Mark 15:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas to them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him… I. PRINCIPLE WILL, BUT POLICY WILL NOT, PRESERVE YOU FROM SIN. If you will not make the sacrifice which goodness requires, give up all hope of keeping your goodness. Courage is absolutely necessary for goodness. II. A MAN'S SINS WEIGH HIM HEAVILY. If Pilate had had a guiltless conscience, he would have defied the clamour of the rulers. He walks along the downward path to hell with his eyes open. III. BEWARE OF COMPROMISE. Come to no terms with evil, but resist it. IV. IF WE CAN PREVENT WRONG BEING DONE, WE CANNOT BY VERBAL PROTESTS ESCAPE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT. Pilate's hand washing has many imitators, men substituting a feeble protest for vigorous and dutiful action. But in vain does Pilate think to wash his hands of guilt. V. THE HOLLOWNESS OF EARTHLY PRIDE AND POMP COMES OUT HERE. VI. THERE IS AN EXHIBITION HERE OF THE SINFUL SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE. Self-will seems a bright, brave thing, very excusable. Behold its guiltiness here. Weakness seems a harmless, good-tempered thing; it may easily commit the greatest crime. VII. THE HARDSHIPS OF TRANSGRESSORS' WAYS IS ILLUSTRATED HERE. Pilate would have found it ten times easier to do right. Think of his shame, self-contempt; of the horror he would feel when Christ rose from the dead; of the penalties which followed. It was not more than seven or eight years before Caiaphas and Pilate were both degraded from their posts; and shortly after, Pilate, weary with misfortunes, killed himself. Nor, when we hear the men of Jerusalem ask the Roman governor for a cross, can we help remembering that they got their fill of crosses from the Romans; when, Titus crucifying sometimes 500 a day of those seeking to escape from the doomed city, at length, in the circuit of Jerusalem, room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies. VIII. OUR WEAKNESS INCREASES THE SAVIOUR'S TROUBLES. IX. CHRIST NEVER GOES WITHOUT A WITNESS. Pilate, Herod, Pilate's wife, and even the hypocrisy of the crowd, all proclaim, "There is no fault in Him." X. THE SAVIOUR'S SUFFERINGS CLAIM OUR GRATITUDE, BUT THEY ALSO CALL ON US TO TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND GO AFTER HIM. Let us copy the Divine meekness, majesty, and love which met in the cross of Christ. (R. Glover.) Parallel Verses KJV: And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. |
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