4 x 6 Plan | Read: John 19:1-16 & 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. (John 19:7-8)
Devotional from Into Thy Word:
It seems that Pontius Pilate was trapped among his paranoia, political future, and conviction to do the right thing. Yet, not only did he not find guilt in Jesus, but he actually wanted Him released. He may even have been captivated to a degree, but not enough to turn from his ways; a little conviction was happening, just not enough to do the right thing. So, out of frustration or to please the religious leaders so Jesus would not be killed, he had Jesus heinously whipped and beaten. The soldiers took it too far and went overboard in their cruelty, beating Him, mocking Him, and giving us the iconic image of the True Suffering Servant who came to love, redeem, and set us free. Ironically, He came to set free the very ones who beat and mocked Him with fists that Jesus Himself created and who wanted to undeservingly give them the grace of redemption. Then, to add insult to injury, Pilate makes the proclamation, behold your king; but, what he did not know was that Jesus was The KING of kings, and Pilate was conducting the universe’s greatest act of evil for the greatest good of all. Jesus was publicly displayed and humiliated and the evil religious leaders and wayward crowd called for His crucifixion. And yet, Pilate still did not want to kill Him, so the leaders manipulated him to stoop to their will. Pilate was shaken that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God; somehow and someway, Pilate knew this to be true, yet still would not let Jesus go. Jesus stood stoic and humble with extreme strength under His control and made that known to Pilate, yet, still he would not do the right thing. So, he put Jesus through another mock trial of humiliation and ridicule to see if that would please the leaders; it did not. All they wanted was blood lust-Jesus crucified! Pilate complied and handed Jesus over to death.
Action Steps
Bible: What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.
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