"But the whole crowd shouted 'Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" Luke 23:8
What a bunch of idiots that were in the crowd that day. Here, they had Jesus, the Messiah, in their midst and they instead chose Barabbas to free from prison. It's stated in the scriptures that Barabbas was in prison with insurrectionists who had committed murder in an uprising. Imagine that! They chose a murderer ahead of the Son of God. Idiots and morons the lot of them!
I don't know about you guys but when I was younger that is how I felt towards that crowd. I remember an old movie where Mary, the mother of Jesus, is pushed around by the crowd and told to shut up as she pleads for her son's release. As a young man, I was deeply disturbed at how rude and mean they were. They had Jesus there with them and they treated him like this. In my mind, I thought "If I were there I would never choose Barabbas over Jesus". Peter also got the brunt of my anger "I'd never deny Jesus, much less than 3 times".
Oh, the folly of youth. And, how wrong I was. There have been many, many times I have chosen the path of picking Barabbas rather than Jesus. Even after having read the scriptures and being heavily involved with my church, I have found myself at times saying "Give me Barabbas" in my heart. I didn't say Barabbas, but we all have things in our lives that we choose over Jesus.
It could be an addiction, a relationship, fame, fortune, and other sins we choose. We say in our hearts "Give me alcohol" or "Give me riches" or even "Give me that girl" instead of "Give me Jesus". We all do this at one time or another in our lives. We want to fill something missing in our lives and we choose other things. Even with the knowledge of scriptures, we stray and chase other things. When we do that, it always leaves us empty.
And, like Peter, we do a good job at times in denying Jesus in our lives. We try to fit in with our peers more than standing up as a Christian. Our hearts sometimes say "Jesus? Who's he? Never heard of him before." I have done that many times in my life. Choosing what I believe is "safety" over truth.
Sometimes we side with the enemy. We listen to his lies and deceits and stray from God. We do this because we think we know what's best or perhaps God is not moving in ways we desire for our lives. Thus, we decide to go in another direction and do things that ultimately harm us. Maybe we do that because we feel alone or angry and bitter - we can get trapped in a web of lies and the more we struggle, the more we get stuck. We can choose something to satisfy us, and when it stops being so satisfying - we move on to the next thing. Addiction to our sinful ways is ever present and is a trap we must avoid.
Unlike me, Jesus doesn't call me an idiot or moron for choosing unwisely. It makes him sad at the choices I sometimes make, but he still loves me. He leads me back to the right path. He doesn't deny me or pretend to forget me and leave me alone. He works with me, showing the correct path, and when I come in humble repentance, forgives me. He wants us to choose him every time with our mouths and hearts. He will deal with our sin - he wants us to become healed if we come to him.
My prayer is that our hearts would constantly say "I want Jesus". This is the most satisfying choice that we can make. I pray that the Lord will provide each of us the strength for us to make that choice each and every day. And, on the days we choose unwisely, that we would quickly repent and ask forgiveness. Thank goodness Jesus doesn't treat us like I did that crowd in my heart back when I was younger. Life would be rather harsh then.
What a bunch of idiots that were in the crowd that day. Here, they had Jesus, the Messiah, in their midst and they instead chose Barabbas to free from prison. It's stated in the scriptures that Barabbas was in prison with insurrectionists who had committed murder in an uprising. Imagine that! They chose a murderer ahead of the Son of God. Idiots and morons the lot of them!
I don't know about you guys but when I was younger that is how I felt towards that crowd. I remember an old movie where Mary, the mother of Jesus, is pushed around by the crowd and told to shut up as she pleads for her son's release. As a young man, I was deeply disturbed at how rude and mean they were. They had Jesus there with them and they treated him like this. In my mind, I thought "If I were there I would never choose Barabbas over Jesus". Peter also got the brunt of my anger "I'd never deny Jesus, much less than 3 times".
Oh, the folly of youth. And, how wrong I was. There have been many, many times I have chosen the path of picking Barabbas rather than Jesus. Even after having read the scriptures and being heavily involved with my church, I have found myself at times saying "Give me Barabbas" in my heart. I didn't say Barabbas, but we all have things in our lives that we choose over Jesus.
It could be an addiction, a relationship, fame, fortune, and other sins we choose. We say in our hearts "Give me alcohol" or "Give me riches" or even "Give me that girl" instead of "Give me Jesus". We all do this at one time or another in our lives. We want to fill something missing in our lives and we choose other things. Even with the knowledge of scriptures, we stray and chase other things. When we do that, it always leaves us empty.
And, like Peter, we do a good job at times in denying Jesus in our lives. We try to fit in with our peers more than standing up as a Christian. Our hearts sometimes say "Jesus? Who's he? Never heard of him before." I have done that many times in my life. Choosing what I believe is "safety" over truth.
Sometimes we side with the enemy. We listen to his lies and deceits and stray from God. We do this because we think we know what's best or perhaps God is not moving in ways we desire for our lives. Thus, we decide to go in another direction and do things that ultimately harm us. Maybe we do that because we feel alone or angry and bitter - we can get trapped in a web of lies and the more we struggle, the more we get stuck. We can choose something to satisfy us, and when it stops being so satisfying - we move on to the next thing. Addiction to our sinful ways is ever present and is a trap we must avoid.
Unlike me, Jesus doesn't call me an idiot or moron for choosing unwisely. It makes him sad at the choices I sometimes make, but he still loves me. He leads me back to the right path. He doesn't deny me or pretend to forget me and leave me alone. He works with me, showing the correct path, and when I come in humble repentance, forgives me. He wants us to choose him every time with our mouths and hearts. He will deal with our sin - he wants us to become healed if we come to him.
My prayer is that our hearts would constantly say "I want Jesus". This is the most satisfying choice that we can make. I pray that the Lord will provide each of us the strength for us to make that choice each and every day. And, on the days we choose unwisely, that we would quickly repent and ask forgiveness. Thank goodness Jesus doesn't treat us like I did that crowd in my heart back when I was younger. Life would be rather harsh then.
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