Mark 15 - One of the Crowd?

12"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
13"Crucify him!" they shouted.
14"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Here we have Pilate, who knows that Jesus has done no wrong, who doesn’t believe Jesus should be punished, who questions the crowd to give them a chance to do the right thing, but in the end, goes along with the crowd to satisfy them. What a lesson we can learn from Pilate.

Many times in our lives, we know what is right, we feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we know from the teachings of the Bible what should be done, yet we do the wrong thing to pacify our friends and family (the crowd) for it appears to be the easiest road to follow. We don’t want to be made fun of, be ridiculed, be outcast or alone, so we go with the crowd; however, as in this instance, it can have serious repercussions; this instance led Jesus to His death.

Now I know you’re thinking, for Jesus to be sacrificed for our sins, this had to happen. However, I believe, that if Pilate refused, there would have been another to sentence Jesus, for God’s will be done. But it wouldn’t have been Pilate “pulling the trigger”, so to speak. Just as with Judas and the betrayal and the curse upon him, it had to be done for the events to take place, but he had a choice, it didn’t have to be him to betray Jesus. He could have refused and it would have been another. Then, who knows, it could have been Judas preaching the Gospel after Jesus’ resurrection, instead of hanging from a tree, killed by suicide.

The point is, we all have a choice to follow God’s will, what is right. If the events MUST come to pass, they will; however, we don’t have to be the one on the wrong side of them. We must take a stand for God, regardless of the seemingly hopeless outcome, for God is good and He will protect and provide.

So you’re family may brand you “crazy”, your friends may desert you, not a pretty picture in itself, BUT God never leave you and He will bless you more abundantly that you could ever imagine for being faithful to His will. Think about it in the long term, which would you prefer, some friends thinking you “cool” for going along with them (those who may or may not be with you next week), or your Heavenly Father being pleased with your obedience to Him (who will be with you always, for ever and ever). Ridicule by others kind of pales in comparison, doesn’t it? To be “cool” now and burn for eternity, or be an “oddball” now and be blessed, loved and cared for, for eternity.