Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Mark 15 and Psalm 68

Yesterday we noted how Jesus stood boldly before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin and made “the good confession” (1 Timothy 6:13) of the truth about His identity as the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One, despite knowing that it would give them the excuse they were looking for to find Him guilty of blasphemy and sentence Him to death. He chose the path of Truth over the path of safety and comfort. He chose to risk their hatred and violence, rather than compromise the Truth.

Immediately after Jesus made this courageous choice, Peter chose the opposite path and lied about His relationship with Jesus to protect himself from the potential danger that lay on the path of Truth – the path of being honest about his association with Jesus. And then, in today’s chapter (Mark 15), we read this about Pilate:

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified. (Good News Translation)

History tells us that Pilate was under political pressure from Caesar at this point. He had made some mistakes in his governance of Judea and his position was not that secure. So Pilate chose the safety of public opinion and the path of popular approval, because the path of Truth was likely to prove inconvenient or even dangerous to his future political career. How absolutely tragic!

Of everyone involved in the account of Jesus’ various trials, only He chose to live by Truth no matter what the cost. The high priest, the Sanhedrin, Peter and Pilate all chose different paths – paths of power, expedience, safety and popularity – but Jesus chose Truth. And remember, while that path led to death for Jesus in the short term, it ultimately led to resurrection, ascension, and His exaltation to the throne of heaven where one day every knee will bow before Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord!

Life Application: Whenever there is a choice between the path of Truth and some other way, Jesus would have us choose Truth. Which path will you take today?