A fair trial and hearing…it’s what anyone wants in this life when they are accused of a crime. Jesus and his followers wanted the same thing. Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus while others believed he was truly the Messiah. The police listened to the crowd and didn’t arrest him. When they returned, the Pharisees ask “Have you not been deceived?”
It must have taken so much strength to not arrest Jesus that day. The police didn’t follow through with their orders. But we know the end of the story! Jesus was eventually arrested, hung on a cross, and crucified for our sins. On the cross, Jesus bore the weight of the cross and God’s scandalous love for all in this broken world.
If we were there, would we have stood up for a fair trial? Would we have been arrested with Jesus? Would we have stood up for what we believd was true and right? Or would we have stood silent or would we too have added our voices to the crowd who cried out “Crucify him?”
The silence of the crowd that first Good Friday convicts Jesus of his guilt. Yet Jesus was only trying to bear God’s love and overturn the power of the empire. Jesus was sent to turn this world upside down; to sit and break bread with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus died and then three days later was raised. On Easter morning, as Jesus is raised, we proclaim in the power of the cross and that life not death and light not darkness has the final word.