FourFifteen

You find out what kind a person someone is during their last moments of life. Their last words speak volumes about who they really are. We've come now to the last moments of Jesus' life, before He died hanging from a Roman cross. As we read the Gospel accounts, we see seven distinct statements from our Lord that clearly reveal to us Who He is, and why He was hanging on that cross. Forgive them... We read these words from Luke 23:32-35. According to this passage, this was the first thing Jesus said on the cross...spoken just after they raised Him up on it.  This was spoken  after  the mob slandered and disowned Him. This was spoken  after  the brutal Roman scourging and mockery of His claim to be the Messiah. This was spoken immediately after they hammered nails through His hands and feet. Actually, when Jesus spoke these words, everyone around Him was mocking and ridiculing Him while He hung there...paying for  their  sins! Still, Jes...

Before the Crowd Once Again After the Roman guards carried out their session of torture, they sent Jesus back to Pilate's courtyard. Battered and bleeding, Jesus was forced to stand in front of the mob once again - this time with a red and purple robe draped over His body and a crown of thorns shoved onto His brow. Pilate continued his previous plan with Barabbas. This time the offer should've been more appealing to the crowd. Barabbas was a notorious murderer who needed to be executed for the sake of the public. Jesus was an just an innocent man that they didn't like. He had already been beaten to a pulp, and might just die from His wounds without anything more being done to Him. Clearly this was an easy choice...right? But the crowd was not pacified at all. In fact, the sight of Jesus presented as a "king" sent the crowd into a frenzy. Pilate proclaimed, " Behold the Man!"  - as if the sight of Jesus should've been enough to convince...