In Western countries we have grown up with endless choice options from clothes and fashion to footwear; from incredible food options from around the world in our supermarkets, and nearly all the year round too \u2013 not just when it is in season. Too often it can be assumed that a world of such luxury is our \u2018right\u2019. Could it be possible that this Covid-19 crisis will raise questions about the extravagant use of the world\u2019s resources in the wealthier countries on the planet?
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Yet in life there are many other choices we have to make. The most important one of all is our attitude towards the person of Jesus Christ and His claims on our lives. Have you taken time to reflect on His call to you and me to follow Him? That first Easter, though, there was another choice made in the judgement hall of Roman governor Pontus Pilate. The details of the story are recorded in Matthew 27:15-26. Let us read through these verses this morning:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Now it was the governor\u2019s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. <\/em>16 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. <\/em>17 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, \u2018Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?\u2019 <\/em>18 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.<\/em> <\/em>19 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>While Pilate was sitting on the judge\u2019s seat, his wife sent him this message: \u2018Don\u2019t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.\u2019<\/em> <\/em>20 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.<\/em> <\/em>21 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>\u2018Which of the two do you want me to release to you?\u2019 asked the governor.<\/em> <\/em>\u2018Barabbas,\u2019 they answered.<\/em> <\/em>22 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>\u2018What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?\u2019 Pilate asked.<\/em> <\/em>They all answered, \u2018Crucify him!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>23<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>\u2018Why? What crime has he committed?\u2019 asked Pilate.<\/em> <\/em>But they shouted all the louder, \u2018Crucify him!\u2019<\/em>24 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. \u2018I am innocent of this man\u2019s blood,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is your responsibility!\u2019<\/em> <\/em>25 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>All the people answered, \u2018His blood is on us and on our children!\u2019<\/em> <\/em>26 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.<\/em> <\/em>(Matthew 27:15-26)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.The Governor\u2019s question <\/strong>( Matthew 27:17b) <\/em>\u2018Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?<\/em> When the criminal justice system of a country turns into \u2018a reality TV\u2019 style show with audience participation it is obvious something is seriously wrong. I won\u2019t spend time explaining how this came about, instead focussing on the question Pilate asked. The two men shared a first name Jesus<\/em> which means \u2018Saviour\u2019 or \u2018God saves\u2019. But they were offering very different kinds of \u2018salvation\u2019. The man officially on trial that day with two of his gangster colleagues was in Roman eyes a terrorist. He was a violent man and a killer. The other Jesus offered a message of Peace with God and love for one another. This was a costly way of life that few were choosing to follow at that time. The man on trial had as his second name Barabbas \u2018Son of the Father\u2019. The other man claimed God as His Father and repeatedly declared: truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.<\/em> <\/em>(John 5:19) It was a remarkable scene. It was a travesty of the legal process, yet it is also a challenge to us about our response to Jesus of Nazareth. He wants us to follow Him. What response have you made to Him up to today? <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\u00a0The people\u2019s responses<\/strong>\u00a0(Matthew 27:21)\u00a0\u2018Which of the two do you want me to release to you?\u2019 asked the governor.\u2018Barabbas,\u2019 they answered.\u00a0<\/em>Some people make a big mistake in interpreting this passage and assume it was the same people as sang hosannas to Jesus a mere five days earlier on Palm Sunday. It could not be further from the truth. Those that sang Jesus\u2019 praises were mostly Galileans whereas this gathering was largely people from the south of the country. What is more the vast majority had come because their gangster hero was on trial. The idea of turning up randomly and sitting in the public gallery of a courthouse might be possible here but how many of us have ever even contemplated such a choice? It never enters our heads to do so. \u00a0Pilate the Roman Governor was not known for his intellectual powers, on the contrary, he had the greatest of difficulties following the lines of evidence in a court of law and had previously presided over\u00a0other disastrous cases. \u00a0So Pilate\u00a0asking the hard-line\u00a0followers of Barabbas whom they wanted him to release was\u00a0a forgone conclusion.\u00a0 The question\u00a0comes back\u00a0though to us. What is your response to Jesus Christ? Have you put your faith and trust in Him or are you living your life another way? This is the most important question you will ever have to answer because it determines where you and I will spend eternity. The men and women that day made a dreadful choice in choosing Barabbas. Now the baton is passed to you and me \u2013 What is your response to\u00a0Jesus Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our song for reflection today is: \u2018There is a green hill far away\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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