"Are you the 'King of the Jews'? (18:33)But it's Pilate's last question that intrigues me:
"What did you do?" (18:35)
"So, are you a king or not?" (18:37)
"What is truth?" (18:38)Pilate had just heard Jesus tell him, "Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice." (18:37) Yet Pilate didn't bother to wait for a reply. He didn't wait for the Creator of the universe to answer the provocative and important question before he went back out to the Jews and told them, "I find nothing wrong with this man." (18:39) Obviously, he didn't care what Jesus had to say about truth; Pilate appeared to have his mind made up before Jesus even opened his mouth.
However, if Pilate had paused before Jesus, he might have heard:
Anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. (3:31)
[T]he truth will free you (8:32)
"I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life." (14:6)
[My] word is consecrating truth (17:17)
[My] words all add up to the sum total: Truth. (Psalm 119:160)This weekend I've been mulling over my natural tendency to be like Pilate. I talk a lot to Jesus, ask a few questions, but I often don't wait for His answers. I go along my merry way, assuming that I know what Jesus requires of me, what He desires for me.
Instead, I need to take to heart the Truth that Jesus is, the truth that Jesus reveals, not running ahead of my Lord.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! (Proverbs 3:5-7)
2 comments:
Wow, can I relate to that! Thank you for sharing, Cici. I hadn't thought about it, but you're exactly right. When I finally give up, and come to Him broken, then He moves mountains for me effortlessly, mountains I was straining and stressing to move with such futile efforts. They were never my mountains to move in the first place. I am completely incapable of moving a mountain on my own. But God... He's the mountain-maker! The ultimate mountain-mover!
Thank you Jesus for making me totally dependent on you. Ugly things happen when I try to be in control.
Several small details stood out to me in this passage this time around.
First, the following verse:
When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
I find that amazing, almost humorous, that the men coming to arrest Jesus fall to the ground in fear, recognizing there is something about Him that commands our worship,, even though they don't really get who He is.
The second verse that stood out was the following:
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.
Funny that the Jews are SO focused on following the Law to the tee, making sure to avoid ceremonial uncleanness, when they are missing the very Person who can make them clean for eternity. Oh, how blind we can be!
And finally:
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." (John 18:6, 28, 36 NIV)
How often do I forget that Christs kingdom is not of this world, yet how often do I strive to make it be so. Ministry goals, my own demands, my own rights and expectations. How Christ should meet MY needs and make me happy NOW. Oh Lord, help me to recognize your kingdom is not of this world and long for it to come, being willing to live in the tension of today as we await Your complete reign on earth.
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