Lectio: Mark 15:1-15 Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”Jesus replied, “You have said it.” 3 Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, 4 and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” 5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise. 6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual. 9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. (New Living Translation)
Meditatio: In this scripture, Jesus is brought to trial. Pilate questions Him, and finally hands him over to be crucified. But before he hands Jesus over, he asks one question "What crime has he committed?" You see in Pilate's eyes, Jesus' crime was a religious crime, not one against Caesar, not against Roman law, but against the religious elite of the time. Even when he questioned Jesus, it the answers given by Christ give Pilate reason to think he was a threat to the Roman Emperor. Matter of fact, it wasn't Rome that was accusing Jesus, it was the leading priests of the temple. And all Pilate could think to ask was "What crime has he committed?" Surely if Pilate saw no crime then one must have not been committed? I mean after all wouldn't any decent Roman citizen help his neighbor out on the Sabbath? Wouldn't they have helped the poor or even healed someone if they could? According to Pilate's question, there wasn't enough evidence to crucify Jesus and he knew it.
Oratio: Father, Your son committed no crime and died for our sins. He paid a debt that He didn't owe; and we owe a debt that we could never pay. Lord, let us take this seriously, let us remember that it is Your holiness that we should be after. Not what the world calls holiness, not what the liberals call holiness, not what the conservatives call holiness, but YOUR holiness. Let there be found in me enough evidence that if I were to stand trial tomorrow, the judge could convict me as being a Jesus follower, a Christian.
Contemplatio: If you were to stand trial tomorrow, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you of being a Christian?
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