Crucify Him, crucify Him!

 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one of them at the feast).

And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

- Luke 23:13-25

Yesterday, we read that the whole multitude of those who had seized Jesus and put Him on trial by night arose and led Him to Pilate.  And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King."  Then Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered him and said, "It is as you say."  So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man."  But they were the more fierce, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place."  When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean.  And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.  Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.  Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.  And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.  Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.  That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.

 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one of them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.   Of today's entire reading, my study bible says that Pilate attempts to release Jesus three times.  Three times the chief priests and the rulers in response incite the people to demand that Jesus be put to death.  Finally, Barabbas, a rebel like themselves, is demanded to be released.  Barabbas, my study bible tells us, means "son of the father" and indicates to which father these rulers belong -- the devil (see John 8:44).

Three times Pilate offers a kind of mercy for Jesus, finding "legal" ways to do so:  he can just chastise (punish Jesus with flogging) instead of sentencing Him to death, He can release Him because it is the feast of the Passover.   But three times this is refused.  It's as if we are watching a scene in which the evil is absolutely confirmed as prevailing.  It's a time of real darkness in the spiritual sense, and all things have "conspired" here to sentence Jesus to death, despite the fact that everyone knows He is innocent, that these charges are trumped up based on envy and personal gain.  Barabbas is an insurrectionist, and in some sense there's a very real question put to all of us about expedience.  Expedience (or expediency) is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as a circumstance in which something is helpful or useful in a particular situation, but sometimes not morally acceptable.  Other secondary definitions include something done for the sake of haste.  Wiktionary.com defines it as the quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended; propriety or advisability under the particular circumstances of a case.  Pilate, in the end, finds it expedient to put Jesus to death as these rulers and the crowd they've brought are insisting on His death.  After all, he's the ruler of Judea and his job is to keep order and prevent worse problems.  That's political expediency.   The rulers think it's easier to get rid of Jesus, and expedient that "one man die for the people than the whole nation perish."  He makes a very convenient scapegoat, as they'd like Him out of the way and gone as the popular thorn in their sides  with His popular teaching and criticism of the way they do things.   Expedience is what we get when we think there are only "worldly" solutions to problems, like, for example, the solution of insurrection against the Romans rather than the things that make for Jesus' peace, the life that includes our love of and duty to God in our plans for our own futures.   Jesus has taught a different kind of liberation, not resorting simply to political insurrection, even though He is accused of doing so.  He's neither robber nor thief, nor brigand nor murderer and insurrectionist, although He will be crucified as if He were.   We really have to think deeply about our tendency to expedience (or expediency), our desire to just get things done with and get problems out of the way, sorting out the fastest solution to a problem (and shutting up the nagging things that may be calling our attention to deeper needs and deeper problems requiring more long-term solutions).  Jesus calls us to that deeper place where in order to be "set right" we have to deal with much deeper relationships both within and without.  We need patience for that.  We may need long-suffering and forbearance.  We might have to put up with inconvenient difficulties, delaying an easy solution to a problem.  We may have to have the humility to live with things that are "imperfect."  But these are also the qualities Jesus teaches us.   They are the qualities our faith asks of us.  Expedience is often the stuff of political solutions.  Expediency calls for fast and simple solutions, but often a situation is crying out for a broader and deeper picture, and that may be inconvenient, or too much work. Ultimately, we learn from this scene that we don't know what we're ignoring or what evil we may be courting when this is all we do.  Let us remember that God may be trying to get our attention, and this can't happen without our thoughts and hearts intentionally and repeatedly led to the right place, the place of real peace.  Today's reading gives us a picture of what happens in true darkness, when everything "conspires" to go wrong, even at every chance for mercy to have a say.  Let us remember this when complacency seems like the easiest solution, following the noisy and demanding crowd.