Bible Reading for: March 16

Mark 14:1–21

Who really deserves the label of “Christ Killers”?

I took note in today’s reading that the chief priests and scribes were afraid of Jesus and had to conspire in secret and act in darkness to take Him down.

Mark 14:1-2 ESV
“It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.'”

When Pilate asked the crowd to choose which prisoner to release, they cried “Barabbas”. They would rather a guilty man be set free, than the innocent Jesus. That moment in history seems to overshadow a greater truth; the vast majority of people in Jerusalem considered Jesus a prophet at the least, and many considered Him to be the Messiah. They could not arrest Jesus in broad daylight because the majority of people wouldn’t stand for it. This evil minority had to do their work in the dark in secret.

Historically, there has been a lot of hatred directed toward Jews as “Christ killers”. Such hate is an abomination, and the foundation on which it stands is wrong on several levels. In point of fact, it was Gentiles who nailed Jesus to the cross. Crucifixion was not a Judaic, but rather a Gentile, method of capital punishment. Some Jews did conspire to have Jesus killed in this way, but they were a small minority. Most Jews loved Jesus, and don’t forget that He and all of His disciples were Jews as well.

Of course, all of that explanation has to do with the physical culprits for Christ’s crucifixion. In a spiritual sense, we all are “Christ killers”. We all have sinned, and He came to die for all of us. None of us are innocent. You cannot condemn others for killing Christ without condemning yourself. As we get in to the specifics of the crucifixion, do not forget that it was not the Jews who killed Christ but all of us – you and me included.

Vivere Victorem! (Live Victorious!)

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Alternate Reading Plans
Bible Order: Joshua 13-15
Chronological Order: Deuteronomy 7–10
Old Testament Only: Numbers 33