Day 41 – Under pressure

Mark 15:1-11

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

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Sheila Crofton Briggs writes:

Mark records an intriguing interaction between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate wanted to know Jesus’ identity - he didn’t believe Jesus to be a criminal, rather he saw that the envy of the chief priests was the root of the problem. The effect of Jesus on Pilate? He was amazed by Him. He insisted on calling Jesus King of the Jews!

The crowd, who just a few days before were stripping palms to hail Jesus as their Messiah, are now choosing to cave in to the pressure of the chief priests. Fickle! Both Pilate and the crowd had chosen to bow to others, rather than trust their own convictions.

In what ways have you swayed off course because of listening to other voices and pressures? I pray we have strength to stand in the face of opposition from authority or the crowd!