Life is a bunch of choices. We make good ones, bad ones, impulsive ones, and more. How do we know that our choices are the best choices for us? Some choices look like a no win situation. Some seem easy, but there are many direction. Some are just confusing. How do we know we are making the best choice?
Jesus had a choice to back out and not obey God. It would have been the easier choice, but he followed through with His purpose. He did it not for himself, but because he loves people. He love you. He loves me. He loved those that betrayed him. He loves all of us because that is just who he is. He put us before his personal best interest and in the process changed the unseen world forever.
Pilate was the Governor of sorts to the Romans. The Jewish leaders didn't want Jesus' blood on their hands so they handed him off to Pilate. It did not make their hands clean, but in their eyes they were innocent. Pilate understood that Jesus was not a criminal. He was actually amazed by Jesus wanted to save him, but didn't know how without putting himself at risk. The political world must be so very fragile that everyone lives in fear of the people. He allowed his fear influence his decisions.
Barabbas was a murderer. It was tradition just before the Passover, that Pilate would release a criminal to the people. He gave the Jewish people a choice: Jesus or Barabbas. They chose the murderer because everyone had turned their back on Jesus at that point. That was the people's decision influenced by hateful leadership. Pilate was as guilty as everyone else for Jesus' murder just like the church leaders. Pilate sentenced Jesus to crucifixion because that is what the people wanted.
The consequences of that decision are far reaching. The immediate results was more pain and suffering for Jesus before being placed on a cross to die. He endured what would kill most people, but it was not his time yet. When he went on the cross he did as God ordered. He hung between two criminals that were witnesses and now had a decision to make too: Accept or reject faith.
It was so painful for God that He had to turn His back on His own son while Jesus' human body was dying. On the sixth hour hanging painfully on a cross the sky suddenly turned dark. It was an unscheduled total eclipse as God turned His back and represented His judgment. Jesus took all the sins of the people upon himself. He bore it alone. He finally cried out to God when it was just too much.
The skies stayed dark for another three hours until about 3 pm when Jesus released his soul from his body with a cry and last audible breath. The curtain in God's temple tore from top to bottom to represent the fact that people now had unhindered access to God. It would take some time to realize that.
The centurion guards that had been with Jesus guarding him from any rescue were up-close and personal witnesses. It changed their perspective on everything and the believed. Jesus' death should have taken longer because it is a slow drowning on the victims internal fluids, but Jesus shortened it so that they would not break his legs. It also made a point. He was in control of his life and death.
The women followers of Jesus were witnesses of everything. Women were overlooked. They were considered unreliable, so no one would have gone to them to ask what they witnessed, but they missed nothing and their testimony had great impact. Jesus had taught his apostles how to treat women as special and fragile people. They listened and recorded their testimonies.
It was only the women and angels that helped Jesus. They made sure he got buried and didn't rot on the cross with the help of Joseph of Arimathea. He was a part of the Sanhedrin, but he believed. He was in the shadows until this point and this is where he made the decision to take a stand for his faith. He took care of all the expenses to prepare Jesus' body and even gave Jesus his own tomb.
It all had to happen quickly because of the rules of the sabbath. Things had changed, but the people were not aware of the extent of the change yet. The women were the witnesses to all of this.
Jesus choice changed the spiritual world forever. It changed the literal world because of all the witnesses. People that would never had experienced Jesus now had the opportunity to believe. We also have the choice to have faith or reject it.
Mark 15
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