Read Matthew 27:11-26
Part 2 – Are We Easily Persuaded To Deny Jesus?
During Jesus’s trial before Pilate, the tension amongst the crowd got intense. There was a feast going on and Pilate was accustomed to releasing one of the prisoners, whoever the people wanted released. At that time there was a notorious prisoner, Barabbas. So Pilate asked the crowd, “Who would you want me to release, Barabbas or Jesus the Messiah?” Basically, he was asking the crowd, who do you want me to release, Barabbas the horrible criminal or Jesus the innocent man? Pilate’s wife even said to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, Jesus, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of him.” Pilate tried to persuade the crowd to release Jesus but they kept saying Barabbas.
The crowd was so adamant to see Jesus crucified that even though Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, he caved to their wishes because he could see that a riot was soon going to start.
What would we have done if we were there? If we were in the crowd, would we have yelled to have the Messiah crucified or would we have yelled to have Jesus released despite what everybody else was saying around us?
Today’s world is not much different! Today, our culture may not be yelling “Crucify Jesus,” but they are fighting for a lifestyle that is totally against the Lord.
Do we choose a lifestyle of obedience to the Lord? Do people see our faith in practice that it’s obvious we are not living according to the standards of this world? Are we willing to do this even if it means being rejected by the world? Or do we cave to the peer pressure like Pilate did?
Here are some scriptures that come to my mind:
James 4:4 “You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this evil world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.”
Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said, “Everyone, therefore who shall confess me before people, I will confess them before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny me before people, I will also deny them before my Father who is in heaven.”
