WHO IS JESUS TO YOU, REALLY?

Mark 15:12-15

¹² And Pilate again answered, saying to them, “Then what should I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they yelled out again, “Crucify him.” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they yelled even more, “Crucify him.” ¹⁵ So Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.

the man you call king

They called Jesus “Rabbi,” a title of honor, yet in their hearts they dismissed Him as nothing more than a provincial Galilean. They called Him “teacher,” but His words never shaped their lives. They called Him “Lord,” but their obedience stopped the moment His commands pressed against their desires. Some even dared to call Him “Messiah,” but when His mission did not match their expectations, they quietly withdrew their hope. This was the generation that crucified its own Saviour while still using religious language to describe Him.

And the pattern has not disappeared. Our generation is fluent in Christian vocabulary yet slow to embrace the weight of Christ’s identity. Many admire Jesus at Christmas, when He is small, safe, and silent in a manger, but they resist Him as King when His authority confronts their lives. They speak of His love but ignore His call to repentance. They appreciate His compassion but reject His claim to rule. To them, His death is nothing more than a tragic end to a good man. But if we believe that Jesus died merely because an angry crowd overpowered Him, then we have aligned ourselves with that very crowd. We have reduced the Lord of glory to a victim of circumstance rather than the willing Lamb of God who laid down His life.

The cross exposes the truth about every generation: it is possible to say the right words about Jesus while refusing to bow to who He truly is. But the cross also reveals His mercy. The One we rejected is the One who saves. The One we misunderstood is the One who intercedes. The One we crucified is the One who rose to give life.

LORD, we acknowledge You for who You truly are. We confess Your Son as God’s Son and our Saviour.