JOHN 19: 16 βThen he handed him over to them to be crucified.β After making several attempts to free Jesus, Pilate finally gave in to insure that his record as governor of Judea was spotless. He sacrificed justice for the sake of expediency. Much of our legal system that exists in this country today was handed down from the Roman Legal system. If Greece gave the world great thinkers, the Romans gave us a great legal system. Justice is to be the primary mover behind the legal system. The framers of our constitution said, βA man is innocent, until proven guilty.β The burden of proof regarding guilt is on the state, not on the accused. In the case of the State and the People of Rome vs. Jesus of Nazareth, justice was not served, or was it? There was indeed no justice for Jesus. There was no evidence that he broke any law, either Jewish or Roman. Jesus was denied justice for political expediency. But justice was done for you and for me. When Jesus went to the cross he took the βhitβ for us. He indeed βtook one for the team.β Jesus unjust death, gave justice to us and declared us innocent before God. Justice was not done for Jesus, but thanks be to God, justice was done for us. Amen.