“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” Matthew 27: 21,22

Bad choices lead to bad consequences.

No choice was ever as bad as the one made by the Jewish people at the trial of Jesus. We cringe to hear their words. Their decision defied reason. It ignored justice. It sprang from hatred.

“Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.” Psalm 22: 13,14

It wasn’t a dream. It was worse than a nightmare. It was a vision—a terrifying vision. 

“He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”  Isaiah 49:2, 3

Sometimes, people seem confused about Jesus. 

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16 NIV

I have a shield. I did not make it. I did not buy it. I received it as a gift.

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16 NIV

I have a shield. I did not make it. I did not buy it. I received it as a gift.

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Isaiah 53:3 KJV

There is a path marked out in the city of Jerusalem that is said to be the route on which the Roman soldiers led Jesus from the Judgment Hall to Golgotha. It is called the Via Dolorosa— “The Way of Sorrows.”