Daily Devotional For Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from Matthew 27:15-26. Today we pick up in the trials of Jesus where Pilate was trying to figure out how to release Jesus. He had already determined that Jesus was innocent of all their trump-up charges.
Josephus, who lived around the time of Jesus, was a Jewish historian. He tells us in his writings (Antiquities 20.9.3), that Pilate had made it his tradition during Passover to release any prison to the Jews they requested. So, he presented to them Barrabbas and Jesus. Now, on the surface we wonder why the people would choose Barrabbas over Jesus since days earlier they had hailed Jesus as their new king. Barabbas is not his name, but a description of who he was. Bar means “son of.” abbas” means “father.” So, his name means “son of the father.” Which was also Jesus’ position with His father. There are some scholars who think Barabbas was also the son of a very influential rabbi who was a zealot and he himself was a zealot.
Zealots hated Romans and Barabbas was on death row, probably because he had either attacked a or some Roman soldiers or had killed one or some. He was simply waiting for execution. So, Pilate offered the Jews one of two men he would release. Barabbas, a Jewish zealot from a very powerful and influential family who had proven they were willing to kill Roman soldiers and Jesus, who had healed servants of Romans. Oh, one other tidbit here. Josephus tells us that Barabbas’ name was also Jesus. So, Pilate said, “Choose. Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Christ (your Messiah).”
The Jews shouted back, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15) What a lie. They hated Caesar and Rome. Since this was Passover, Rome always sent in more Roman troops in case there was a revolt or insurrection by the Jews. Jerusalem was normally around 250,000 people. A couple million pilgrims came every year to Passover. So, you can understand Rome’s caution and concern. In our passage, Pilate knew the Jews had handed Jesus over to him out of envy. The Jewish leaders never got the praise nor adoration like Jesus did on Palm Sunday.
Pilate saw this for what it was: a setup of Jesus and a framing of him. Why else would Jews who hated him and Rome want Pilate to convict one of their own to death? Seeing and feeling the crowd frenzy, Pilate pressed the people. Matthew tells us that the night before his wife informed him that she had a troubling dream about Jesus and she should leave Jesus alone. In those days people believed their gods spoke to them in dreams. The Jews told Pilate to let Jesus’ blood be on their hands. And they all shouted, “We take responsibility for His death – we and our children!” And in 70 AD God held them to it. Rome totally destroyed Jerusalem and their idol – the Temple.
The Bible has stories of God speaking to His servants through dreams also and so people took their troubling dreams seriously. So Pilate is stuck. If he frees Jesus, the Jews will revolt and he could lose his position of power with Rome. If he does something against Jesus, he has to live in fear that his gods may do something against him. Pilate gives into pressure and has Jesus scourged and handed over to be crucified to keep his position and power. New Testament scholar Douglas Sean O’Donnell, quoting from Pastor Mark Driscoll’s sermon:
“In our culture today, we have many “Jesuses” put before us. We have the Jesuses of popular secular authors such as Marcus Borg, Anne Rice, Dan Brown and Bishop John Shelby Spong. We have the Jesuses of world religions. Do you want the Jesus of Muhammad or Gandhi or the Dalai Lama? We have the Jesuses of the cults and the occult. Do you want the Jesuses of Deepak Chopra, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy Edger Cayce, or David Koresh. We have the Jesuses of pop culture—do you want the Jesus of The Simpsons and South Park, the sports star (“I’d like to thank the Big Guy upstairs”), or Pamela Anderson (sporting across her chest “Jesus is my homeboy”)? In this supermarket of spirituality, which Jesus shall we choose? That’s the pressing question of our day” (Source: Douglas Sean O’Donnell, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew: All Authority In Heaven And On Earth,” pp. 841-842).
Reflection Assignment: So, do you consistently choose the Jesus of the New Testament? When you are vulnerable to side with a different Jesus? The truth is, like the Jews, we wash our hands of the Jesus of the New Testament at times and when we do, we suffer for it and so do those around us. Have you ever made an alliance with someone that led you to turn against the Lord? What was it and do you ever repent from it?
Scripture To Meditate On: Luke 9:23, “If anyone wished to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want You to be my one and only Jesus. My culture is full of fa Jesuses. There are celebrities who love to make You into their own image and then market it as if that is Who You are. Lord, help me to follow the Jesus of the New Testament only. I want You to make me in Your image, not the other way around. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly