Every servant of God eventually runs into the same wall. You give your time, you give your heart, you tell somebody about Jesus, and they walk away. Sometimes they do worse than walk away. Sometimes they mock you for believing at all. This past Sunday at The Brook, our church family in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania walked through Mark 15:6-47, and Pastor Poke put the uncomfortable question right on the table. Is it worth it?
The Question Every Servant Eventually Asks
Pastor Poke did not ask the question in theory. He asked it with receipts. Every birthday party missed for church. Every lunch hour spent talking to somebody about Jesus. Every time you stood on a street corner handing out a tract, or skipped something you loved to go visit somebody, only to watch them walk away and never receive God. And then the hard part: when it was all said and done, they crucified Jesus anyway.
In spite of everything he had done, they killed him. So if they did that to the perfect Servant, what should we expect? Should I expect people to reject my sacrifice and service? His answer was honest: one hundred percent. But then came the line that reframes everything. We do not serve the people. We serve him.
Why Did the Crowd Choose Barabbas?
The Cry of the Multitude
Mark 15 opens this scene with a custom. At the feast, Pilate would release one prisoner, whomever the people desired. The multitude began crying aloud for Pilate to do what he had always done. But their cry was not a cry for justice. It was a cry built on the desires of the flesh. They wanted what they wanted, and the loudest voices in their lives were more than happy to steer that wanting.
A Murderer Instead of the Messiah
Look at the history. Barabbas was part of an insurrection, and he had committed murder in it. To some in the crowd he was a little bit of a hero, a man rising up against Rome. There was a part of him they liked. But as Pastor Poke put it plainly, Barabbas never helped them like Jesus did. Barabbas never made a lame man walk or gave a blind man his sight. The crowd chose him anyway. When our desires get stirred by the wrong voices, we will choose what never helped us over the One who always did.
What Does Envy Have to Do With the Cross?
Verse 10 gives us the diagnosis: Pilate "knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy." The religious leaders had watched the testimony of Jesus with their own eyes. The lame walking. The blind seeing. Heartbroken people being made whole. It was not enough. They were not weighing evidence. They were jealous of him.
Envy is not an ancient problem. It shows up every time God blesses somebody else's life, somebody else's family, somebody else's ministry, and something in us sours instead of rejoices. The chief priests show us where that road ends. Envy, left alone, will hand over the very thing God sent to save us.
How the Mockery Told the Truth
The soldiers clothed Jesus in purple. They pressed a crown of thorns on his head. They cried out to him and bowed their knees in fake worship. They mocked his position as king, they mocked his praise, and they mocked his power. Even the men crucified beside him joined in, saying let Christ descend from the cross, "that we may see and believe."
Here is the strange grace in that scene. The mockery told the truth. They dressed him as a king because he is the King. They bowed because he is worthy of worship. What they threw at him in sarcasm, heaven had already declared in earnest. When you live faithfully, people will mock your faithfulness. When you praise him, they will mock your praise. There was truth in their mockery then, and there is truth in it now.
Truly This Man Was the Son of God
When Jesus died, the testimony did not stop. It multiplied. Pastor Poke traced four testimonies through the end of the chapter.
- The veil of the temple rent from top to bottom. Hebrews tells us we now have boldness to enter "by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." The way to God is open, and Jesus himself is the door.
- The soldier who oversaw the crucifixion watched how Jesus died and said, "Truly this man was the Son of God." The man running the execution became the first confessor at the cross.
- The servants stayed. Women who had followed him and ministered to him were there, watching, faithful to the end.
- And Joseph of Arimathaea went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus. He bought fine linen, the best he could buy, wrapped the Lord, and laid him in a tomb no body had ever touched. When it was dangerous to be associated with Jesus, Joseph went public.
The Commencing Is the Continuing
Pastor Poke closed with the line that ought to follow us around all week. The commencing of the crucifixion ought to be the continuing of my testimony. Had Christ stopped short at the very last moment, the message would be useless. He finished. And because he finished, our service cannot be a two year project we retire from. People are going to look at your life and ask, was it real? Did you finish the course? A life's testimony shows up in our deeds, our demeanor, and one day, our death.
Life Application
This week, answer the question honestly instead of avoiding it. Is it worth serving God? Write down what serving has actually cost you, and then write down what Jesus paid for you. Put the two lists side by side.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Whose voices are stirring my desires right now, and where are they steering me?
- Where does envy show up when God blesses somebody else?
- If the people closest to me watched my deeds and my demeanor this week, would they say truly, this person serves Jesus?
- Am I serving for the applause of people, or am I serving him?
Rejection is not a sign you are doing it wrong. It is the pattern of the Servant you follow. Serve him anyway.
Watch and Listen
The full message is on our YouTube channel, and the audio is on Flowing Truth, our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. A quick honest note: a power outage caught our recording this week, so the video picks up during the scripture reading. The heart of the message is all there.
Looking for a church near Honey Brook or western Chester County? We would love to have you. Sunday School is at 9:30 and worship is at 10:30 at 143 Suplee Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344. Midweek Bible Study is Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. Come as you are. There's a seat for you.