Key Passage
Pilate asked, "Why? What wrong has he done?" But the people shouted louder and louder, "Kill him on a cross!"
— Mark 15:14 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
Why was Jesus crucified? He was innocent. He had done no crime. He had not committed a single sin. Mark wants us to know that the crowd had lost its collective mind and was thirsty for blood—Jesus' blood. Jesus will not die because he has done wrong. He will be crucified because those who hated him had steered the crowd in a horribly wrong direction. Jesus is the righteous victim of a crowd out of control.
Prayer
Holy and righteous Father, I hate it when I realize that I have lost my sense of perspective because I have found myself absorbed by the will of the crowd. Please give me the wisdom and the courage to stand alone against the crowd when the crowd is wrong. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
Christ himself died for you. And that one death paid for your sins. He was not guilty, but he died for people who are guilty. He did this to bring you all to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit.
— 1 Peter 3:18
Christ had no sin. But God made him become sin. God did this for us, so that in Christ we could become right with God.
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
"So, all the Jewish people should know this truly: God has made Jesus to be Lord and Christ. He is the man you nailed to the cross!" When the people heard this, they felt very, very sorry. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for the people that are far away. It is for every person that the Lord our God calls to himself." Peter warned them with many other words; he begged them, "Save yourselves from the evil of the people that live now!"
— Acts 2:36-40
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