You know, I used to be indecisive…I used to be, but I’m not so sure about that any more. In Chapter 15 it’s decision time…
It’s decision time, not surprisingly for the Priests, elders, scribes and Council. They have had their consultation together; now all their actions tell us they had reached a decision. They wanted to get rid of Jesus. So they bind Jesus and take him to Pilate, the Roman Governor. The charge they bring against Jesus is “He’s set himself up to be King of the Jews.” That’s the first questing Pilate asks Jesus: “Well, are you the King of the Jews?” And they are piling one accusation on top of another. They want to get rid of Jesus. When it looks as if Pilate might try and find out what the crowds think, they get in amongst the crowd, shouting and stirring up support of Barabbas instead of Jesus. They have made their decision. “Don’t confuse me with facts: my mind is made up.” That might have been their motto. They were decisive, determined; their minds were closed.
And it was decision time for Pontius Pilate, the governor. HE is obviously a bit surprised by this Galilean preacher who has been brought before him. “Are you the King of the Jews? You don’t look much like a King! Are you the King of the Jews? It’s Jews who have brought you here in chains. Listen to all the things they are saying about you. Don’t you want to defend yourself? Have you really nothing to say? You’re obviously not one of these agitators: what am I to do with you?” The crowd are shouting; they want him to release a prisoner, as it’s their Jewish Passover. So Pilate tries to get the crowd to make the decision. “Who do you want me to release for you? Jesus, your King, or Barabbas the trouble-maker?” It’s then that the leading Jews get in among the crowds and stir up the cry “release Barabbas.” And Pilate thinks maybe he could be extra kind and release two prisoners this year. So he asks “What about Jesus?” But the crowd, stirred up by the Priests, shout back “ Crucify Jesus!” It’s decision time for Pilate. But Pilate doesn’t want to make the decision. Jesus’ innocence is staring him in the face. Even his wife has a warning in a dream about Jesus being an innocent man. He wants to let Jesus go, almost pleading with the Council, “Why do you want him crucified? What crime has he committed?” He knows the decision he should make. He just makes the opposite one. “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” (Mk 15.15) Perhaps never had any man or woman agonized so much over a decision; few people must have had less peace over a decision than Pontius Pilate had over the decision to put Jesus to death. His “Decision” was a complete abdication of responsibility. It was one based on convenience, on expediency, on pleasing people; it was a decision for personal survival, without regard for the truth.
So the soldiers had their turn with Jesus. And they had their decision time. But their decision is easy: they just need to obey orders. So they fall to the routine involved in an execution: firstly, the ritual humiliation: as the charge against Jesus is “being King of the Jews” they dress him up in purple – probably in fact an old scarlet military cloak faded and stained to a purple colour but it would look the part. What about a laurel crown? So they hack some twigs from a thorn bush growing in some corner, and twist it into a crown. And he’ll need a sceptre, so they give him a reed; then they take it away again and hit him with it, and challenge him: “prophesy, prophet, who was it that time, eh?” Then they are bowing and scraping, and mocking him “Hail, King of the Jews” and spiting on him. Humiliating the condemned prisoner was part of the job, just something that happened in the course of an execution: a bit of working on their own initiative, a bit of creative license, eased the tension of the occasion. They are just doing their jobs. And when the mockery is over, they do what they always did, and tie the crossbar onto the prisoner’s shoulders. Only this time, the prisoner is so weak, that he can’t carry it very far. So at the point of a spear, they force one of the passers by to carry it. His name is Simon from Cyrene. The soldiers were decisive enough, in putting their brains into neutral, and doing the job they were trained and paid to do. It’s easy to be decisive if you don’t think too hard.
And it is decision time for Jesus… Pilate knows he is innocent. Some in the crowd have seen him do amazing miracles. So. does he have to go to the cross? But as the Priests are piling in their accusations, much to Pilate’s surprise, Jesus chooses to remain silent. He says nothing, because he has chosen this way. He is going to go to the Cross, he has made his decision. Like Isaiah prophesied (Isa 53:7 “ Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word.”) And as the soldiers get the nails and mallets ready, they offer him drugged wine. But Jesus refuses it. Another decision. He refused to drink what the soldiers offered him, so as to avoid nothing of the cup, which his Father had given him. He chose the cross, and he chose it wholeheartedly. He chose not to escape from it. He rejected the opportunity to defend himself. He rejected the opportunity even to dull he pain.
This was Jesus’ decision. The only the only real decision in the whole place, made by the only one with any dignity, the only one still in control, though utterly powerless. Let’s be quite clear, what Jesus went through on the cross was no mirage of suffering. It was no small thing. From Gethsemane where he sweat drops of blood, to standing before the Council and Pilate, to the lashings, the humiliation, this was gritty, grinding suffering of the deepest sort. It was so bad for Jesus he couldn’t even carry his own cross, because of “the unique character of his sufferings.” The weakness of Jesus contrasts with the “effortless superiority” of an idealistic hero. In Superman 2, Clark Kent gives himself away to Lois Lane, when he picks her hairbrush up from the fire without being burned. But Jesus wasn’t lik that. This was the real Jesus in real suffering. Calvin says, “These matters call for secret meditation rather than for the ornament of words.”
So, “I used to be indecisive… but in the light of Jesus and the choices he made, I can’t be.” It’s decision time. I don’t mean the choice we had to make at teatime yesterday: “Pizza or fish and chips.” The choices Jesus made, challenge us to do two things: the Bible calls them repentance and faith. We have two choices to make. “Who’s in charge? And what do I depend on?” Whether or not to seek God’s kingdom; whether or not to live in the good of what Jesus has done for me.
The Council, Pilate, the soldiers, decided not to let God be in charge, not to depend on God’s grace. Mark tells us that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Rufus and Alexander. (He expected his readers to recognize the names, so possibly all three were part of the Church!) He hints that hints that Simon or his family, like Joseph of Arimathea yes to repentance and faith.
If you don’t know Jesus personally, you can make the decision today to let God be in charge, and to depend utterly on him, and God will make you a brand new person. And if you’re struggling with something in your Christian life, the same decision lies before you: Who is in charge? And who do you depend on? Are you going to seek God’s Kingdom? Are you going to live in the good of what he ash done for you?
Last week I had to make a choice. I rediscovered an old book called Power in Praise by Merlin Carrothers and as I read it I knew I had to choose between living my life as an old grumbler who’s always complaining about one thing and another; or living my life in a flow of thankfulness and praise. Actually, it’s not much of a choice. It’s life or death. It’s like “Turkeys, hands up all those who vote for Christmas.” Who’s in charge? Who are you depending on?
The funny thing is that when you make your choice for Jesus, you find you are simply agreeing with the choice he has already made, when he went to to the Cross.
© Gilmour Lilly August 2010
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