Daily Reading // Mark 15-16
(Find the daily reading on Pastor Jim’s Blog)
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S // SCRIPTURE
Select a verse from today’s reading
Mark 15:11-15 (NKJV) 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” 14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.
O // OBSERVATION
Why did this verse get your attention? Make a simple observation from the text
“But the chief priests stirred up the crowd.”
The chief priests brought Jesus to Pilate requesting he crucify Jesus. They made their arguments and used their position of authority. Pilate refused. They could not convince him or coerce him.
Yet they got all they wanted by stirring up the crowd. When the crowds called for His crucifixion, Pilate could not refuse. Reluctantly he ordered Jesus’ crucifixion.
They had no reason. They had no answer to Pilate’s question ‘Why, what evil has He done?.’ There was no logic or rationale involved. The crowd had been stirred up. That’s all it took.
The chief priests’ most powerful weapon was not the law or their religious authority. It was their ability to stir up the crowd.
A // APPLICATION
How can I apply this to my life today?
We have seen today many examples of crowds that have been stirred up. Often they are stirred by leaders, like these chief priests, who manipulate the crowd to get their way. These people’s ability to stir a crowd is their most effective and most dangerous weapon.
Be careful of the stirring! Those who think they could never be manipulated find themselves taken under by the power of the crowd. Allowing your emotions to be stirred by popular opinion or righteous indignation or common good is an open door to manipulation.
Don’t buy into what you’re told or what you see online. It may be someone stirring up the crowd. Make decisions for yourself based on personal knowledge and biblical values. Let everything else go. Or else, without even knowing it, you will become part of the mob.
P // PRAYER
Express yourself in prayer
Jesus, I know I could have been part of the mob that day. I am not immune to being stirred up by those who seem trustworthy. I keep my eyes on You, not on the prevailing opinions. Amen.