Lent 4 - Mark 15: 1-15

The early morning was approaching, and the sentence had been passed. Jesus had been condemned on charges of blasphemy by the religious leaders. They had made it through the trial without an uprising by any of his followers - their plan of having the trial in the dead of the night had worked. However, now they had a new problem on their hands. As religious leaders they had no right to put anyone to death, and the Roman government surely wouldn’t consider a religious offense worthy of a capitol punishment.

At dawn, Jesus was bound again and lead away from the palace of the high priest to Stone Pavement, the place where he would be tried by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Since the charge of blasphemy would not hold, the Sanhedrin presented Jesus under the charge of insurrection against the government, because he was claiming to be the Messiah, the one who would rule the people. Rome ruled the Jewish people, not a single individual. Rome would kill someone claiming to be King of the Jews.

The walk was short, as Pilates’ fortress was only a quarter mile away, adjacent to the temple. A small crowd followed Jesus, mostly people who were pleased to be notified of Jesus’ arrest, like the money changers whose tables he had overturned. The last day of Jesus’ life had begun, and the only people in the crowd who loved him were his mother, Mary, the beloved disciples, John, and possibly Peter.

Pilate saw right through the schemes and plans of the Sanhedrin. The Jewish religious leaders had always abhorred his presence in their community, especially so close to the temple. The only time they came to him was when they wanted him to do their dirty work, in this case, killing a man whom he saw no fault in. This man had no intention on leading a rebellion against Rome, like others had before him. The Jewish leaders had to know that. Yet, they brought him to Pilate to be killed. The only good of this charge was that it would force Jesus to deny that he was the Messiah, which was what the Sanhediran really wanted, or have him permanently silenced by death.

We remember very few sermons in our lives. Just as we remember very few lessons, word for word, that we receive in a classroom. If we are lucky, we learn the spirit of the message and carry it with us. But I remember the sermon that accompanied this week in Lent when I was a junior in college. Up to that point I was having a hard time finding a church home. But that particular Sunday I was invited to a church where the sermon series for Lent was being preached, or rather acted out, from the perspectives of different people in the Lenten story. This Sunday was Pilate. I remember how the Pastor, portraying Pilate, described Jesus’ silence when he questioned him. How he dipped his hands into a bowl of water, declaring himself clean from an unclean decision. And I remember the Pastor’s face as he described Pilate’s agony over the decision.

Pilate was not a good person. He was described by historians as “a man of inflexible disposition, harsh, and stubborn.” Other historians as “cruel, corrupt, and violent”. When he couldn’t get Jewish taxes raised in order to be an aqueduct in Jerusalem, he simply took the money from the temple. He killed some people who came to the temple, along with others who followed a Samaritan prophet. He didn’t always, or perhaps even mostly, do the right thing.

Yet, Pilate was trying to do the right thing in this situation. First, he questioned Jesus, hoping that he would simply refute that he was the Messiah. But Jesus was stoic in his demeanor and silent in his responses. I often wish that Jesus would stand up for himself, try to save himself. And I’m sure that this is what Pilate expected him to do. But instead, when asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” he gave a cryptic answer, “You say so.” And Jesus returned to his silence. As I’ve reflected on Jesus’ silence this week, I cannot help but think that it has something to do with his resolve - he knew what he had to do and knew that there was no going back. This was his call. This was his destiny.

Not receiving much help from Jesus, Pilate tried again to do the right think and save Jesus, by having the crowd choose to have Jesus’ released to them instead of Barabbas. Pilate had a tradition that he followed to win the support of the Jewish people. Every year he released one prisioner during the feast of Passover, as a symbolic gesture of his mercy. Usually, Pilate choose who he would release, but this year, he wanted to give the people a choice. If they had a choice and choose Jesus, then the Sanhediran would be silenced.

