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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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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. Saturday, January 25, 2020
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Jesus Delivered to Pilate Bible Verse :Matthew 27:1-2, 11-14 "When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. . . . Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed." Message:
Pontius Pilate is one of the most interesting people in the Bible, for we rarely see a Biblical character drawn in shades of grey. Christianity is a very black-and-white, dichotomous religion; we are saved, or we are not. We go to heaven or we go to hell.
There are moral ambiguities — you almost cannot have two rules (much less hundreds) without being able to think up a situation where they conflict and create a dilemma — but in Christianity, morality is subordinate to faith and flows from it. There is only one rule, which might be stated as “faith in Christ”, from which all other precepts flow:
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6, KJV)
In Christian terms, Pilate is a lost soul. When Christ ultimately separates the sheep from the goats (his terminology - see Matthew 25:32), Pilate will be among the goats.
Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars
But in human terms, Pilate shows a lot more integrity than one would expect. He really does not want to crucify Jesus, and as we will see, tries several times to prevent it. What he does not do, however, is simply say “no”, which was within his power. He ultimately gives in to the Sanhedrin as a matter of political expediency; he would rather see an innocent man crucified than have a riot or stir up enmity in the Sanhedrin, for his Roman masters expect him to keep the peace in Judea.
Even so, Pilate's extreme reluctance is interesting. Herod, and most Romans, would have simply crucified Jesus without a second thought.
Jesus, in Aramaic idiom, actually admits that he is “King of the Jews”. We have seen this idiom, “you have said so”, twice in Matthew 26, once to Judas and once to Caiphas. It is unclear whether Pilate understands this to be an affirmative answer, but either way, he correctly grasps that Jesus is not a Zealot or a political revolutionary. The very fact that Jesus is being prosecuted by Sadducees and Pharisees implies that he is not an enemy of Rome.
Then Jesus stays silent in the face of all the testimony against him. Pilate is “amazed”. Does this man not care if he dies? How can a man possibly be so self-possessed as to simply say nothing? If he was willing to die for some cause, one would expect him at least to make a speech.
Pilate senses something special about Jesus; this ragged carpenter from Nazareth is, unbelievably, noble in the face of death (something a Roman would admire). Unfortunately, he cannot take the saving step of hearing Christ's message in his heart (unlike some Romans to come, such as Cornelius in Acts 10).
Meditation : Prayer : And now, as a little child, let me abide in you all this day, oh Christ, so that when you appear I may have confidence and not shrink from you in shame at your coming. For I know that you are righteous, and I am sure that I will be made righteous only by my life in you.....Amen |
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