He was unlike any man. There was nothing dangerous about Him. He brought hope that was never seen in anyone ever before. He spoke differently. He uttered words with compassion, yet with authority. He spoke as if the very words were His — truly they were.
In my eyes, he was no threat. He didn’t have an army or government. He didn’t even have a place to rest his head. His very friends betrayed Him and so did this crowd.
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!” they cried out.
They let their Messiah slip away right under their noses. He did greater things than any prophet, any man that ever lived. His compassion threatened them. His love scared them. His words often angered them. “A simple carpenter’s son” they cried out. With the same breath they gathered against him, yelling:
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
The people gathered impatiently witnessing his trial. There was no charge worthy of death. He wasn’t guilty of any crime. But the crowd cried out for justice… fake justice:
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
How can they be so foolish?
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
But… why?How dare they demand death?
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
I grew angry, and confused. How dare they condemn Him? How dare they demand death?
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
I was angry!
After trying to make sense of this event, I began to understand one very important truth. We blame the crowds for the crucifixion of Jesus. But that is not a correct assessment of the greater picture.
That crowd didn’t kill Jesus. The Romans didn’t kill Jesus. The Jews didn’t kill Jesus. He himself said:
“No one takes it [life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John 10:18)
If I want a second chance at living as God had intended from the beginning, something had to be done. That something is to have Jesus, the messiah, bear the burden of my sin. That burden was death!
So, I too had to join this crowd. There is no other way I can get God without His crucifixion. It was my sin to pay. The father had laid my sin upon His shoulders. This sin had to be punished, had to be atoned for. Only Jesus was the perfect lamb of God.
If I wanted God, I needed Him to die. This was the only way. As much as I hated to hear those awful condemning words:
“Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
I understood that this was the only way to get God.
I joined that crowd, “crucify him, crucify him!” because by this very act (and later his resurection), I get a second chance at life. I get God. All of Him. Forever.
Moe is a God lover & fearer, husband & father who in his spare time living in NYC writes at Beta Christian and shares a modern look at Biblical figures every Friday (as well as teaching his children gang signs at dinner much to the dismay of his wife).
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