by Herman Crawford

“Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’” (Matthew 27:22 NASB)

It has not been too long ago that we celebrated the birth of Jesus and a lot of this celebration has to do with giving gifts. But we don’t always give (or get) gifts that are useful. They may be valuable but, for us specifically, not useful. If anyone who has received gifts from me is reading this, I am sure that we will hear a few hearty “AMENs”.  When Ruth and I lived in Japan, I gave her a deep cast iron chicken fry pan…..two years in a row. Same thing. She wasn’t too excited with the first one. You can imagine how she lit up with joy with the second one. I forgot that I had given her one the year before because she never used it! Of course, she didn’t use the second one either. Not much value. And there wasn’t that much chicken in Japan. Two fry pans!! Or how about this as a gift. Once I went to a country in Africa where they mine diamonds. She thought that when I came back after a few weeks, I would surprise her with a 20 or 30 karat diamond ring. Instead, she got a tee shirt that said “Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa”. She might have been more excited with the tee shirt than the fry pans, but it was pretty hard to tell. Again, not much value.

But God gave us all something beyond anything we could ever imagine. It is His gift to us and it’s available to all who desire it. As we look at the time leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, here was a gift that had been given to everyone and the multitude essentially screamed to everyone there and even to us: “We don’t want it! Give us the world (Barabbas) instead!” My prayer is, that unlike Pilate who asked the question about Jesus the Christ – “what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”, we have come to Him with a repentant and believing heart. I pray that we celebrate His death and resurrection, especially in this Easter season, because of the most valuable gift He could give – Himself.

Lord Jesus, thank you for your love for us. I pray that as we remember what your love for us required of you, we set our hearts on serving you more in this coming year. Help us to have a heart for those who cannot see you because of the world. Thank you that we all have value in your eyes. Amen.