Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Tragedy or Triumph?

(?)

They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

—Mark 15:1–2 (NLT)

 

Most Christians have never made a serious study of what transpired immediately before Jesus’ crucifixion. We tend to jump from Gethsemane to Golgotha, omitting many, if not all, the events in between. In making that leap, much of the history and theology are lost, not to mention the local color of Jesus’ era. Also lost are important details that led to the final verdict about Jesus.

 

Put bluntly, the trials that resulted in Jesus being nailed to a cross provide the classic example of an unfair and illegal rush to judgment. Biased and fallacious in every way, these trials represent the darkest day in the history of jurisprudence. 

 

The accused was the only perfect and completely innocent person who has ever lived. Yet He was declared guilty . . . guilty of crimes He never committed. Tragically, His alleged crimes resulted in His being condemned to arguably the most painful form of capital punishment ever devised. Death for a capital offense, according to first-century Roman law, was by crucifixion.

 

But there is a bright side to all this darkness. Looking at Jesus’ death from a theological perspective, we see that it was the fulfillment of His earthly mission. The primary purpose for His leaving heaven and becoming human was to pay the price for sin and redeem us from its penalty—death. In other words, Jesus came to die. By dying in our place, as our sacrificial substitute, the Lamb of God was able to take away the sin of the world (John1:29). Humanly, what seemed a cruel tragedy at the time must be seen, spiritually, as a triumph.

 

It’s no exaggeration, therefore, that the trials, suffering, death, and subsequent resurrection of Christ are, in fact, the bedrock truth of Christianity, forming the foundation of the faith.

 

Man of Sorrows! What a name

For the Son of God, who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

—PHILIP P. BLISS