L,M,C)br...
Illustration
(L,M,C)
Anyone of us here could have done it, I think. We could have counseled Jesus, been his
lawyer, answered for him before Pilate, and saved him the agony of the coming cross.
A few words of explanation is all it would take: "What Jesus means, Pilate, is that you can rule in this world. All he wants to do is rule in the next." Or, "Don't jump to conclusions, Pilate. Jesus doesn't want your throne. He just wants to teach and preach and heal the sick."
Jesus will have none of it that way. He answers for himself: "You say that I am a king. Yes, I am. You are right, Pilate. Make no mistake about it. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world."
Jesus convicts himself. He will not explain away or temper his stand. The truth is the truth, and he is king. Pilate was trapped. The emperor in Rome was very fussy about little things like other kings. Pilate knew he would be tried for disloyalty or treason if Jesus were freed.
Don't you feel just a bit sorry for Pilate? Don't you see yourself in him? I do. That's why he's in the creed! He makes the whole story believable. He makes it true. He's the one who put it into the history books. He's the one who makes God an event in our history and not just a dream, or a hope, or an idea. It really happened. Two kingships were at stake -- one of the world and one not from the world. Only one of them remains to this day.
Of all the persons in the Bible who could not escape, Pilate leads the list. But one thing he did remains for all time. He wrote a single phrase and would not change it. He had it made into a sign and they placed it over the cross. It read at last: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."
-- Bansemer
Anyone of us here could have done it, I think. We could have counseled Jesus, been his
lawyer, answered for him before Pilate, and saved him the agony of the coming cross.
A few words of explanation is all it would take: "What Jesus means, Pilate, is that you can rule in this world. All he wants to do is rule in the next." Or, "Don't jump to conclusions, Pilate. Jesus doesn't want your throne. He just wants to teach and preach and heal the sick."
Jesus will have none of it that way. He answers for himself: "You say that I am a king. Yes, I am. You are right, Pilate. Make no mistake about it. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world."
Jesus convicts himself. He will not explain away or temper his stand. The truth is the truth, and he is king. Pilate was trapped. The emperor in Rome was very fussy about little things like other kings. Pilate knew he would be tried for disloyalty or treason if Jesus were freed.
Don't you feel just a bit sorry for Pilate? Don't you see yourself in him? I do. That's why he's in the creed! He makes the whole story believable. He makes it true. He's the one who put it into the history books. He's the one who makes God an event in our history and not just a dream, or a hope, or an idea. It really happened. Two kingships were at stake -- one of the world and one not from the world. Only one of them remains to this day.
Of all the persons in the Bible who could not escape, Pilate leads the list. But one thing he did remains for all time. He wrote a single phrase and would not change it. He had it made into a sign and they placed it over the cross. It read at last: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."
-- Bansemer
