Satisfying the Crowd

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

SATISFYING THE CROWD

Mark 15:6-15

6 Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 9 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. 12 "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them. 13 "Crucify him!" they shouted. 14 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

NIV

Again, we witness through the account a historic event, recorded so we might know how all things happened, but can we make an application to our lives from what we see here? The crowd had to have its way, even though Pilate could find no reason to put Jesus to death. Jesus had not broken any law against the Government of Rome. Jesus had done nothing for which the government should become involved. But the crowd must have it way. Sometime people do things, as in the case with Pilate, to satisfy the needs of the crowd. That might be our lesson for today, in that we should be aware of our motives for the things we do. Does peer pressure play any part in our actions? This could apply to signing up to be on a committee, facilitate a small group, become a Sunday school teacher, join the choir, or be a part of something, just to satisfy the needs of the crowd. Pilate could have stood his ground, been up front, and straight forward and told the people to go home, he was not going to make any judgment against Jesus because the truth was there was nothing to punish Jesus for, but he did not, he felt he had to satisfy the crowd. Many times we might do things which God has never called us to do, just so we can satisfy the needs of the crowd. We should be stand out ground, be up front and declare we are not called to that task, that ministry and simply be the person; doing only what God has called us to do. Pilate wanted to keep the piece, not to upset the apple cart. We do not know how large an army he had under his command, and if they could have overthrown a insurrection by the people, even if he was the commander of an occupying force, with the power of the entire Roman empire behind him. He still wanted to satisfy the crowd. We must make sure what we do is because God has called us to it, and not because we feel the need to satisfy the crowd.