I have imagined the reactions and thought processes of those people involved in the Good Friday and Easter narrative.
I hope that it will assist you to meditate on these events with fresh thoughts.
I
have had a hard life with no-one giving me any favours and I haven’t offered
any to others either. I didn’t know my father and so didn’t have an example,
either good or bad, to follow – not that I cared.
It
was almost inevitable that I fell in with the ‘wrong crowd’ – people who
thought like I did. It was almost a disregard for the rest of society (after
all, what had they done for me?) and a realisation that this world was all
there was so everyone was out for themselves.
It
started off in small things like a bit of petty pilfering, like stealing
sandals and the like, before it went onto more serious stuff. I would have no
hesitation in stopping a rich merchant’s train at knifepoint and stealing the
whole lot of their goods. Ah, the best pickings were on the road near Jericho
which ran from north to south. It was miles away from any civilisation and many
travellers were too concerned with their own safety to think about another
hapless soul who had been robbed by the likes of me.
Sometimes,
for a bit of sport, a group of us would get together and take on a small convoy
of Roman soldiers just for the fun of it. Usually, we would do this in the
towns and cities where it was easy to hide afterwards. That was my downfall
because, after a minor altercation with a Roman soldier, I killed him with the
small dagger and took some money that he was carrying. Before I could disappear
into the shadows, I was apprehended by some others from his legion.
I
was tried and, inevitably found guilty by the judges. There was unavoidable
punishment of crucifixion that faced me. I was not bothered by this prospect;
after all, isn’t life supposed to be short and brutal?
To
my surprise, I was hauled up before Pilate and made to stand before people from
the city. I was so dazed that I did not realise what was happening, especially
as the heat and sun’s glare made the whole situation feel unreal. It turned out
that at Passover time, Pilate had the opportunity to free a prisoner which was
chosen by those in the crowd. Next to me was the bloody form of a man who been
severely beaten by the palace guard. It was Jesus who I had heard so much about
for He had been doing good deeds throughout the land, so I thought that there
was no contest and that it would still be me walking through the gates with the
wooden cross. I was astounded when the crowd, almost as one voice, demanded
that it was Jesus who should be crucified instead of me, a decision that was
verified by Pilate.
My
chains were removed from me and I was led out from the Seat of Judgement.
Someone else had taken my place – instead of receiving mercy, my judgement had
been laid on Jesus and now I had received the grace that I did not deserve.
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