Can you remember a time in your life when it felt like you had a single mission? Something specific that you were supposed to do that took precedence over everything else, and because it was so important, it became the dominant objective that occupied your thoughts?
I can think of several moments in my life that fit this pattern. When I met my wife, it became my dominant thought to date her and eventually marry her. For a season, that was one of the primary things I remained focused on. Years later, when I was asked to lead a struggling summer camp and conference ministry, I put most everything else in my vocational life on hold in order to focus on that objective. Following that, when the Lord asked me to plant a church, I was dialed in on that task and I didn’t give myself permission to be involved with much else until that new ministry was established and had momentum.
When I look at the opening verses of Mark 15 that speak about the actions and words of Jesus leading up to His crucifixion, it’s clear to me that He was highly focused on His redemptive objective. The time had clearly come for Him to fully atone for the sins of the world, and nothing was going to stop Him from fulfilling that mission.
And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. - Mark 15:1-5
I don’t know what time you like to wake up each day, but at this season of life, I like to wake up early. There’s something I enjoy about feeling like I’m the only one awake. Early morning is a great time to read Scripture, pray, and think through the concepts and ideas the Lord reveals to us in His word.
And even though I like to be up early, I do have ways that I prefer waking up. I’d rather wake up on my own than be startled by a loud sound or someone banging on my door. In Mark 15, I get the impression that the chief priests didn’t thrill Pilate when they came to his door first thing in the morning. They weren’t really presenting him with the ideal way to begin a day.
Pilate is an interesting character in the gospels. He served as a Roman governor for about ten years with the responsibility to oversee the regions of Judea and Samaria. Pilate didn’t really like the Jewish people, and they didn’t like him, but he maintained a part-time residence in Jerusalem, particularly so he could be near the Jewish people when they were celebrating the Passover since that brought so many additional people to the city.
My understanding was that Pilate enjoyed having authority and wanted to keep Caesar happy. The Jewish people resented Roman rule and occupation, so from time to time they would rise up against it. One of Pilate’s main responsibilities was to prevent the Jewish people from getting out of line and rebelling against the Roman government. Pilate was particularly sensitive to the possibilities of them doing so.
Scripture tells us that the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate early in the morning with the desire that he crucify Him. Sentencing someone to death was not something the Jews were permitted to carry out on their own authority, so they were required to turn matters of that nature over to the Roman government. For this reason, they were compelled to involve Pilate at this point.
I find it interesting to observe the things Pilate said as he examined Jesus. I’m not of the impression that Pilate was an exemplary leader, but when you serve in a leadership position of any type for multiple years, particularly something at the level he had attained, you can’t help but become more astute in your observations about human nature and motivations. Pilate could see right through what was taking place. It was obvious to him that Jesus was innocent of the accusations being brought against him, and that the religious leaders were attempting to have Him killed because they were envious of Him.
With that in mind, Pilate made several attempts to end the matter by setting Jesus free. The religious leaders knew Pilate wouldn’t execute Jesus for blasphemy if they made that nature of accusation against Him, so they took the approach of accusing Jesus of calling Himself a king in such a way as to imply that He was attempting to usurp Roman authority.
Pilate asked Jesus the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus acknowledged that it was just as Pilate had said, but Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that is far above the kingdoms of this world. The religious leaders accused Jesus of many things, but other than acknowledging that He was indeed a king, Jesus didn’t respond to their accusations. He didn’t attempt to defend Himself. Rather, He entrusted Himself to the Father and allowed this experience to fully play out so that it would ultimately lead to His crucifixion.
Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. - Mark 15:6-10
Pilate knew that the Jews hated Roman authority. He was a cautious observer when dealing with them because it probably seemed to him that a new insurrection could potentially occur at any moment. One that had recently happened involved a man named Barabbas. In the insurrection, he had actually murdered someone, but many of the Jews considered him a heroic figure. They appreciated his willingness to stand up to Rome.
Even though Pilate wasn’t well-liked by the people he governed, he had an annual tradition that he hoped would generate some level of good will between him and them. His tradition involved releasing a prisoner of their choosing each year at the time of the Passover. As the crowd began to ask him to do this, he thought this might be a great opportunity to liberate Jesus so he suggested that Jesus be freed, but as we’ll soon see, this wasn’t a suggestion that was well received.
Freedom is a beautiful, but often misunderstood concept. Many people use the word freedom to describe their desire to do whatever they want regardless of how their actions impact the lives of others. Some people speak of freedom as a concept they believe humans intrinsically possess even before God directly intervenes in our lives, but biblically speaking, real freedom is the power to escape the enslaving power of sin that is granted to all who trust in Jesus.
I want freedom, but I know it can only be obtained through Jesus. In Mark 15, Jesus was wrongfully detained. He experienced the loss of freedom in order to set those of us who by nature are slaves to sin, free. Pilate was offering to set Jesus free, but in reality, the arrest and detainment of Jesus were all part of His divine plan to set us free. Jesus was being treated as a sinner so that He could spiritually liberate those who were actually enslaved to sin.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. - Mark 15:11-15
One of life’s great impossibilities is experienced the second you try to please everyone. It isn’t possible, but that doesn’t stop people from taking drastic measures in their attempts to do so. Pilate didn’t want to crucify Jesus, but the chief priests succeeded in turning the crowds against Him. Instead of setting Jesus free, as Pilate suggested, they called for the release of Barabbas.
Can you hear the crowd yelling, “Give us Barabbas! We want Barabbas!” Wanting to satisfy them, Pilate honored their request, but there’s a huge irony in the words these people were yelling and the request they were making. As they screamed for Barabbas, I wonder if any of them gave any thought to the meaning of that man’s name. The name Barabbas literally means “son of the father.” In their rejection of Jesus, this crowd still managed to acknowledge who they really needed. They didn’t need a murderer named Barabbas, they needed the Son of the Father who had literally come to give them life.
Pilate released Barabbas and reluctantly delivered Jesus over to be crucified. It was the Roman custom to prepare a prisoner in a specific way for crucifixion because in doing so, they could expedite his death. The Romans would scourge prisoners before their execution. This involved whipping their body with leather straps that were laced with bone and metal. It would severely weaken the body and speed up the length of time it took for them to die on the cross. Scourging was such a severe punishment on the human body that it wasn’t uncommon for people to die from that experience alone.
It isn’t really pleasant to think about what Jesus willingly endured for us in these moments, but it does foster a genuine sense of gratitude, appreciation, and admiration for Him within me. We deserved this punishment, but He endured it. We deserved the accusations, but He took them. We deserved the rejection, yet He put up with it so we could be welcomed into His everlasting kingdom as children of God who are made holy and blameless in His sight.
Jesus was accused, arrested, and scourged to set us free. He experienced sorrow to bring us joy. He experienced and defeated death to grant us life. He is worthy of our trust and thanksgiving.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:4-5
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Originally published on Bible Study Headquarters. Used with permission.
John Stange is the Lead Pastor at Core Creek Community Church and a professor at Cairn University where he leads the Digital Media and Communication program. He also leads an online community called Platform Launchers where he helps people build message-based online platforms.
John has authored over 30 books and presently hosts several podcasts on the LifeAudio podcast network. His shows have been downloaded millions of times by listeners throughout the world.
You can learn more about John’s ministry, books, and podcasts at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com.