The shout was the frenzied, repeated demand of an immense mob before Pilate to put Jesus to death on a cross while freeing Barabbas in His place. It set the innocent, holy Son of God, whose life showed mercy and the Father's character, against a notorious thief, murderer and wicked man, a choice of Satan personified before Christ. It was driven by satanic frenzy and hatred working through priests, rulers and the persuaded multitude, from envy at His goodness and works and hatred of His righteousness and truth that exposed their sin. That climax of Satan's effort to turn men against Jesus exposed his malice before the loyal universe, yet Christ endured without retaliation and proved Satan's charges false, and God overruled the killing for human redemption without lessening the guilt of the killers. The same cry is repeated whenever people now reject light and choose another leader before Christ, and it will stand as condemning evidence against the lost when priests and rulers recall it with horror at the final judgment.
Trial Setting Before Pilate
The cry belongs to the hearing before Pilate in a judgment hall ringed with soldiers and spectators, while the priests, rulers and elders of the Sanhedrin who had already condemned Jesus stood outside pressing Pilate to confirm and carry out the sentence. Pilate repeatedly held Jesus up as innocent and declared he found no fault in Him, and he set Jesus beside Barabbas for the crowd to choose between them. Barabbas was notorious for robbery, cruelty and great wickedness and even claimed to be Christ, and Pilate expected the contrast between his guilt and Jesus' innocence to move the people to pity and to choose Jesus. Their demand for crucifixion rejected that appeal and exposed a determined rejection of an innocent, suffering Savior who showed mercy and compassion without reproaching His enemies.
Pilate had Jesus scourged and then displayed Him wounded and suffering, hoping punishment would satisfy the crowd. They would not be moved to pity by His wounds or by His patient, dignified bearing, but persisted in demanding crucifixion. Pilate's indecision further inflamed them, and the cry grew louder whenever he spoke of releasing Jesus, becoming a demand for condemnation rather than any weighing of evidence of innocence.
The demand came as a repeated, frenzied roar, a deafening outcry from an immense mob outside the hall whose worst passions had been aroused. The rulers crowded inside around Pilate with fierce and determined faces, clamoring for condemnation with hatred and malignity that showed humanity had dropped from their hearts, while Jesus stood as the sad central figure with His face lit as if in communion with the Father. The priests hurried the matter because they feared the people would take Jesus out of their hands, and as soon as rumor reached the crowd outside that He was found guilty they raised the cry though He was not yet condemned and no guilt had been found in Him. To the priests that shout for His death was delightful, while Pilate stretched out his hands trying to silence the tumult. Their hoarse cries, driven by satanic frenzy, rejected Christ and chose Barabbas the thief and murderer in His place.
Those crying out were the Jews, the priests and the people, a mixed, poor and ignorant multitude persuaded and instigated by priests, rulers, Pharisees and religious teachers to ask for Barabbas and cry out against Christ. Many in the mob had never looked upon Jesus until urged by high priests, rulers and Pharisees to bear testimony against Him. Satan with his angels in human form mingled in the crowd uttering words that met the sentiments of the dignitaries. All heaven heard the cry as the people's own sentence against Jesus.
Many who demanded crucifixion had praised Him at His entry into Jerusalem only days earlier, having followed what was popular, and their swift turn from acclaim to hostility shows the fickleness of popular support. The same voices that cried out against Jesus later praised Herod as a god. Yet not all joined the condemnation, for people Jesus had healed and raised from the dead testified to His works, spoke in His defense, and questioned why He was being treated as a criminal.
Christ Against Barabbas
The shout was the crowd's answer to what should be done with Jesus, demanding His crucifixion while asking for the release of Barabbas instead. Barabbas was a notorious criminal, a thief, robber and murderer, a man of cruelty and great wickedness who claimed to be Christ. Their hoarse, repeated cries rejected Christ even though Pilate presented Him as innocent and offered the choice between them. The cry was driven by satanic frenzy and demonic influence, rejecting the Son of God to stand on Satan's side.
In contrast Jesus is the innocent, pure and holy Son of God, the Son of the infinite God who made the world and all things therein. His humanity bore the impress of the divine, and His face expressed the Father's image and the personification of the only true God. He possessed goodness, mercy, compassion and untiring love, with a heart ever touched with human woe, and He did not reproach His enemies. To reject the divine Son of God so described and accept a murderer in His place shows what humanity does when not controlled by God's Spirit and when the restraining Spirit is removed.