Yet, things did not go as Pilate expected them to, once again. The crowd chose Barabbas. A man who was truly guilty of leading an insurrection against Rome. He had murdered Romans, and had robbed many to get money to support his cause. The crowd choose this many of many crimes, over Jesus of Nazareth, who had done nothing wrong. They choose the murder over the one who taught and exhibited love.

Not much thought is usually paid to Barabbas. He was simply the one who got a “get out of jail free” card that day. But really, he was so much more then that. He was the first person Jesus traded his life for - the first sinner set free by Jesus’ gift of life. During the same sermon series I mentioned before - the pastor spent the entire fifth Sunday in Lent portraying Barabbas and the many questions he had. Why would Jesus not speak up for himself? Why would the crowds choose to let him go instead of this one whom they had loved and followed?

The concept of someone laying down their lives for others is not new - but the thought of laying it down seems to shock us non the less. This week marked an anniversary. On March 16th, 2003, a 23 year old American named Rachel Corrie was killed in Gaza, when she knelt before a home to try to stop a bull dozer from demolishing the house of friends. The bull dozer ending up crushing her and the home. Rachel laid down her life for others. Others whom she loved. Jesus laid down his life, trading himself as an atonement, or offering, for our sins. He laid down his life for those whom he loved, but did not love him in return, including Barabbas.

Pilate and Barabbas were not the only ones taken aback that day - I wonder what people in the crowds were feeling. This crowd was small, with only a few dozen to hundreds of people at the most. This was not a crowd of all of the Jewish people in Jerusalem for Passover as some of us have believed. These were people with enough reason to gather around 6 o’clock in the morning to demand Jesus’ death. This was not representative of the many people who loved Jesus, and whose lives had been changed by him. Of course there were many present in the crowd, who like Judas, simply turned the wrong way or became disillusioned with Jesus. Like the Sanhediran, were there possibly some people in the crowd who knew that they were doing the wrong thing, those who knew that they should speak up for the release of Jesus? Were they simply too scared to do the right thing? A reoccurring theme in the story of the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life.

Pilate, like the crowd, was swept up in mob mintatlity by that point in time. He had tried time and time again to get the crowd to do what he thought they should do - and then he simply gave up. He still had the authority to set Jesus’ free, and he still bleieved that Jesus was innocent, but he gave into the will of the crowd, wishing to statisfy them. The voices in the crowd got to him.

How many of you consider yourself to be a leader? Someone whom others look up to. Pilate was by his very title and job description, a leader. Yet, he seemed to forget that at times its the job of the leader to not cater to the people. To not give into the will of the people when the leader knows that its wrong. To stand up for what is right and to forge forward with a vision, even when it is unpopular. All leaders meet opposition, usually both from within those whom they are leading and outside from people who don’t really understand what’s going on. But when leaders cater to the naysayers, and give into their wishes, they are no longer leaders, but followers. Followers who are subject to all of the fears that we have been talking about week after week this Lenten season.

What have you done because the crowd has persuaded you to? All of us experience pressure from others, whether we classify ourselves as leaders or not. What are we going to do about that pressure? Do we seek to do what is in God’s will, what is right and good? Or do we simply give in, like Pilate, because we are wishing to satisfy others instead of God? Who are the people in our lives who are holding us accountable for how we act and what we decide? Other strong people, who pray for God’s direction and will, or the crowd that goes from whim to whim? Are you willing to risk doing the unpopular, this Lenten season and beyond, if God asks you to? Or is the voice of the crowd too loud for you to hear God’s till small voice? Powerful questions that call for our reflection and honest answers.

My hope for us is that we let go of our Pilate-like dispositions to betray God in order to please others. I pray that we become leaders like Christ Jesus, who faced the unimaginable with a sense of resolve that can only come from knowing what we have to do. This week in confirmation class we talked about how the Holy Spirit leads us to be more like Jesus, or in Wesleyan terms, towards perfection. It may not happen overnight, but it can happen, if only our hearts and wills are turned towards the one who has uncompromising love for us. Amen.