March 11

Num 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47; PS 54:1-7; PR 11:5-6

Mark - When I read this I was convicted at the idea of Jesus standing there not defending Himself because He had nothing to defend. They asked; "are you the King of the Jews." He was. Pure and simple, He was who they said he was.  The response of the crowd and Pilate's reaction to it is what really convicted me though.  The crowd was given a choice between someone they knew had committed murder and a man who had done nothing wrong but He made them uncomfortable.  The penalty in their minds was death.  Pilate didn't believe it, but he followed the crowd. I am just struck at the thought of how often do we nail Jesus back to the cross because of what other people say?  We know that He is who He says He is but when people start to question us about it we start to feel uncomfortable and so we deny what we know is true inside of us and, thought maybe not intentionally, we crucify Him again and again because we don't do what we know is right and stand for what we believe in.  We know who Jesus is and it's not that we can force that on anyone and it's not really ours to prove but we are called to speak out and stand for what we know.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Don't be ashamed and don't let the crowd sway you in your beliefs. He is never ashamed of us and we should never be ashamed of Him otherwise it's like driving the nails in His hands all over again.