Barabbas placed beside Jesus stands for Satan personified, so calling for Christ to be crucified chose Satan before the Son of God and gave Satan exaltation. It was a united, frenzied choice of the robber and murderer over Christ when the people were asked what to do with Jesus which is called Christ. That choice between Barabbas and Jesus reveals whom people accept as king, and each person individually demonstrates by conduct and life whom he is choosing.
Motives Behind Demand
The shout to crucify Him was driven by Satan inspiring the priests and the people, working through human agents to turn them against Jesus and make them reject His love. It was uttered under demonic influence and satanic frenzy, with hatred and malignity, and it laid bare the deceiver's malice and hatred toward Jesus. That malice was aimed at One whose mercy and compassion represented God's character to the world. In choosing Barabbas, a thief, robber, murderer and man of cruelty, over Christ, whose humanity bore the impress of the divine, the crowd rejected the Son of God and stood on Satan's side.
The leaders and crowd acted in blind rage, though they could point to no act in His life worthy of condemnation. His humility, goodness and works drew the attention of the people and provoked their jealousy, envy and hatred. The Jewish leaders demanded His crucifixion from jealousy and from a desire to stop His teaching and authority, though His life was righteous and He was innocent. That same murderous hostility toward Christ remains and will be directed against His followers.
Their demand expressed hatred of His righteousness, teaching and example, and their rejection at the final test was a choice of disobedience and death over obedience and eternal life. His spotless, self-denying life, holiness, guileless speech and plain truth exposed the character of those who professed religion but lived for the world. His pure life and holy teaching convicted them of sin and condemned them, and His life and mission exposed the roots of a religion whose claims concealed a spirit opposed to Him and love for the world. They wanted Him out of the way, and rather than be corrected by Him they tried to trap Him in His words and rejected Him.
The cry reveals what humanity does when not under the control of God's Spirit and when rejecting God's grace and light. Human nature under evil influence and inspired by Satan turns against Christ, so that rejecting light leaves people under Satan's control to treat good as evil. It becomes violent, fierce, cruel and implacable, giving itself to cruelty and opposition to Christ, caring nothing for suffering, agony or murder. Though Pilate presented Jesus as innocent, pure and holy and offered the choice between Him and the notorious, cruel robber Barabbas, the crowd chose Barabbas, while Jesus showed mercy and compassion without reproaching His enemies. The scene proves that human nature cannot be trusted apart from Christ's grace, and that human guidance cannot be trusted in place of loyalty to Him.
The cry reveals what rebellion against God's law means: lawless liberty, transgression and sin, loss of tender compassion for those differing in religious faith, and false religion leading men to do Satan's works against the Son of God. It came from a poor, ignorant, mixed multitude who had never looked upon Jesus until urged by high priests, rulers, Pharisees and teachers to testify against Him and to ask for Barabbas and cry out against Christ, while Satan with his angels in human form uttered words that met the sentiments of those dignitaries. It shows how religious prejudice, envy, malice and deception can lead people who have turned from the light into hatred and extreme acts, with words spoken at His trial witnessed and recorded by God. Their religious claims concealed a spirit opposed to Christ that His life and mission exposed.
Cosmic Controversy Revealed
The final shout for crucifixion was the climax of Satan's work through human agents to turn the people against Jesus and make them reject His love. He stirred and inspired the priests and the people together to demand death instead of mercy. That cry laid bare his malice and hatred toward the Redeemer, whose mercy and compassion were showing the world the character of God. In this exposure of the deceiver's true character, amazement and indignation were stirred throughout the loyal universe.
Satan himself stood at the head of those who reviled Christ, leading the cruel mob to put Him to open shame. With fierce determination he and his band of evil confederated with the priests and rulers of the Jewish nation to destroy the champion of God and of truth. By one desperate act they sought to cut off all communication between the world and heaven. The heavenly universe watched the outcome with intense interest, while angels beheld their Commander in the hands of a merciless power, insulted, mocked, derided and scourged, staggering under the burden of His own cross and hanging in shameful humiliation and agony without help from heaven.
The abuse was aimed to provoke Christ to retaliation or to drive Him to work a miracle to free Himself and thereby break up the plan of salvation. One stain, one failure to endure the test, would have made the Lamb an imperfect offering and made redemption a failure. By a command He could have brought the heavenly hosts to His aid, and by His divine majesty He could have driven the mob in terror from His sight, yet He submitted with perfect calmness to the coarsest insults and outrage. By suffering a cruel death of shame He proved the falsity of Satan's charges against God and vindicated God before the angels in heaven as One willing to make in man's behalf the greatest sacrifice that could be made.
