“Crucified”

Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Matthew 27:22-26

What would you have done if you had been in with the thousands of people yelling for Jesus to be crucified? You know the answer as well as I. The crowd did not speak up in His defense, and we would have been a part of that crowd.

But think about what has happened over the past two thousand years. The cross, which was the symbol of Christ’s crucifixion, has become our sign of Christianity. That same cross is our only hope of forgiveness and salvation.

What does the cross mean to you? Is it a witness to our eternal hope in the saving death of Jesus on Calvary?

Have we followed in His footsteps? Do we have a willingness to practice costly discipleship?

Because Jesus bore the cross for us,

we should be willing to take it up for Him.

Our Daily Bread – March 24, 2008