This five-Sunday devotional emphasis comes from Eight Days in Jerusalem: A 40-Day Easter Devotional and is used by permission of its publisher New Hope Publishers. Join us each Sunday as we get ready . . . because Easter is Coming. This devotional was written by Benjie Shaw. The feature art was created by Jenna Shaw.
In addition to leaving a deep hollowness in the pit of our stomachs, guilt often leaves us with an overall sense of dread and regret. We can experience guilt everyday–when we act selfishly, when we wrong someone, when we fall short of expectations with our family and friends, or when we fail to live up to expectations at work. We are all guilty of something. The only innocent human being was Jesus. He was the only human even capable of being perfect. None of the rest of us are.
In Mark 15:6-15, Jesus was arrested, brought first before Caiaphas, the Chief Priest, and then taken before Pontius Pilate, the governor. Any disciples who knew what was happening would have hoped that Pilate would release Jesus. In fact, during the Passover feast in Jerusalem each year, it was customary for Pilate to release one prisoner chosen by the Jews.
Pilate offered to free Jesus, a man whom he believed was innocent, or Barabbas, a man known to be a murderer and an insurrectionist. The crowd not only chose to free Barabbas, but also insisted on Jesus’ execution. The crowd found Jesus guilty. So, Pilate released Barabbas–the one who deserved to die for his crimes, and instead handed Jesus–the One who was innocent and deserved to be free–over to the Roman soldiers to be beaten and taken to the cross to die.
Jesus did not deserve the cross. He was innocent. We absolutely deserve the cross. We are guilty.
Fortunately for us, when Jesus died on the cross, He took on our guilt for us. He took on our sin and He died for it. Because of Christ’s radical love for us, we can now have a relationship with God, and the promise of spending eternity with Him.
Eight Days in Jerusalem: A 40-Day Easter Devotional was compiled by Margie Williamson and is available at amazon.com and christianbooks.com.
