Picture the scene: Jerusalem is bursting at the seams because it is Passover. Hundreds of thousands, maybe a million or more people, according to Josephus, made the journey to the holy city for a time of remembrance and anticipation. The roads were crowded. Homes were full. And Jesus was standing trial…
Ushered into the city just days before on a donkey – the picture of a king, Jesus was now being ushered throughout the city as a criminal. The people who praised him shouting “Hosanna” were now condemning him shouting “crucify him”. They were presented with a choice: Barabbas or Jesus. They chose Barabbas.
Jesus was flogged. He was beaten. Each swing of the Roman whip, laced with sharp bone, ripped into his skin yanking at it as it exited the new wound. Bloody. Exhausted. Jesus was required to pick up the top of the cross and carry it up a mountainside.
With each step, he marched toward the Roman stage of execution and condemnation.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Large nails pierced his skin and his bones, mounting him to the wood that he created.
The cross was raised and set into the ground. As Jesus’ fatigue set in further, it got harder and harder for him to breathe. His lungs were being squeezed by the weight of his own body.
Another Scene
This is the scene we rightly focus on. But what if there’s another scene going on that we may often miss?
Let’s pan the camera down the pathway Jesus came up to reach Golgotha.
The crowds are likely still there. Some are watching the execution happen with full enjoyment.
Some are passersby. They are walking by, getting to where they need to go. Their focus is on their family and getting everything ready to celebrate the Passover. They likely were headed to the Temple where the Passover sacrifice was going to take place.
As their minds and hearts yearned for their promised Jewish deliverer, they walked by Golgotha. They took notice of another Roman execution. They were reminded of their oppression under those foreign rulers. They looked up to see three people being crucified. And then their eyes went ahead of them to where they were going.
Their hearts… still yearning.
Meanwhile, the priests were in the Temple, performing their duties. They were prepping, eventually getting to the moment of the Passover offering.
Zoom Out
It’s time to zoom out and get an aerial view.
The “Hosanna” crowd, the “crucify him” crowd, the passersby, every person who has ever lived and will live. We are the collective that sent Jesus to death by crucifixion. We are the ones who chose Barabbas. We are also the ones who walked by, hoping for deliverance via someone or something else.
More than that, we are Barabbas. We are the sinners. We are the lawbreakers. We are the enemies who deserve to be locked up or worse – executed. Yes. We are Barabbas, the one who was spared and set free even though he didn’t deserve it.
The irony of the Good Friday passersby is that they were going to celebrate God’s deliverance in the past and anticipate it in the future, but it was happening in their midst right then. If only we would stop, turn, look up, and see our deliverer on that Roman cross, about to go behind enemy lines to defeat sin, death, and the evil one, we would see that deliverance is in our midst today too.
In the spot between two thieves
Hung the blameless Prince of Peace
Beaten, battered, scarred, and scorned
Sacred head pierced by our thorns
It is finished was his cry
The perfect lamb was crucified
His sacrifice, our victory
Our Savior chose the mercy tree-Lacey Sturm, Mercy Tree
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