a heart without Jesus

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Mark 15:1-47. Jesus is before Pilate, and before the crowd. Pilate is LOOKING for a way to release an obviously innocent man. But the crowds turn against Him. They start chanting, "Crucify Him!"

This is hard to understand, isn't it? Why in the world did the crowd suddenly decide to call for an innocent man's death? Well, if you wander into the comments section of any public post on Facebook, you'll see the same thing. When the news posts stories of people who have committed crimes, the comments section is full of blood thirsty comments demanding that the same thing happen to the perpetrator that they did to their victims. But that's GUILTY people, right?

Doesn't matter, turns out. Even when all of the evidence points to the innocence of the subject, the crowd won't let it go. "It's a coverup!" they declare. "Just look at that face - guilty!" they scream. And that's today, in 2019, when we're supposed to have learned to be civilized and tolerant.

But that's what we should expect, really. A heart without Jesus (as is any heart that refuses to forgive) is going to be dark and full of pain and vengeance. God gives us a heart of flesh to replace those hearts of bloodthirsty stone, but only if we ask for them.

Let's remember to ask.

God, thanks for teaching us to forgive. Please help us to spread that message of forgiveness to those who definitely need You.