He Delivered Jesus to Their Will - Luke 23:25

 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

 

This verse jumped out at me this morning. The scene is Luke 23 and Jesus' trial and conviction. Wicked Pilate finds no reason to convict Jesus yet the mob wants his blood. Try as he might to escape this situation, Pilate surrendered to the multitude. They cried for Barabas and Barrabás they got.  

The reason the above verse caught my attention was because of the phrase, "and (he) surrendered Jesus to their will.

Pilate surrendered Jesus to the crowd's will. Strange. 

Since when does a tyrant surrender to the people's will? Didn't he have soldiers handy to put down a rebellion? Who was in charge? 

The religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. But even they didn't want him killed during the feast of the Passover. Because they feared the crowd. This crowd had cheered as Jesus had entered the city on a colt. They had marveled at him for years. He was entering as the prophet Zechariah (9:9) had said. And in just 4 days he has been tried as a criminal and would be crucified within hours. Was this the crowd's desire? 

The crowd is a fickle bunch if you haven't already noticed. They are always in awe of Jesus. His teachings and his miracles have kept them amazed and mystified for years. But now they want him dead? It seems to be their will that rules the day.

Matthew 27:20 tells part of the story. "But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed." Pilate even knew the reason for the crowd reaction. Mark 15:9,10 relates what Pilate said, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.

Pilate even tried to appease their blood lusts with a flogging. His idea was that if he satisfied them in this way, he could let Jesus go. His wife even sent him a message saying, "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him" (Matthew 27:19). 

But he couldn't escape his destiny. Pilate gave Jesus to the crowd. Jesus was crucified. Why would he submit to the crowd's will? 

We could probably think of a few reasons. However, if we look at the scene from a biblical perspective we have to understand that this whole tragedy was God's will. Isaiah said, some 600 years earlier, that it was the LORD'S will to crush him (Isaiah 53:10).

Earlier in Jesus' interrogation Pilate said, "don't you know that I have the authority to pardon you or to crucify you? (John 19:10). To which Jesus replied, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above."

When Pilate delivered Jesus to the will of the crowd, he was doing what the crowd wanted and what God wanted. 

Even today God let's the lost have their way. He allows them to choose destruction over life. His sovereignty doesn't interfere with their will. Man left to his own will, will always choose darkness rather than light, evil rather than right and death over life. Remember and beware.