The people's choice and sentence brought sorrow and indignation to the angels, but they could not interfere. In the great controversy between good and evil, Satan's principles had to be allowed to become fully visible, so that the heavenly universe and humanity could see the righteousness of God's purposes. Those under Satan's control were therefore permitted to reveal the principles of his rule. By killing Him the leaders brought about the very outcome they sought to prevent, for Christ became Redeemer of mankind, Saviour of the fallen race, and ruler over the world. God overruled their deed for His own glory and for humanity's good, but this did not lessen the guilt of those who crucified Him.
Judgment and Last Days
On the road to Calvary the shouts and jeers demanding crucifixion were interrupted by the sight of Judas's mangled body, and afterward mockery diminished and many faces showed fear, as retribution for Jesus' blood seemed already to be falling on the guilty. After He lay in the tomb those who had joined the demand realized the calamity that had fallen upon them, and the mourning cries of the suffering and dying brought home to thousands the conviction that a great light had gone out of the world. Without Christ the earth was blackness and darkness, and they felt their need of the Healer they had condemned and would as eagerly have demanded Jesus alive again. Some who had cried for His execution recognized the calamity they had brought about and would eagerly have asked for Jesus if He were still alive.
The cry will be heard again at the final judgment, when the lost see the condemnation as a reality and face their own rejection of the light and blessings God offered. Those who rejected light and refused obedience will then recognize the sacrifice and love they rejected, and will hear that cry as evidence of their condemnation. The demand to crucify Him expressed hatred of His righteousness, teaching, and example in choosing disobedience and death over obedience and eternal life, and the decision made at the final test will stand as evidence against them when the judgment record is opened.
At the judgment the priests and rulers who joined that cry recall it with horror, and their present cry of agony is louder than the shout they once raised against Him. They remember that cry and their mockery of Him, and recognize that their own actions place them among the wicked who deserve the vineyard lord's sentence. Their later confession that Jesus is the Son of God and the true Messiah is louder than their former demand for His death. That rejection is rejection of Christ as the only provision for cleansing from sin, and it will be brought to account before God at the final judgment. A righteous God must avenge the death of His Son, an innocent man who is the Son of the infinite God killed because He told men truths they did not want to hear, and the world is soon to be judged for it.
The hatred in the cry was hatred of the carnal heart against Christ and His principles, at enmity with the law of God and instigated by Satan, and it was not an isolated outburst. It was the same hatred that persecuted the disciples and later consigned men and women to prison, exile, torture, the Inquisition, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the fires of Smithfield. That same hatred still works with malignant energy in unregenerate hearts and children of disobedience today, proving human nature today is no more in harmony with the principles of Christ than in past ages. The same murderous hostility driven by envy and jealousy remains and will be directed against His followers, especially when civil law withdraws its protection from those who keep God's law.
The same choice to crucify Christ while releasing Barabbas is being made today by the world and the churches and will be reenacted on an immense scale in the closing scenes of earth's history. The scenes enacted at the cross are being reenacted in churches departed from truth and righteousness, revealing what human nature will be and do when the love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. Rejecting the divine Son of God, who possessed goodness, mercy and untiring love with a heart ever touched with human woe, and accepting a murderer in His place shows what humanity does when not under the control of God's Spirit and when the restraining Spirit is removed and men are under the control of the great apostate. In the great crisis before us those aligned with the powers of darkness will give themselves to cruelty and oppose Christ, representing the spirit of the opponents believers will face and requiring greater faith to endure that test.
If He came again in the same humble manner, reproving sin and commending virtue and holiness, thousands in this age would raise the same cry of hatred and rejection. His coarse and often travel-stained garments covered a heart of divine love rich with meekness, yet eyes blinded by sin refused to see the Lord of life and glory under His humble exterior even though His power was revealed in works that no mere man could do. The rebellion and hatred shown then remain in human hearts, and disbelief that He is Messiah and Saviour will grow before His second coming. Only a few years after the Jews demanded His crucifixion, some of the same voices that called for it were glorifying Herod as a god at Caesarea, ready to bow down and worship the haughty Herod whose splendid silver and gold garments covered a corrupt and cruel heart.
