Jesus Before Pilate

The light of the Lord is upon you…

John 18:28-40

28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

Jesus and Pilate talking is an amazing happening, for it is Jesus once again speaking and teaching the world. My question is, “Why didn’t the Jews take care of the killing of Jesus themselves?”

Here is my list:
Fear…that He just might be King.
Anger…that He had knowledge.
Jealousy…that many loved Him.
Laziness…they we complacent.

For these reason, I would imagine they found it easier to kill Him than to change.

As Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…He is also the Light. His light shines on the darkness in our lives. It exposes that sin that has held us in captivity for our entire lives. Once truth is exposed, we must pray for Him to forgive us and change us, and we must repent.

I believe the main issue, in regard to the Jews wanting Jesus dead, deals with light having shone bright on the hearts of those Jews in positions of power. That light exposed Truth, which then forced the Jews to either realize they were horribly wrong, or accept Jesus and His Gospel. Ouch!

We know what is coming. It is inevitable. Jesus will hang on the cross. He will die for us. For that we thank Him and love Him. So what about the Jews? Well…Jesus died for them to. All that’s left is to Believe. That is true for all of mankind. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK