…but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
The response to Pilate trying to set Jesus free is immediate and blunt. No more “Mr. Nice Guy.” The Jewish leaders start making threats and bullying. They know Pilate’s Achille’s heel. His power depends on doing a good job governing. Doing a good job governing is measured by how well he keeps the peace. The crowd threatens to tear the town up if Pilate doesn’t give them what they want.
What kind of people do this? What kind of people resort to threats, bullying, and intimidation to get what they want?
I suppose as kids we all experimented with different ways to get our wants filled. Some of us found that bullying got us into trouble. Others found that they could get away with it. Then, we all grew up.
What happens growing up today isn’t all that different than what happened two thousand years ago. Some people grew up being bullies. Some of those bullies became Jewish leaders. Some of those leaders wanted Jesus out of the way and they knew how to put the squeeze on Pilate to get what they wanted.
Application: The world wasn’t fair two thousand years ago and it is not fair today. There are still bullies in the world and they know how to pressure people to get what they want. Sometimes it can be frightening to have a child-like bully in an adult body come after you. It takes courage to stand up to the bully. It takes faith to believe that no matter what happens, God has our back.
Food for Thought: How does submitting to Christ impact our human desire to bully people to get our way?
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I think if we submit to Christ then we are trusting in His plan and not trying to manipulate or bully others to achieve our own plan. Ultimately, it is an issue of whether or not we trust God with our lives.