John 19:1-15

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

Have you ever felt exposed, hated, perhaps gone into a classroom to find the students don't want to listen, or tried to get your point across to a group of people and it felt like they were ready to stone you?  You definitely felt like you were not invited into their presence!!!  This is what I imagine Jesus was going through in this scene.  He feels my exposure, my insecurity and yet He did not let that stop Him from doing what His Father had planned for Him.  He had the power to stop the whole proceedings but He went on because He knew He had to be forsaken so that I might live, have eternal life!!  When Adam sinned he passed on that sinful nature to me so that my default position is to do things that are not pleasing to God.  God is perfect and somehow my sin has to be made up to God, His justice has to be fulfilled so He took it out on Jesus because He knows I can't pay for my own sin.  Thank you Jesus, for being my scapegoat!