“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

I was blessed when a group of children sang this at our church on Saturday. They were mostly children that we bus in on Wednesday nights. For the most part, their parents are unchurched and many of the children are unfamiliar with Jesus, much less the story of the crucifixion and resur-rection. The children had a program which shared the story before they had their egg hunt.

We are blessed to share the good news of Jesus. However, while preparing to teach  adult believers about the resurrection, I realized we probably all need to regularly ask the question. Thinking of the main characters in the drama shown the light in my own life, leading me to ask if I was there.

The commotion began with the Jewish church leaders, people who gave their lives to serving God. Apparently driven by envy of Jesus and fear because people were following Him, they rejected Him as the Son of God, and sought to discredit and destroy Him.

They justified their actions by labeling Jesus a blasphemer, and they schemed and lied in order to get Him crucified. The church leaders were so busy serving God that they missed seeing Him when He was in their midst.

Pilate could find no fault in Jesus and was reluctant to rule Him guilty. He repeatedly said he found no fault and sought to free Jesus. He remained convinced that Jesus should be freed in spite of accusations that He was an evildoer, that He claimed to be king, and that He said He was the Son of God.

However, when the Jewish leaders told Pilate that “Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar,” Pilate relented. He wasn’t willing make Caesar unhappy and risk his power and position in order to save  a Jew, even though the accused was apparently innocent.

Pilate tried to remain neutral, but you can’t remain neutral about Jesus. You are either for Him or against Him (Mk 9:40).

As I meditated on the scene, I realized that the same root problem turned Pilate and the Jewish leaders against Jesus is common today. Furthermore, the same problem causes me trouble.

The thing that turned them against Jesus was their own selfish interests.

Oh, I want to put Jesus first in my life, but the time I’ve set aside to fellowship with Him is too often cut short for other things. Sometimes, I don’t make the extra effort to reach out to somebody that’s on my heart because I just don’t feel like it. Or I turn to mindless TV instead of reading an uplifting book. Or . . ..

The reasons are many. Too often, minor, meaningless activities slide into priority positions.

I’ve committed my life to the Lord. I haven’t rejected Him like they did. So is this really the same?

I don’t know. I’m not judge, but I wonder if I’m more kin to the Jewish leaders and Pilate than I want to admit.

I wonder because I’ve known the Lord’s love and faithfulness and have seen His glory. After all His blessings, how can it be so easy to push Him aside for self-centred reasons? Or, why am I sometime like Pilate and am reluctant to take a stand and speak boldly on His behalf?

Do I crucify the Lord when I choose my way? After reading the brutality of what happened to Him, I don’t want to even consider the question.

Still, I know He feels the sting. When I put other things before Him, it is rejection, is it not? And it is for selfish interest, is it not?

He gave His all so we could be joined with Him as one. So we could fellowship and work together to show forth His glory on earth. And so we can experience righteousness, peace, and joy and be glorified in Him.

Instead of focusing on the crucifixion, and on our shortcomings, I’ve decided to ask forgiveness—after all He took our sins on Himself—and focus on the new life available because of Jesus’ resurrection. In Him we can find forgiveness when we choose ourselves and the grace to deny ourselves.

The cross is empty. Furthermore, if we are in Jesus Christ, we were there when He rose up from the grave. With the saints of old, we can cry, “Glory! Glory! Glory! in spite of our short comings.