Present Warning and Application
That same choice between Barabbas and Jesus is being made in the world now, repeated today whenever people cry for Barabbas and for Christ to be crucified. Barabbas placed beside Jesus stands for Satan personified, so calling for Christ to be crucified chooses Satan before the Son of God who made the world and all things therein, and gives Satan exaltation. Each person individually demonstrates by conduct and by life whom he is choosing, and by every action those who give affections to any leader but Christ repeat the cry for Barabbas to be released and Christ to be crucified. That rejection is the response of those who reject truth and light presented to them, rejecting Christ, the only provision for cleansing from sin, and crucifying Him afresh, and it will be brought to account before God at the final judgment. It is going over the same ground as the Jewish priests and rulers in their treatment of Christ, who murdered an innocent man, the Son of God, the Son of the infinite God, because He told men truths they did not want to hear.
Those who make that choice are filled with the attributes of Satan and controlled body, soul, and spirit by an entrancing infatuation that turns souls from hearing truth to believe a lie. The scenes enacted at the cross are being reenacted in the world and in churches departed from truth and righteousness, and will be reenacted on an immense scale in the closing scenes of earth's history, revealing what human nature will be and do when the love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. Rejecting the divine Son of God, the personification of the only true God who possessed goodness, mercy and untiring love and whose heart was ever touched with human woe, and accepting a murderer in His place shows what human nature can and will do when the restraining Spirit of God is removed and men are under control of the great apostate. To the degree light is refused and rejected there will be misconception, ruinous deception, misrepresentation and false witness, the evil eye making the whole body full of darkness, trampling God's law with the same spirit as those who insulted and betrayed Jesus. That standing rejection of Christ by people who would not receive or confess Him remains the pattern for the world's continuing opposition to Him and its iniquity. A righteous God must avenge the death of His Son for which the world is soon to be judged, so all who have united in a course of action wrong in principle must make a decided reformation and forever after walk humbly with God.
Disloyal people who reject and deny their Saviour would make the same demand for His death if Christ stood among them on earth today in human form. Their disloyalty dishonors God and denies the Saviour. People who outwardly honored Christ could still be His enemies, filled with anger and bitterness when not obeyed, like those who demanded His crucifixion. His spotless, self-denying life, holiness, guileless speech, and plain truth exposed the character of those who professed religion but lived for the world, who wanted Him out of the way and would try to trap Him in His words and reject Him rather than be corrected by Him. Those who profess to await Christ but live for worldly approval would likewise reject the meek, self-denying Jesus because His life and truthful words expose and condemn their character, and rejecting plain truth while holding to popular error reveals the same resistance to truth that would have led them to join the crowd crying for His crucifixion.
The enmity in that cry also opposes His followers, so those who persecute them would treat Christ the same way if He were in their place. They will say crucify Christ in the person of His saints, doing to His followers what was done to Him. Adding influence to the popular cry of crucify him, crucify him, when a man loaded down with responsibilities is fighting the battle with almost everything against him, is to show the Satan side of character and to work as Satan's agent to oppress, to accuse, to wound and bruise the soul. It is torturing and persecuting with the tongue, with strong prejudices and jealousies, suspicions, envies, censuring, backbiting and falsehood, adding suspicion, envy, jealousy and faultfinding to the burdens of someone already under strain, making one victim after another suffer, murdering character, crushing the burdened to the earth, and even sending others to death, repeating the satanic spirit behind that popular cry. Instead of joining that cry the law of kindness and the law of love require practicing kindness, dwelling upon good traits of character, cultivating a tender, pitiful, kind and compassionate spirit, and rejoicing in the truth rather than rejoicing in iniquity.
The cry belongs to Jesus on trial and on the cross while the Jewish priests and rulers forced the Roman governor to do their will. It belongs to His approach to the cross and descent into humiliation, together with the plaiting of the crown of thorns for His brow, clothing Him in the purple robe, bowing before Him in mockery and striking Him with the reed placed in His hand, scourging Him as the worst of criminals, choosing the murderous Barabbas in place of their Teacher, and lifting Him up on the cross to die as a malefactor, while His own nation clamored for His blood as He who held the disciples' hopes of eternal life was in the hands of wicked men. The disciples would see their own nation demand His death while murderous Barabbas was chosen instead of their beloved Teacher, then see Jesus treated as a criminal and crucified, testing their faith and causing hope and courage to fail. That taking away of the Bridegroom gives the disciples cause to mourn and fast. The crowd's change from hailing Him as king to demanding His crucifixion shows the fickleness of public favor, yet He prepared His faithful disciples for this ordeal so that rejection, betrayal and death would not take them by surprise or overturn their faith.
His followers should not expect popularity, for the demand for His crucifixion during His trial was part of the abuse, rejection, and shame He endured before dying as a condemned man. They are to be meek and lowly like their Master and may share His sufferings as condemned sufferers before sharing His glory.
