Bad Influences

After Pilate interrogated Jesus to determine whether or not He had committed a crime, he decided that this Man from Nazareth was innocent and had not done anything matching the accusations against Him. However, he knew how the chief priests, elders, and scribes felt about this Man, so he had to come up with some way to trick them into releasing Him.

It was Pilate’s custom to release a prisoner to the people, so he plotted to give them what he thought would be an obvious choice. Pilate chose to give the people an option between the release of two prisoners; Barabbas and Jesus. Pilate chose Barabbas because he was a notable prisoner, guilty of insurrection, robbery, and murder. I’m sure he assumed there was no chance that the Jews would ask for Barabbas to be released over Jesus.

But to Pilate’s surprise, they begged for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be crucified. Every time I read this, I wonder how some of the people in this crowd could be crying out in favor of the crucifixion of Jesus? Many of those in the crowd had likely witnessed His miracles and heard His teachings. These people had bad influences and these bad influences came from a most unsuspected source, their religious leaders.

If we call special attention to Mark 15:11, we read:

“But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.”

Those making up the crowd probably witnessed the miracles of Jesus, things they knew could only be possible by the power of God. They knew the truth and they had evidence supporting that Jesus was the Messiah, but they found themselves demanding that an evil prisoner be released to them instead of the Son of God. Why? Because they were too easily influenced by their leaders. They trusted their words over what they witnessed with their own eyes.

How many people do we know that are in this same condition? Maybe you are in this position yourself as you read this, living by man-made creeds and doctrines instead of the Word of God ALONE. When you choose the ways of man that are contrary to the One Way of God, you are crying out “Give me Barabbas!” If you do not study the Bible for yourself, you are bound to be misled at some point and believe a lie.

- Eric Bullock, Evangelist