Jesus, the King of the Jews

Posted on by korgrocker

“And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.””
John 19:19-22 NLT

Before he vanished into history, Pilate had a last shout. It was customary to say something about the person on the cross and the notice on Jesus’ cross read “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. And, more, it was displayed in three languages, extending its message to all the visitors in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Pilate posted the sign and insisted it stayed on Jesus’ cross in spite of the protestations of the Jewish leaders. He knew the truth about Jesus, and the reason why the Jewish leaders wanted Him dead. But Pilate refused to change the sign and said to the leading priests, “what I have written, I have written”. The scene on that fateful day was of a Man hanging and struggling on a cross with a sign saying who He was, clear for all to read. What did the visitors to Jerusalem make of it all? There were no mass communication opportunities in those days, so the background to the crucifixion would have been whispered and discussed amongst the visitors and residents, and the Jewish leaders would have probably been rushing around promoting their official version to all who would listen. 

As we pilgrims know, Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews, but in the sense that His was a spiritual Kingdom, not the one the Jews were expecting. They were desirous of a kingdom that would be strong, self-governing and free of the hated Roman occupation. They harked back to the glory days when Israel was prosperous and able to subdue any attempts by neighbouring countries to conquer it. Through their leaders, the Jews thought that they had the spiritual side of the lives sorted because they followed the law of Moses and in any case, weren’t they children of Abraham? And that was the issue. Jesus came with a message of hope and love from a Heavenly Father desirous to renew the relationship with His children. 

Do we pilgrims know Jesus as the “King of the Jews”? Before a King we bow and respect, considering Him with awe and worship. But are we a little too flippant sometimes in our relationship, treating Him as a friend rather than as a King? Do we give Him the due to which He is entitled? The world was created through Jesus, as we read in John 1:2-3, “He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him“. How can we not consider Jesus with reverence? 

Dear Lord Jesus. We worship You today, in reverence and awe. Amen.

The Judgement Seat

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha).”
John 19:12-13 NLT

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent of any crime. He knew how popular Jesus had become with the people. He discerned that the Jewish leaders were extremely jealous of Jesus and were afraid that their positions of religious authority were being undermined. He knew that Jesus was no political revolutionary intent on overthrowing the occupying Roman forces. But Pilate was in a bit of a bind. Jerusalem was overloaded with crowds of people present for the Passover celebrations, and the last thing he wanted was a riot to take place, which could happen if the Jewish leaders stirred everyone up. If Jesus was so popular with the people though, why did so many call out for Him to be crucified? We can only assume that the devil was behind much of the mayhem, because if there was anyone who could destroy his hold on Planet Earth it was Jesus. 

The Jewish nation was a problem for Pilate and particularly all their religious customs and festivals. Pilate didn’t care one bit for the Jewish religion and their blasphemy laws. He didn’t have a good track record with the Jews and Luke recorded an incident in the Temple. “About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple” (Luke 13:1). But here Pilate was faced with a potential riot over a Man who was innocent, and, to add to his woes, the Jewish leaders pushed a button that reminded Pilate of the vulnerability of his position, should news reach Rome that he failed to deal with a Man who claimed to be a King, superficially competing with Caesar, even if such an analysis was untrue. So Pilate sat down on the judgement seat outside his headquarters but he was never going to be allowed to release Jesus, even if it meant that he lost face and self-respect. 

But as we pilgrims know there is a judgement seat coming, before which everyone will have to appear; well, that is, everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We can read the account of John’s vision in Revelation 20:11-13, 15,“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. … And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire“. A grim scene I think we can agree, and a day will come when Pilate and the Jewish leaders will have to stand before the Man they crucified “to be judged according to what they had done”. There are those who claim that this event could never happen because how could a God of love send people to hell. But they fail to realise that we live in a moral universe and there will have to be a final reckoning to balance the scales of justice. God is a God of love but also of righteousness and holiness and justice. His love was expressed through the event that Jesus was facing into – His substitutionary death that took on the punishment for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to face the Great White Throne and the Man sitting upon it.

Jesus’ mission was clear. We all know John 3:16 off by heart – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. We pilgrims believe in Jesus so we have nothing to fear, and one day will be in God’s presence enjoying eternal life with Him.

Dear Father God. It is an awesome thought, to have to face the wrath of the Living God. We thank You for Jesus and all He did for us at Calvary. Amen.

The Greater Sin

Posted on by korgrocker

“When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.””
John 19:8-11 NLT

Pilate was out of his comfort zone. Here was a Man who claimed to be the Son of God and who had just been flogged at Pilate’s order. But he was a superstitious man and when the mention of a “god” appeared in the context that he faced, then he became frightened. Pilate claimed to have the power to either release or crucify Jesus, but Jesus rightly pointed out to him that Pilate had no authority of his own other than what was given him by his superiors back in Rome. The Jews were a troublesome lot to Pilate and the constant threat of unrest and rebellion was wearing him down, particularly as there had been previous times when negative news about Judaean civil unrest had finally filtered back to Rome. So Pilate was not just afraid of the events panning out before him; he was also afraid of the consequences if news of the baying mob outside reached Rome. Pilate was not a nice man at all though, and his political skills seemed to be non-existent. On several occasions history records events when he unnecessarily provoked the Jews.

But Jesus made an interesting comment about sin. He implied that some sins were worse than others, when He said, “the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin“. But, don’t we understand that all sin is sin, with equal weight before God? Paul obviously thought so, when he wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). God demands absolute holiness and the only way that can be achieved is through Jesus. I always think of God’s perfect standard as being the pass mark in an exam set at 100%. Analysing how sinful someone’s life is might come up with a score depending on how many sins they have committed, the severity of each, and how good they are. So a murderous despotic leader of a country might score 0%. Some politicians might only get to 15%. A minister in the church might be holier and come up with a mark of 40%. A really saintly person might even achieve 60%. I shudder to think where my mark would be. But the important thing about this analogy is that all those who take the exam have failed because they have a mark less than 100%. The Pharisees thought they had achieved 100% through the adherence to the Law and all the rules and regulations that had been bolted on. But in Acts 13:38-39 we read what Paul said during a sermon in Antioch  of Pisidia. “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do”. 

But Jesus still implied that there was a “greater sin”. The person responsible for bringing Jesus before Pilate was the High Priest, Caiaphas. In the end, he was the one who handed Jesus over to Pilate, and one day he will stand before the One he condemned. Caiaphas had the power to send Jesus to the cross, even though it had to be through a Roman governor, but in our moral universe, one day he will be brought to account. But there is only one punishment for sin, as we all know. Sin is sin. 

Thankfully, we pilgrims are blood-bought, forgiven, children of God. We stay close to the cross, believing in Jesus and keeping a clean slate before Father God. And the wonderful thing is that Jesus is interceding for us continually. Our message to the dying world around us, populated with people who have failed the exam, is our testimony of God’s love and grace. 

Dear God. Thank You for Jesus and His sacrifice at Calvary. We worship You today. Amen.