The shout was the frenzied, repeated demand of an immense mob before Pilate to put Jesus to death on a cross while freeing Barabbas in His place. It set the innocent, holy Son of God, whose life showed mercy and the Father's character, against a notorious thief, murderer and wicked man, a choice of Satan personified before Christ. It was driven by satanic frenzy and hatred working through priests, rulers and the persuaded multitude, from envy at His goodness and works and hatred of His righteousness and truth that exposed their sin. That climax of Satan's effort to turn men against Jesus exposed his malice before the loyal universe, yet Christ endured without retaliation and proved Satan's charges false, and God overruled the killing for human redemption without lessening the guilt of the killers. The same cry is repeated whenever people now reject light and choose another leader before Christ, and it will stand as condemning evidence against the lost when priests and rulers recall it with horror at the final judgment.
Trial Setting Before Pilate
The cry belongs to the hearing before Pilate in a judgment hall ringed with soldiers and spectators, while the priests, rulers and elders of the Sanhedrin who had already condemned Jesus stood outside pressing Pilate to confirm and carry out the sentence. Pilate repeatedly held Jesus up as innocent and declared he found no fault in Him, and he set Jesus beside Barabbas for the crowd to choose between them. Barabbas was notorious for robbery, cruelty and great wickedness and even claimed to be Christ, and Pilate expected the contrast between his guilt and Jesus' innocence to move the people to pity and to choose Jesus. Their demand for crucifixion rejected that appeal and exposed a determined rejection of an innocent, suffering Savior who showed mercy and compassion without reproaching His enemies.
Pilate had Jesus scourged and then displayed Him wounded and suffering, hoping punishment would satisfy the crowd. They would not be moved to pity by His wounds or by His patient, dignified bearing, but persisted in demanding crucifixion. Pilate's indecision further inflamed them, and the cry grew louder whenever he spoke of releasing Jesus, becoming a demand for condemnation rather than any weighing of evidence of innocence.
The demand came as a repeated, frenzied roar, a deafening outcry from an immense mob outside the hall whose worst passions had been aroused. The rulers crowded inside around Pilate with fierce and determined faces, clamoring for condemnation with hatred and malignity that showed humanity had dropped from their hearts, while Jesus stood as the sad central figure with His face lit as if in communion with the Father. The priests hurried the matter because they feared the people would take Jesus out of their hands, and as soon as rumor reached the crowd outside that He was found guilty they raised the cry though He was not yet condemned and no guilt had been found in Him. To the priests that shout for His death was delightful, while Pilate stretched out his hands trying to silence the tumult. Their hoarse cries, driven by satanic frenzy, rejected Christ and chose Barabbas the thief and murderer in His place.
Those crying out were the Jews, the priests and the people, a mixed, poor and ignorant multitude persuaded and instigated by priests, rulers, Pharisees and religious teachers to ask for Barabbas and cry out against Christ. Many in the mob had never looked upon Jesus until urged by high priests, rulers and Pharisees to bear testimony against Him. Satan with his angels in human form mingled in the crowd uttering words that met the sentiments of the dignitaries. All heaven heard the cry as the people's own sentence against Jesus.
Many who demanded crucifixion had praised Him at His entry into Jerusalem only days earlier, having followed what was popular, and their swift turn from acclaim to hostility shows the fickleness of popular support. The same voices that cried out against Jesus later praised Herod as a god. Yet not all joined the condemnation, for people Jesus had healed and raised from the dead testified to His works, spoke in His defense, and questioned why He was being treated as a criminal.
Christ Against Barabbas
The shout was the crowd's answer to what should be done with Jesus, demanding His crucifixion while asking for the release of Barabbas instead. Barabbas was a notorious criminal, a thief, robber and murderer, a man of cruelty and great wickedness who claimed to be Christ. Their hoarse, repeated cries rejected Christ even though Pilate presented Him as innocent and offered the choice between them. The cry was driven by satanic frenzy and demonic influence, rejecting the Son of God to stand on Satan's side.
In contrast Jesus is the innocent, pure and holy Son of God, the Son of the infinite God who made the world and all things therein. His humanity bore the impress of the divine, and His face expressed the Father's image and the personification of the only true God. He possessed goodness, mercy, compassion and untiring love, with a heart ever touched with human woe, and He did not reproach His enemies. To reject the divine Son of God so described and accept a murderer in His place shows what humanity does when not controlled by God's Spirit and when the restraining Spirit is removed.
