Daily Devotional for Monday, November 13

Crucify Him!

“And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified,” Mark 15:12-15.

“Christ died for sin. Believers die to sin. Unbelievers die in sin.”— Unknown

The horror of the Crucifixion causes our hearts to be filled with grief and sorrow. How could a mob so erroneously cry for the release of a wicked criminal and demand the death of an innocent and righteous man? Even Pilate struggled within himself for he knew that Jesus was innocent. But the grief over the actions of the mob that day soon turn to personal sorrow when we accept the reality that Jesus died because of each one of us. Our sins nailed Jesus to the cross.

From the moment man sinned against God, a blood sacrifice was required to cover the sins of rebellious mankind. Adam and Eve tried to cover their shame with leaves, but God required the blood of an innocent animal. No man-made covering can atone for our sins.

God planned from the foundation of the world to provide a perfect substitute so that we could be saved. At the appointed time, He sent Jesus through a virgin birth to take on flesh and soon take our sin to the cross. Jesus, the perfect, sinless Son of God became sin for me so that I could be made righteous in the sight of God.

FINAL THOUGHT: I am the reason Jesus died on the cross. Yet, He willingly gave Himself in my place so that I could be saved. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Steven Ridings