wanting to satisfy the crowd, pilate released barabbas to them. he had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified. mark 15:15
mr. stott makes clear in today's reading the dilemma that pontius pilate faced--"he wanted to release Jesus", being fully convinced of Jesus's innocence; yet pilate also "wanted to satisfy the crowd", being equally determined to preserve his own reputation.
pontius pilate is one of those unfortunate characters in the bible who gets blamed for doing the exact same thing that we are all guilty of.
christians are "fully convinced" of Jesus's identity--His deity, His authority, His lordship--and we know everything we owe Him in terms of our obedience, our allegiance, our loyalty.
yet we also "want to satisfy the crowd", "being fully determined on perserving our own reputations."
we try, just like pilate did, to "have it both ways", by "avoiding a clear decision". but as mr. stott points out, it all comes down to "choosing between 2 kings".
we don't stand for our faith which we know to be true; by our silence, we express our allegiance to the "other" king.
as despicable as pilate is, i feel more affinity with him than i like to admit.
Friday, March 14, 2008
doing the wrong thing when you know it's wrong
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4 comments:
Eeks...me too. Another one of those occasions where I find myself wagging my finger at the individual only to realize that these stories are more of a reflection of my own hearts.
When I read today's reflection, I was thinking...."at least, he did claim that Jesus was innocent. At least, He said he was innocent of Jesus's blood. at least... at least.." I found myself feeling sympathy for him. and from your post, I was reminded how sinful and "wicked" we become, thinking that there's different degrees of sin according to our views. Sin is a sin.
Dulla, I too can relate to Pilate in that in my own life I've always cherrished my independence and my so called freedom. However, I realized today how freewill can lead to the downfall of man. I can see in my own life how the freedom to choose for myself often gives sin free reign over my life. And what is sin but anything and everything that is not according to God's will. Therefore, while submitting oneself under God seems so against the idea of what freedom should be, it really is the only way to be set free from sin, from death, from eternal condemnation. I guess the truth is that without God, we are never just free but under the bondage, the reign of sin. And, it is only through active submission under Jesus Christ we can truly live for Christ said:"...I have come that they may have life, and life to the full(Jhn 10:10).
Pilate was a man with not only the freedom to choose for himself but also the power to execute his choice, his decisions over others. However, as Stott points out, Pilate made the wrong choice. Is it not ironic that it was Pilate that was the one in bondage and that Christ is the King who could have set him free?
I am challenged to remember that I am not just free to live my life the way I want. I still have to fight the good fight and have yet to finish the race. And, I know I cannot keep the faith without without Christ's reign over my life.
I’m thinking higher position you are bigger responsibility and blames you get. That is stinks! I guess you also have positive side of being a ruler of the town. But in this case Pilate had to satisfy the crowd. We often deal with situation whether to satisfy our friends or the Lord, and even ourselves. But most of times, I’m thinking the Lord comes to very last. Just like Pilate.
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