The Passover Lamb

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put in on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they struck him in the face.’” John 19:1-3 Even if they put the crown of thorns on his head gently it would have caused bleeding, but knowing a little something about prison guards, I can hardly believe they were gentle. They may have pushed hard on it and even twisted it as they ‘put’ it on his head – make sure he knew he was being punished. Jesus did nothing to deserve this treatment.

Pilate tried again to release him, but the people cried all the more vehemently, “Crucify! Crucify!” John 19:6 And when Pilate said he found no fault, they said, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” John 19:7 They didn’t understand that he was the Son of God. They didn’t understand that he really was their Messiah they were looking for. They were sure they were following their laws that had been given to them through Moses who was instructed by God. They were doing the right thing according to their law.

It is so easy for me to be angry with them and think, “How could they do such a thing?” But these were not bad people. They just made a very bad mistake and missed who Jesus was and what he was about because they were so focused on obeying their laws. Their hearts were hard – they were unteachable. They had their hands over their ears and blinders on their eyes so they would not stray from their laws and they missed the coming of their Messiah. It is a tricky thing to protect ourselves from bad influences and yet be open to learning new things. It takes a strong relationship with our Father made possible through what Jesus did for us and having the Holy Spirit living in us in order to make the right choices as we navigate life on this earth.

When Pilate heard that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, he asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” John 19:9 He did not take the time to hear Jesus out when he asked about truth, but now he is thinking he might want to know a little more about this man. Even Pilate who is not a Jew is frightened by the possibility this really is the Son of God.

But Jesus showed his grace with Pilate and released him from guilt when he finally 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.” John 19:1. Now Jesus did not say Pilate was not guilty of any sin, but it was the lesser of the sins that were being committed here. Even Pilate, the one who finally signed the documents to have Jesus crucified, was given his power from above. Many times I wish powers in this world were given to someone else than the one there – like Hitler for instance. But it seems that there is still a lot of free will and choices that we have in this world and if we choose poorly, there are consequences. And I think Hitler is one of those consequences. There are many others, but that is usually the first one that comes to mind when this topic comes up.

Pilate tried again to have Jesus released. “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” John 19:12 Now they have Pilate up against a wall. He loves having the power of being Governor in a strong empire. And if letting Jesus go would cause him to come under scrutiny for his loyalty to Caesar, he could not only lose his power, but his very life, depending on how seriously the accusation was taken. What can he do but turn Jesus over to be crucified.

“It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.” John 19:14 I wonder why John bothers to tell us what day and hour it is. So I did a little research on Passover. What I found was that about mid day on the day before Passover, they took the lamb to the Holy Temple to be slaughtered so they can begin preparation of the food and be ready by sundown. I think John included this detail because Jesus, the Passover Lamb, is being taken to be slaughtered. He wants us to be sure we understand that Jesus is the Passover Lamb.

Finally, Pilate gave up and “handed him over to them to be crucified.” John 19:16 They have their way. They can get rid of this problem – this man who has rocked their boat one too many times.

This is a sad place to leave for the day, and I fear it will get even sadder before it is over. But I know the end of the story and a much happier day is coming. I can hold on to that while I travel on this journey. The disciples of Jesus did not have that yet. This was a very dark hour for them.