Barabbas placed beside Jesus stands for Satan personified, so calling for Christ to be crucified chose Satan before the Son of God and gave Satan exaltation. It was a united, frenzied choice of the robber and murderer over Christ when the people were asked what to do with Jesus which is called Christ. That choice between Barabbas and Jesus reveals whom people accept as king, and each person individually demonstrates by conduct and life whom he is choosing.
Motives Behind Demand
The shout to crucify Him was driven by Satan inspiring the priests and the people, working through human agents to turn them against Jesus and make them reject His love. It was uttered under demonic influence and satanic frenzy, with hatred and malignity, and it laid bare the deceiver's malice and hatred toward Jesus. That malice was aimed at One whose mercy and compassion represented God's character to the world. In choosing Barabbas, a thief, robber, murderer and man of cruelty, over Christ, whose humanity bore the impress of the divine, the crowd rejected the Son of God and stood on Satan's side.
The leaders and crowd acted in blind rage, though they could point to no act in His life worthy of condemnation. His humility, goodness and works drew the attention of the people and provoked their jealousy, envy and hatred. The Jewish leaders demanded His crucifixion from jealousy and from a desire to stop His teaching and authority, though His life was righteous and He was innocent. That same murderous hostility toward Christ remains and will be directed against His followers.
Their demand expressed hatred of His righteousness, teaching and example, and their rejection at the final test was a choice of disobedience and death over obedience and eternal life. His spotless, self-denying life, holiness, guileless speech and plain truth exposed the character of those who professed religion but lived for the world. His pure life and holy teaching convicted them of sin and condemned them, and His life and mission exposed the roots of a religion whose claims concealed a spirit opposed to Him and love for the world. They wanted Him out of the way, and rather than be corrected by Him they tried to trap Him in His words and rejected Him.
The cry reveals what humanity does when not under the control of God's Spirit and when rejecting God's grace and light. Human nature under evil influence and inspired by Satan turns against Christ, so that rejecting light leaves people under Satan's control to treat good as evil. It becomes violent, fierce, cruel and implacable, giving itself to cruelty and opposition to Christ, caring nothing for suffering, agony or murder. Though Pilate presented Jesus as innocent, pure and holy and offered the choice between Him and the notorious, cruel robber Barabbas, the crowd chose Barabbas, while Jesus showed mercy and compassion without reproaching His enemies. The scene proves that human nature cannot be trusted apart from Christ's grace, and that human guidance cannot be trusted in place of loyalty to Him.
The cry reveals what rebellion against God's law means: lawless liberty, transgression and sin, loss of tender compassion for those differing in religious faith, and false religion leading men to do Satan's works against the Son of God. It came from a poor, ignorant, mixed multitude who had never looked upon Jesus until urged by high priests, rulers, Pharisees and teachers to testify against Him and to ask for Barabbas and cry out against Christ, while Satan with his angels in human form uttered words that met the sentiments of those dignitaries. It shows how religious prejudice, envy, malice and deception can lead people who have turned from the light into hatred and extreme acts, with words spoken at His trial witnessed and recorded by God. Their religious claims concealed a spirit opposed to Christ that His life and mission exposed.
Cosmic Controversy Revealed
The final shout for crucifixion was the climax of Satan's work through human agents to turn the people against Jesus and make them reject His love. He stirred and inspired the priests and the people together to demand death instead of mercy. That cry laid bare his malice and hatred toward the Redeemer, whose mercy and compassion were showing the world the character of God. In this exposure of the deceiver's true character, amazement and indignation were stirred throughout the loyal universe.
Satan himself stood at the head of those who reviled Christ, leading the cruel mob to put Him to open shame. With fierce determination he and his band of evil confederated with the priests and rulers of the Jewish nation to destroy the champion of God and of truth. By one desperate act they sought to cut off all communication between the world and heaven. The heavenly universe watched the outcome with intense interest, while angels beheld their Commander in the hands of a merciless power, insulted, mocked, derided and scourged, staggering under the burden of His own cross and hanging in shameful humiliation and agony without help from heaven.
The abuse was aimed to provoke Christ to retaliation or to drive Him to work a miracle to free Himself and thereby break up the plan of salvation. One stain, one failure to endure the test, would have made the Lamb an imperfect offering and made redemption a failure. By a command He could have brought the heavenly hosts to His aid, and by His divine majesty He could have driven the mob in terror from His sight, yet He submitted with perfect calmness to the coarsest insults and outrage. By suffering a cruel death of shame He proved the falsity of Satan's charges against God and vindicated God before the angels in heaven as One willing to make in man's behalf the greatest sacrifice that could be made.
