FREE OR CRUCIFY?

John 19:1-16 / Keywords 19:10

“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

 

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 

1. Jesus didn’t exactly fit the picture of a king by any earthly standards. Jesus never demanded to be treated with special privileges or attempted to overthrow the authorities. Yet, even in his humble nature, Jesus found himself in the hands of earthly powers that sought to silence, humiliate and destroy him.

 

2. Pilate had Jesus flogged. A crown of thorns and a purple robe was put on to mock Jesus as he was brought out before the leaders. Although Pilate found no basis for a charge against him, the leaders demanded that Jesus not just be beaten, and humiliated, but be crucified. They tried to convince Pilate that Jesus was a threat to authority. Ultimately, Pilate gave in to their demands.

 

3. We still live in a culture of shame and cruelty that seeks to break the spirits of social or religious misfits. Jesus subjected himself to the worst bullies so that he could shine a light on the wickedness of power and reveal a grace that outshines all wickedness.

 

Prayer Lord, we live in a world that chooses to crucify, but you came to free us from sin and shame. May we choose your ways .

One Word Jesus sets us free