June 27, 2012 Whatever!

Whatever! Mark 15:6-11 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. YOU’VE been there. You must make a decision you’d rather give to someone else. Perhaps it’s a matter regarding finances, or a household dispute. I guess the “irresponsible” phrase today is “Whatever!” and you just walk away thinking, “I’m not responsible. Don’t blame me for this.” Pilate’s a “Whatever!” guy who wants to find a way out of condemning Jesus to death. The thing is, Pilate had a really good way out. He had the power to simply release Jesus. He didn’t need anyone’s approval. He was the man! But instead, Pilate acted the “Whatever! Man”. He wanted to be politically correct. He didn’t want to look bad to the Jews. He didn’t want to seem weak to the Romans. He was used to killing people. What’s one more, even if it’s wrong? Maybe he could save Jesus in the culture’s way. The horrible truth is, Pilate’s “Whatever!” is still killing Jesus. You’d rather not be responsible to tell the truth against the culture’s accusations. Be sure and strong to defend Jesus. You have the power of his Truth. Pause and consider this “whatever”: Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do…do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.