Would You Stomp (Step) on Jesus?

 
Jesus is still being abused today.

It’s sad. Actually it’s beyond sad. When I read the news
report this morning, I was outraged to say the least. I have been in the position of the involved parties, and this situation just made my blood boil.

I was reminded of some other people who wanted to “stomp” on Jesus.

“So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” John 19:1-6

It seems easy for Christians today to say, “I wouldn’t have gone along with the crowd! I would have stood up for Jesus!”

Notice the word seems above. How many of us actually would, however?

Huge kudos going out to Ryan Rotela who not only wouldn’t step on the name of Jesus, but had the gumption to question the instructor who made the assignment.

Now, as a teacher, I’m not ok with students talking back, refusing to do my assignment, or questioning my assignments in general. Each and every assignment is prepared for a very specific purpose. No matter how easy, hard, dumb, or any other adjective you’d like to insert they may seem, they are intentionally developed to help students get to where they need to be.

But I wouldn’t ever ask my students to do something that went against their core beliefs even if their core beliefs were drastically different from mine. If I ever did cross that line, I hope and pray a student would call me out on it.

Pilate, let’s call him a politician, could find nothing to charge Jesus with and wanted to set Him free. The government wanted to let Jesus live. The people refused to let him. They wanted to see Jesus put to death.

The people won.

There’s a lesson here. On this earth, the people win. Christian people, we had better be standing up. After reading the actual lesson plan from that class, I understand the concept behind the assignment. I don’t AGREE with the assignment, but I understand what the assignment was supposed to bring about in a classroom of students.

Take time to follow the link above and read the lesson plan. See, something entirely different was supposed to take place. The students as a whole were supposed to balk at stepping on the name of Jesus.

I have a hard time believing that only one person in that classroom believed in Jesus. I just won’t. So what happened the rest of them? Did they succumb to pressure of a grade in a class thinking that they should step on the name of Jesus to earn their grade for the day?

Christian people have to stand together, and most importantly, have to stand.

Step on the name of Jesus? We might as well be swinging the hammer to drive the nails.

Come on, sisters and brothers, let’s not give in to the pressure to step on Him. Instead, let’s step up and lift Him up so that the world may see!

Even the Florida politicians are getting involved. The Christian community should be the loudest voice. We should raise a loving voice, but we should most definitely be using our voice.

photo credit: Wisconsin”>http://www.flickr.com/photos/whsimages/4196049832/”>Wisconsin Historical Images
via photopinhttp://photopin.com”>photopin>