Prejudice Crucified Jesus
by Terry Wane Benton
When we own our part in the sins that crucified Jesus, we come to see that guilt can be the beginning of the transformation we really need. First, we see that the very sins that led to Jesus being crucified were those of ourselves. Those who were there in the flesh were just reflections of ourselves. We were there in spirit and attitude. When we see ourselves being unfair in judgments of others, we can see that we are guilty of the very sins that were involved in crucifying that innocent man, Jesus.
Making an unfair assessment of others without sufficient knowledge was the very thing that brought about Jesus’ merciless beatings and scourging. Jesus turns personal when we are prejudiced against other people of other races and economic levels. He said: If we do it to "one of the least of these," we did it to Jesus (Matthew 25:33ff). Hating others and showing prejudice today are the very sins involved that caused Jesus’ suffering and death. By doing it toward people, Jesus says, “You did it to me.” It may not necessarily be racial prejudice. When you pre-judge a person without getting to know the person, or join a group to ridicule, shun, and bully, and make fun of, you are doing that to “one of the least of these”, a brother of Jesus, and it shows what you would have done in the crowd that bullied and abused Jesus. We show that we are no better than they are.
We may be guilty of prejudging a person as worthless or deserving of being bullied, and we stand by and say nothing in defense of that person. That is a form of the prejudice that was in that crowd. We were there at the crucifixion of Jesus, saying nothing in the innocent man’s defense. Why? Because we prejudged that someone deserves to be shunned, bullied, and verbally abused. Why? Simply because we saw them as different from us by the way they looked, or in their mannerisms, or expressions.
How many people could have used a friend, but we prejudged that they were not worthy of our friendship? That is unfair judgment, and that was the very prejudice that joined the crowd that said, “let Him be crucified!” As the song asks, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” Was your prejudice represented there? When we see ourselves properly before the cross, we can begin to change, to transform as godly sorrow begins to bring about repentance toward holiness. Own our part in the guilt so that we may begin to actually receive the benefits of what Jesus offers us in the old rugged cross. Can you see your unfair judgment represented that day at the cross?
