- And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Mark 15:4-5 – Good Friday has passed but today is a Friday and it is good because of the events of our chapter. Mark 15 is this gospel’s retelling of the trial, beating, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. During the trial with Pilate many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem made serious charges against Jesus. Other gospel accounts outline some of them out: that Jesus was starting riots, that He was telling everyone to stop paying Roman taxes, and that even He was displacing Caesar as king. Pilate, fulfilling his duties, asked Jesus if He had any defense to make against all these serious accusations. Jesus’ response? As we see in our passage above, He remained silent, and this amazed Pilate. For this was the time and place in the trial for the accused to give their defense. Pilate was used to seeing people grovel and beg and likely come up with fantastic stories of how they were innocent to avoid punishment. Yet Jesus remained silent at that time, refusing to grovel or even defend Himself. Why? Because He wasn’t trying to get out of what was to come. He knew what the Father’s will was, and it was for Him to die on the cross for the sins of the world. He chose to let the accusers lie and defame him and get their “victory” of executing this rouge teacher that was stealing away their way of life. And He did all this for us. So yes, today is a good Friday, for we have a Savior named Jesus who bore the shame of the cross for us so we could have the blessing of being children of the Most High God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3106
- So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.” Mark 15:31 – Why did Jesus refuse to climb down off the cross when He had all the power to do so? Because He saw the people there needed His sacrifice in order to be right with God. Because He knew the religious practices of the chief priest and scribes weren’t enough to save them. Because He saw you would need Him eventually too. Know as we progress towards Easter and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, He could have easily climbed down off the cross. Yet He didn’t because He knew we needed Him there. Let’s together step into this Easter season with a heart of thankfulness for a Savior that is all powerful yet laid that power aside for us. I love you, but boy does Jesus love you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 470
- There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. Mark15:40-41 – These ladies weren’t a part of the twelve apostles. They don’t have gospels written by them. Some here don’t even have their names recorded in scripture. Yet they followed Jesus, tended to the needs of Jesus, and helped Him accomplish His mission here on earth. It’s so tempting to serve Jesus for the recognition we get from it, but we must not let that be our reason for serving or our scale on how pleased God is with our service. There are many people serving Jesus behind the scenes in small churches you couldn’t even find on a map if you tried that God is so pleased with. There are people who have the spotlight and are handling it wrong that God isn’t so pleased with. Serve Jesus because you want to please Him and want others to know him. You may never get the spotlight, you may get all the spotlight, either way serve with the right heart. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1624
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