Today's Scripture:

Matthew 27:11-26 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Read: Reflect on a story in your life that pertains to this scripture.
This scripture tells me that Jesus was hated by many people for no reason. It also tells me that people sometimes will do bad things or say untrue things about others. Jesus chose not to respond to the people who were telling lies and wanted to kill Him.

Reflect: What is this scripture telling you during this season?
A story in my life that pertains to this scripture is when I was in fifth grade. There was a kid who was always being picked on for no reason, but he did not care about what other people thought about him. He just did his thing with his few friends and had fun with it. He became a popular kid in middle school and made the A team for football.

Respond: How is this scripture calling you to respond?
This scripture is telling us to stand up for people who may be picked on and also how to respond when people are criticizing us. Jesus did not respond when they were accusing him of crimes and yelling, “Crucify him!” He chose instead to respond with silence as He knew He had a job to save us on the cross. He did it to make the world a better place. This calls us to do everything for Jesus and to not let anything or anyone stand in our way.

About Joshua Mondlak:
I am an 8th grade student at Woodcreek Jr. High. I am in the band, play football, and run track. I like to go bowling and hang out with friends.
I have been at Grace since 2017 and been involved in children’s ministries and now student ministries. I have been a teen helper at VBS, and I volunteer at the Grace Cafe.