The Cross
John 18:39-19:16
39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” 40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified
19 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.
Jewish leaders as well as the crowd were threatening Pilate to charge Jesus to be crucified, though Pilate couldn't find any charges on Him. They have been ruled by Caesar under the Roman colonization, so they are naming, Caesar, saying, " We have no king but Caesar." How awful thing it is! Caesar was the worst and terrible king of the human history, but they are showing loyalty to him, instead of Jesus, the Messiah, whom they had been waiting for long, having hope for His coming.
As Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. The one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”, they crucified the Messiah on the cross, and they have been cursed on them and even on their descendants, finally losing their country and having been scattered to other countries for 1900 years. What a miraculous sign and prediction they are! How could the Israelites perish and restore their own country 1900 years later? The more interesting thing is that all these are predicted in the bible and history seems to move around the country, the Israel.
All things have happened according to God's plan: sacrificing Jesus, as the Son of God, which is the only way to save humans from sins. Therefore, this is called 'the Great Week' of the human history, not just for Christians but also for all human races, though they do not know how important event it is for them. I am very thankful for Jesus' obedience to God, which could be possible, because He loved all mankind. So it's just up to us, which is to believe it or not.
However, the life could be totally different before and after, according to the Holy Spirit being with us or not. Just believe Jesus, and you will see and taste it sooner or later.