The people's choice and sentence brought sorrow and indignation to the angels, but they could not interfere. In the great controversy between good and evil, Satan's principles had to be allowed to become fully visible, so that the heavenly universe and humanity could see the righteousness of God's purposes. Those under Satan's control were therefore permitted to reveal the principles of his rule. By killing Him the leaders brought about the very outcome they sought to prevent, for Christ became Redeemer of mankind, Saviour of the fallen race, and ruler over the world. God overruled their deed for His own glory and for humanity's good, but this did not lessen the guilt of those who crucified Him.
Judgment and Last Days
On the road to Calvary the shouts and jeers demanding crucifixion were interrupted by the sight of Judas's mangled body, and afterward mockery diminished and many faces showed fear, as retribution for Jesus' blood seemed already to be falling on the guilty. After He lay in the tomb those who had joined the demand realized the calamity that had fallen upon them, and the mourning cries of the suffering and dying brought home to thousands the conviction that a great light had gone out of the world. Without Christ the earth was blackness and darkness, and they felt their need of the Healer they had condemned and would as eagerly have demanded Jesus alive again. Some who had cried for His execution recognized the calamity they had brought about and would eagerly have asked for Jesus if He were still alive.
The cry will be heard again at the final judgment, when the lost see the condemnation as a reality and face their own rejection of the light and blessings God offered. Those who rejected light and refused obedience will then recognize the sacrifice and love they rejected, and will hear that cry as evidence of their condemnation. The demand to crucify Him expressed hatred of His righteousness, teaching, and example in choosing disobedience and death over obedience and eternal life, and the decision made at the final test will stand as evidence against them when the judgment record is opened.
At the judgment the priests and rulers who joined that cry recall it with horror, and their present cry of agony is louder than the shout they once raised against Him. They remember that cry and their mockery of Him, and recognize that their own actions place them among the wicked who deserve the vineyard lord's sentence. Their later confession that Jesus is the Son of God and the true Messiah is louder than their former demand for His death. That rejection is rejection of Christ as the only provision for cleansing from sin, and it will be brought to account before God at the final judgment. A righteous God must avenge the death of His Son, an innocent man who is the Son of the infinite God killed because He told men truths they did not want to hear, and the world is soon to be judged for it.
The hatred in the cry was hatred of the carnal heart against Christ and His principles, at enmity with the law of God and instigated by Satan, and it was not an isolated outburst. It was the same hatred that persecuted the disciples and later consigned men and women to prison, exile, torture, the Inquisition, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the fires of Smithfield. That same hatred still works with malignant energy in unregenerate hearts and children of disobedience today, proving human nature today is no more in harmony with the principles of Christ than in past ages. The same murderous hostility driven by envy and jealousy remains and will be directed against His followers, especially when civil law withdraws its protection from those who keep God's law.
The same choice to crucify Christ while releasing Barabbas is being made today by the world and the churches and will be reenacted on an immense scale in the closing scenes of earth's history. The scenes enacted at the cross are being reenacted in churches departed from truth and righteousness, revealing what human nature will be and do when the love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. Rejecting the divine Son of God, who possessed goodness, mercy and untiring love with a heart ever touched with human woe, and accepting a murderer in His place shows what humanity does when not under the control of God's Spirit and when the restraining Spirit is removed and men are under the control of the great apostate. In the great crisis before us those aligned with the powers of darkness will give themselves to cruelty and oppose Christ, representing the spirit of the opponents believers will face and requiring greater faith to endure that test.
If He came again in the same humble manner, reproving sin and commending virtue and holiness, thousands in this age would raise the same cry of hatred and rejection. His coarse and often travel-stained garments covered a heart of divine love rich with meekness, yet eyes blinded by sin refused to see the Lord of life and glory under His humble exterior even though His power was revealed in works that no mere man could do. The rebellion and hatred shown then remain in human hearts, and disbelief that He is Messiah and Saviour will grow before His second coming. Only a few years after the Jews demanded His crucifixion, some of the same voices that called for it were glorifying Herod as a god at Caesarea, ready to bow down and worship the haughty Herod whose splendid silver and gold garments covered a corrupt and cruel heart.
