Luke 23

Bible Passage:  Luke 23

The trial of Jesus followed by His crucifixion.

The very thought of it brings a mixture of pain, sorrow, regret, shame… and yet at the same time, hope, faith, and above all… Love.

It is hard to read today’s passage and not be moved.  But instead on focusing on Jesus today, I want to take a look at some of the people that were involved in the last hours of Jesus.

What Do We Choose?  Convenience or Integrity?

What do we do when we are faced with difficulty? Do we choose convenience and expediency over sacrifice and integrity?

This is especially so when we are faced with a situation where the personal costs are high.  And we very much want to avoid strong negative outcomes.  But when this happens, our desire to escape negative outcomes can often stir up odd reactions in us.

The last moments of the life of Jesus triggered some very odd choices in the people.

• Two leaders – Pilate and Herod – who had been long time enemies, suddenly became allies and friends (Luk 23:12)
• Instead of releasing Jesus, as he should, Pilate decided to free Barabbas – an insurger and murderer (Luk 23:19).  Jesus – an innocent man (Luk 23:22) was now condemned to be executed.  Pilate did all this to appease the angry mob (Luk 23:23-25).
• The rulers chose popularity with the people.  The people chose fawning subservience to the rulers.  And they did all this over justice for the accused (Luk 23:23-24; Matt 27:20, 25; John 19:15).

What about us?

When faced with situations like what Pilate, Herod or the people were facing…. how would we have reacted?

These sinful and shameful tendencies of the people are part of the reason why Jesus came into the world to die.  Though it pained Him greatly to see all this acted out before Him, He knew that it was for this that He ame.

Jesus wants to save us from our opportunistic, self-serving ways of life because ultimately, it leads to death.  Evil alliances, political manipulation, rigged votes and injustice (sounds a little like the current FIFA debacle (: ) are a stench to the nostrils of God (Isa 2:5-3:26).

As true believers, we are also called to make our choices on how we deal with these situations.   Our choices should be rooted in Christlike values of love, truth and humility, rather than expedience, popularity, and selfishness.

Just Consider This….

We live in a world where groups of people tend to exclude others rather than include them.  Seldom do people of vastly different backgrounds band together, unless it’s to fight a comon enemy.

In the world, distinctions such as race, money, position, language, and even gender, often keep people from cooperating with each other.  Sadly… sometimes these may also occur in the church – where certain groups of members are left aside … simply because they do not share common traits with the others.

But when I look at what Jesus did…. as a result of His influence – the divisive walls that separate people break down.  And these people came together – very often for the benefit of others.  Such was the case during the burial of Jesus.  We see two men who were prominent Jewish leaders.  And another group was two women – one who had been delivered from demon possession and the other, a heart broken mother (Luke 23:50-56).

Just consider this….

Even in death, Jesus brought people together for a common goal.

Despite our differences in Church, we should come together and work together. Cause after all, we are one in the bond of love… the love of Jesus