Good Friday

The Good Friday edition of the Chaplain's Corner by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

Jesus was crucified on Good Friday as the result of mob violence. People will do things in a mob or in a gang that they wouldn’t dream of doing on their own. The same mob that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday turned against Him and called for His death one week later.

We see mob behavior everywhere. People get together and gossip in groups against a school mate, a neighbor, or a teacher or work supervisor. It is similar with political parties, who band together against the other party. Sometimes the party itself becomes the most important thing, and the issues or the people’s welfare are forgotten. We see mob behavior in street gangs, where drive-by shootings happen for vengeance or control of a neighborhood or drug trade. We see it in riots, where people loot and destroy with reckless abandon. How many of these actions would be committed one-on-one, or person to person?

Pilate found no cause to convict Jesus. He handed Him over to the mob because he feared a riot. We learn one lesson from Good Friday: do not follow a crowd in doing wrong. Stand alone, if need be to do the next right thing.