Present Warning and Application
That same choice between Barabbas and Jesus is being made in the world now, repeated today whenever people cry for Barabbas and for Christ to be crucified. Barabbas placed beside Jesus stands for Satan personified, so calling for Christ to be crucified chooses Satan before the Son of God who made the world and all things therein, and gives Satan exaltation. Each person individually demonstrates by conduct and by life whom he is choosing, and by every action those who give affections to any leader but Christ repeat the cry for Barabbas to be released and Christ to be crucified. That rejection is the response of those who reject truth and light presented to them, rejecting Christ, the only provision for cleansing from sin, and crucifying Him afresh, and it will be brought to account before God at the final judgment. It is going over the same ground as the Jewish priests and rulers in their treatment of Christ, who murdered an innocent man, the Son of God, the Son of the infinite God, because He told men truths they did not want to hear.
Those who make that choice are filled with the attributes of Satan and controlled body, soul, and spirit by an entrancing infatuation that turns souls from hearing truth to believe a lie. The scenes enacted at the cross are being reenacted in the world and in churches departed from truth and righteousness, and will be reenacted on an immense scale in the closing scenes of earth's history, revealing what human nature will be and do when the love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. Rejecting the divine Son of God, the personification of the only true God who possessed goodness, mercy and untiring love and whose heart was ever touched with human woe, and accepting a murderer in His place shows what human nature can and will do when the restraining Spirit of God is removed and men are under control of the great apostate. To the degree light is refused and rejected there will be misconception, ruinous deception, misrepresentation and false witness, the evil eye making the whole body full of darkness, trampling God's law with the same spirit as those who insulted and betrayed Jesus. That standing rejection of Christ by people who would not receive or confess Him remains the pattern for the world's continuing opposition to Him and its iniquity. A righteous God must avenge the death of His Son for which the world is soon to be judged, so all who have united in a course of action wrong in principle must make a decided reformation and forever after walk humbly with God.
Disloyal people who reject and deny their Saviour would make the same demand for His death if Christ stood among them on earth today in human form. Their disloyalty dishonors God and denies the Saviour. People who outwardly honored Christ could still be His enemies, filled with anger and bitterness when not obeyed, like those who demanded His crucifixion. His spotless, self-denying life, holiness, guileless speech, and plain truth exposed the character of those who professed religion but lived for the world, who wanted Him out of the way and would try to trap Him in His words and reject Him rather than be corrected by Him. Those who profess to await Christ but live for worldly approval would likewise reject the meek, self-denying Jesus because His life and truthful words expose and condemn their character, and rejecting plain truth while holding to popular error reveals the same resistance to truth that would have led them to join the crowd crying for His crucifixion.
The enmity in that cry also opposes His followers, so those who persecute them would treat Christ the same way if He were in their place. They will say crucify Christ in the person of His saints, doing to His followers what was done to Him. Adding influence to the popular cry of crucify him, crucify him, when a man loaded down with responsibilities is fighting the battle with almost everything against him, is to show the Satan side of character and to work as Satan's agent to oppress, to accuse, to wound and bruise the soul. It is torturing and persecuting with the tongue, with strong prejudices and jealousies, suspicions, envies, censuring, backbiting and falsehood, adding suspicion, envy, jealousy and faultfinding to the burdens of someone already under strain, making one victim after another suffer, murdering character, crushing the burdened to the earth, and even sending others to death, repeating the satanic spirit behind that popular cry. Instead of joining that cry the law of kindness and the law of love require practicing kindness, dwelling upon good traits of character, cultivating a tender, pitiful, kind and compassionate spirit, and rejoicing in the truth rather than rejoicing in iniquity.
The cry belongs to Jesus on trial and on the cross while the Jewish priests and rulers forced the Roman governor to do their will. It belongs to His approach to the cross and descent into humiliation, together with the plaiting of the crown of thorns for His brow, clothing Him in the purple robe, bowing before Him in mockery and striking Him with the reed placed in His hand, scourging Him as the worst of criminals, choosing the murderous Barabbas in place of their Teacher, and lifting Him up on the cross to die as a malefactor, while His own nation clamored for His blood as He who held the disciples' hopes of eternal life was in the hands of wicked men. The disciples would see their own nation demand His death while murderous Barabbas was chosen instead of their beloved Teacher, then see Jesus treated as a criminal and crucified, testing their faith and causing hope and courage to fail. That taking away of the Bridegroom gives the disciples cause to mourn and fast. The crowd's change from hailing Him as king to demanding His crucifixion shows the fickleness of public favor, yet He prepared His faithful disciples for this ordeal so that rejection, betrayal and death would not take them by surprise or overturn their faith.
His followers should not expect popularity, for the demand for His crucifixion during His trial was part of the abuse, rejection, and shame He endured before dying as a condemned man. They are to be meek and lowly like their Master and may share His sufferings as condemned sufferers before sharing His glory.