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