MARK 15:1-15
‘Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified’ (v. 15).
Pilate was caught between a rock and a hard place. The Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to him to have him tried and condemned. It quickly became apparent to Pilate that there was no substance in the charges brought against Jesus and the right thing to do would be to let Jesus go.
It would have been a straight forward case, if it had not been for the Jewish leaders and the crowd gathered outside. They did not want Jesus released, but wanted him crucified and they did not leave Pilate in doubt thereof.
As we know, Pilate did not release Jesus, but gave him over to be crucified, while he tried to relieve himself of any responsibility for the wrong doing. His reason for doing this was ‘to satisfy the crowd’ (v. 15). It is unlikely Pilate was afraid of what the crowd could do; he did have the power of Rome behind him. It is much more likely that he, as other translations put it, wanted to please the crowd, he wanted them to like him, to be popular.
While there is nothing wrong in being popular, popularity carries with it an inherent danger. Jesus made us aware of this when he said, ‘Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you’ (Luke 6:26). The danger is that we begin to live for the praise of others, that our decisions are guided by what will make us popular and well liked.
Letting popularity set our course and guide our actions is a recipe for disaster. It is of course not better to seek to be unpopular – there is no special virtue in that either. Our task, is ‘to be true, not popular’ (Luke 6:26 MSG). We are to be true to God, to his word and to his calling upon us, and for this we have received the Holy Spirit, who will guide us ‘into all truth’ (John 16:12)
To pray: Holy Spirit, lead me today and every day in all truth and give me the power and boldness to live by your truth.