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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, December 2, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Jesus Is Mocked Bible Verse :Matthew 27:24-31 "So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him." Message:
This short narrative is loaded with meaning. There are four characters, and an examination of them gives us parallels for our own lives; for they all live within every one of us.
The soldiers are a pack of hyenas. Scourging consisted of whipping the subject's bare back with a lash studded with sharp bone and lead; many died from it, for it tore the subject's back into shreds. The soldiers, those who actually scourged and mocked Christ, are the bullies of the world, people with no conscience or scruples at all, whose amusement is bloody violence and the torture of the weak. They are the incomprehensible human capacity for animal violence that lies deep within each of us. Psalm 22 likens them to bulls and lions, and the comparison is not meant to be complementary.
The second character, the crowd calling for his crucifixion, is a testament to social pressure; our tendency to take our values from those surrounding us rather than our own values; for many in the crowd were Jesus' supporters only a day before. A mob is the ultimate embodiment of peer pressure, the compromise of personal values to conform to those around us. We see it today, specifically, whenever we compromise Christ in order to “get along” in a secular society with no moral compass.
When the crowd shouts, “his blood be on us,” they are speaking for all humanity. If we do not abide in Christ, his blood is on our hands:
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit . . . and then have fallen away . . . they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
The third character, Pilate, represents hypocrisy. In his handwashing, we see a perfect parallel to the “whitewashed tomb” of the Pharisees. It is ritual without meaning. It cannot possibly affect his spiritual culpability in allowing Jesus to be crucified. And he is surely culpable, for the Sanhedrin had no control of the Roman soldiers and no power to impose the death penalty.
Pilate knows that it is wrong to kill Jesus, but refuses to use his power to stop it, fearing damage to his career. Again, one can see a parallel to the Jewish leadership: “[A]mong the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” (John 12:42.)
And our final character is Christ. The King of Heaven, the Son of God, humbles himself to the very bottom of the human totem pole: could there possibly be anything worse, in individual terms, than being thrown to a pack of human jackals to be mocked and tortured to death? It is the ultimate act of love, for Christ is the most powerful man ever to dwell on earth, who willingly gives himself to the worst fate imaginable, so that we might be saved.
Meditation : Prayer : Holy God, I pray to be filled with your Holy Spirit for the rest of this day. Let me go forth, walking with your Spirit in my heart, that I may be filled with the joy and energy and praise for your entire creation, thankful in the many gifts you have given me, and showing forth your light in my every word and deed. This I pray in Christ's name,....Amen |
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