When you think you know, but you really, REALLY don’t know …

Have you ever clicked on your preferred television news channel and watched in amazement as a mass of people behave badly?

It seems like such viewing opportunities are becoming increasingly common!

And they’re nothing new.

If a TV network was around some 2,000 years ago, there likely would have been round-the-clock coverage of a crowd of people behaving badly.

But these people thought what they were doing was the right thing.

They thought they understood what was happening, but had the facts very, very wrong.

In that case, the scene would have been Jerusalem, and the story would have been broadcasting the coverage of the conviction and unfolding crucifixion of a person named Jesus. Let’s tune in to some of the crowd scenes …

“As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women,” Luke 23:26-27.

“The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ A sign was fastened above him with these words: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, ‘So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself — and us, too, while you’re at it!’” Luke 23:35-39.

These snippets capture a crowd behaving poorly, for they thought they knew what they were doing — crucifying a false prophet who claimed to be the Messiah — when, in actuality, they were mocking and crucifying the real Messiah, God’s Son and the Savior of the world!

Talk about a situation when someone thought they knew, but they really, REALLY didn’t know!

If you stayed tuned in to the entire broadcast, you would come away with one overarching truth: the single greatest decision you will ever make in your entire lifetime is what you do with Jesus.

Some in the crowd had followed Jesus because they believed He was the Messiah, but many others openly, loudly, and rudely mocked the Son of God because they rejected His claims of who He was.

On our own, we’ll never correctly understand who Jesus is, but He offers forgiveness for our sins against Him. You could bet the cameras at the scene would have zoomed into a tight close-up of Jesus’ face as He demonstrated His capacity to forgive us while being crucified …

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’ And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice,” Luke 23:34.

Watching this poignant moment of the broadcast would strike you with another powerful truth: Jesus is willing, and wants to, forgive our sins, no matter how ugly they are.

When it seems like the news report was degrading into just watching a person die, it actually builds to a magnificent crescendo, as another incredible truth is revealed: believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord will transform you for eternity! That amazing fact was shown when cameras captured this exchange …

“Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called The Skull,[they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified — one on his right and one on his left … One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, ‘So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself — and us, too, while you’re at it!’ But the other criminal protested, ‘Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise,’” Luke 23:32-33, 39-43.

Just as so many, so long ago, thought they “knew,” but they really, REALLY didn’t know what they were doing, we can be just as careless and cruel with what we do with Jesus. The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews warns us about how we treat Jesus …

“Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us,” Hebrews 10:26-29.

Like the people standing around the cross as Jesus was crucified, what we do with Jesus is the greatest decision we’ll ever make. Jesus still extends His forgiveness to all who sin against Him. And if you sincerely believe in Him as your Savior and Lord, He will transform you for an eternity with Him.

Now that really is good news! We don’t get many news broadcasts like that, but it’s one story that will save and change your life.

Scotty