For this exercise, let’s forget everything about Jesus except one thing.

Jesus is innocent of anything that could deserve the Roman penalty of death. Pilate said so. Not that we use him as our source of truth, but (pause) he was the guy in charge, Romanwise.

Who killed Jesus? The promoters were local leaders who did not like him. Fine. Hate him. But kill him? They did not have the authority to do it. Enter Pilate. They need his approval. Pilate allows it. Then we have the soldiers who carry it out.

Let us look closely at these three kinds of people. Religious. These guys condemn him to death. The verdict is unjust on its face. The method is sneaky. But they are not satisfied with an unjust verdict, They work hard to carry it out. They coerce the governor into approval! They threaten him with another riot. He cannot bear another event in his jurisdiction that would surely get back to Rome. Rome does not fire governors. They execute them.

This puts Pilate almost in a ‘him or me’ situation. He folds. But the raw hatred of the ones who demand the death of Jesus is what we are looking it here. Do they go home and consider it a good days work? Why do they hate him? Easy one. He threatens their world. He is undermining their authority. They are threatened directly by him. So, for love of their existing power, they engineer his death.

Back to Pilate. He saw a threat and found a way to sleep easily that night. My job remains secure, he thinks.

Last, we look at ordinary guys, Roman soldiers. They collect their pay. They also are not just fired. They lose everything if they do not do as told. They are told to kill Jesus using the Roman method. But it is worse than that. They seem to enjoy their grisly work. This guy was important just last week. Now he dies. Hammer that nail. Hoist this cross.

Now, where are you in this picture. You can only pick one. Do you have religious power? Do you have political power? Are you a working person? If you don’t work, where did your money come from? Successful business? Investment? You have money based on a structure that pays out money you need.

You and I are these people. We are there in that very moment. We are people who rely on a system that gives us power and money. But there is more. They thought about their position in the system and decided to go ahead with an execution. It was for their own benefit.

Now we look at the heart of each one. Do we see any hope? Do we see any thought of justice? Or a thought of right and wrong? We do not. This is the effect of our disconnect with goodness. The opposite of goodness is self-interest over all else. An agreement with others around us that our interests come first. And this very fundamental state is common. It can be called several things including sin. The state of a person without continuous reference to God is called sin.

Can anything be done to change this state that results in a heart hard enough to help kill an innocent? Yes, but it may be good to see where we are on the road to a stone-cold heart. Yes, you will arrive at that state. You may have already done so. An abortion planned by a guy and a girl would qualify. Have you said a leader that you don’t like should die? That qualifies. Have you cut off a relationship that does not serve you? Again, the beginning of a plan to rid yourself of a person you hate. Cain killed his brother because he was an annoyance to him. Killed him dead.

How can you become good? How can you rid yourself of evil thoughts? Any thought that is unkind toward another person is a step on the way down. I’m including myself as I write this. The answer is: you can’t; I can’t. Go ahead and try. Try as hard as you like and see if I am right. You will eventually agree with me. You cannot attain to inward goodness. But there is a cure. Follow him who showed us what sin does to people.

The marker in time is the killing of Jesus. It is also the event that led to change in the human heart for many. How? Don’t know. Faith? Foolish trust in God? Believing the one who came back from the dead? Call it whatever you like. You reach out into the invisible and will find One who touches you back. You can connect to the Eternal. Jesus made it possible.