Today's Bible reading is the 27th chapter of the Book of Matthew. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27&version=NASB

The 27th chapter of Matthew is 66 verses long and includes the crucifixion of our Lord. This makes it very difficult for me to write a quick or short thought from the reading. Unwilling to make the decision on his own, I've often been intrigued at Pilate's attempt to have Jesus released prior to His crucifixion. Believing that the people had only sought Jesus' arrest because of envy, he felt that if he offered them a choice to release either Jesus or a notorious criminal, they would surely ask for Jesus' release. He knew neither the depth of their hatred for Him nor again that Calvary was the will of God. When his idea did not work as he had thought, he released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified.

We often make note that the moment that Jesus bore the sins of the world was the most egregious point of suffering He experienced that day. But one can hardly read the account of Jesus being humiliated and beaten without cringing at the picture in your mind. He suffered greatly while bearing our stripes. And of course, then there was the cry. "MY GOD, MY GOD,  WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" The One who knew no sin becoming sin for us. Following His death, Jesus would ultimately be laid in the tomb and the same people who thought they had overcome Him would now have the tomb guarded, "otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first." The first was no deception and there would be no second. They could prevent His disciples from stealing His body but they could not prevent His Father from raising Him from the dead. To God be the glory.