Mark 15:1-15
Jesus Before Pilate

In fifteen short verses, Mark describes Jesus' appearance before Pilate. Jesus answered yes to the question of whether he was King of the Jews, but was silent before other charges hurled at him by the chief priests. Even though the people could have asked for his release, since it was the custom to have a prisoner released at Passover, they asked for a murderer instead. The chief priests stirred up the crowd to have them ask for Jesus' death. Pilate, wanting to please the people, yet not finding a reason to have Jesus killed, consents to the demands of the crowd, and has Jesus flogged and crucified.

This is a very short summary of all that Jesus endured for our sake--the humiliation and torture of flogging and being bound before Pilate, and the path to his death that would buy our freedom from sin.

What an amazing Lord we serve! May we be worthy of his service, and know that he knows all about any suffering we endure and can relate to us in any pain.

- posted by Suzi @ 6:45 AM