May the mumbling commence!
Are you holding out for a hero? If so, what would that hero look like? How would a hero act? If we base our idea of a hero on what Hollywood teaches us, we will expect someone of violent action. Apparently, not much has changed over the years. Read from Mark chapter fifteen:
Now it was Pilate's custom at festival-time to release a prisoner – anyone they asked for. There was in the prison at the time, with some other rioters who had committed murder in a recent outbreak, a man called Barabbas. The crowd surged forward and began to demand that Pilate should do what he usually did for them. So he spoke to them, "Do you want me to set free the king of the Jews for you?"
For he knew perfectly well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him through sheer malice. But the chief priests worked upon the crowd to get them to demand Barabbas' release instead. So Pilate addressed them once more, "Then what am I to do with the man whom you call the king of the Jews?"
They shouted back, "Crucify him!" (Verses 6-13)
Jesus did not meet the expectation of the people of a hero – and certainly not of the Messiah, the greatest hero of all time. Jesus did not stand up and fight to defend his right to the throne. Jesus did not train his disciples as warriors. Jesus simply went to his arrest and trial peaceably.
The Jews of Jesus’ day expected a military Messiah who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans. Who was this Jesus? He seemed subject to the very authorities the people were hoping and planning to overthrow.
The Scripture says that the chief priests influenced the crowds to ask for Barabbas, who joined with rioters and murdered. I cannot believe that the people would need too much convincing. Barabbas spoke the language of violent revolution that they wanted to hear.
The people of Jesus’ day chose violence over truth and peace. In many ways, we make the same choice every day. We choose to use violence or the threat of violence to maintain order. It is the voice of the military that rings loudly in our capital city. It is the voice of corporations that arm the military. It is the voice of drill, baby, drill – regardless of the cost to the planet.
It is also the choice that we make when we shop at stores like Wal-Mart, where the violence of under-paid workers across the world. It is also the choice we make when we decide to do transform conflict the only way we seriously try – the only way we are willing to sacrifice lives and lifestyles. What if we were to take that same dedication and willingness to sacrifice to the table?
What peace and truth we would discover! Think about it.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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