Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

John 19:7

“We have a law.”  How could it be?  The Jews believed that the Messiah would come someday.  They all agreed on that.  But, according to their interpretation, when the real messiah comes he will not claim to be God’s Son.  Jesus claimed he was that Son.  At least that is the way I see it.

Believing that, the rulers of the Jews declared that Jesus is an imposter.

I have been thinking about the phrase, “We have a law.”  I see nothing in Scriptures to back that belief.  They believed that the Messiah will come.  Behold, when he did come, they determined to kill him.  Their self-made law refused to believe that Jesus is who he said he is.

We keep making laws to prove that Jesus is wrong.  I am not sure what the Jews had against Jesus.  Obviously, they believed that it is against their law to believe that Jesus could be the promised Messiah.   God did not make that law for them, they made the law themselves.  They are right in saying that we have a law.  They did not say, “God gave us the law that forbids that we should believe that the Messiah is Jesus.”  No, they made the law themselves.

I wonder if my beliefs are influenced by what I prefer to believe instead of believing what God has revealed.

 “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

John 19: 9

Pilate speaking.  He was in great distress.  His conscience pulled him toward Jesus, his political position pulled him to join the Jewish leaders to do away with Jesus.  In the end, he made it clear that he saw no fault in Jesus that would have justified crucifixion, but he would not stand in their way if they wanted to kill Jesus.

And so it was.  Pilate walked away from truth, swayed by the fear that the Jews would turn against him if he insisted on what he believed, that Jesus is who he says he is.  Poor Pilate.  He represents the choice many will make then and, in the future, concerning this Jesus Christ.  Do I believe what Jesus said about who he is or do I deny it?  This is life’s central question, through the ages and in all cultures.

I think it all comes down to Pilate’s question to Jesus, “Where do you come from?”  In other words, who is Jesus?  Not necessarily what he can do, nor whether he is a good person, but where do you come from?  If he is who he claims he is, he is God’s son among us, fully God and fully human.   Who is he to me, to you?

Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”  When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”  The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”  When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

John 19:4 – 9

The scene is full of contradictions.  Here we see Pilate, the Roman ruler insisting that Jesus has broken no law so was being unlawfully treated, terribly so.  The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus killed.  Is this true?  The Romans wanted him freed, the Jews wanted him killed?  This sounds backwards – Pilate, the Roman ruler, saw no fault in Jesus and hoped to have him set free.  Beside him were the leaders of the Jews who hated Jesus and wanted him killed!  Jesus was a Jew!   They disowned their own.

I see this scene played out, even today.  The “religious people” line up behind what they want to be true, whether it is or not!  Now and again the secular society sees things more clearly than they.

The Jews had their laws, religious ones. They told Pilate that their religious law is above the Roman law.  The Romans must follow the Jewish law!  Pilate was in the center of it all.

Pilate backed off and let the Jews do the judging, which they did heartlessly.  Pilate saw no reason for Jesus’ death.  The Jewish rulers did, according to their own law.  Jesus must die!  Pilate’s hand was tied.  He allowed the Jews to do with Jesus what they wanted, death on a cross.  The Romans would not commit a person to death without a trial.  All that was waived as Jesus fell into the hands of horror, those of his own fellow Israelites.

I auppose you could call me a fustrated gardner, but I do not feel that way.  The wee plot beside the shed is a thing of delight for me, so satisfying.  Tomatoes, lettuce and nice flowers never looked pretier.  I see the design is like a heart, sort of.  It is a delightful place to watch the power and beauty and reality of nature.  All in our back yard.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

John 19:1 – 3

The Jews had no doubt, Jesus is a fraud and must be killed.  The Roman ruler of Palestine, Pilate, insisted that he saw no fault in Jesus.  So, there we are.  Pilate, for political purposes, had Jesus flogged, a most terrible punishment for a crime he never committed, a fact that Pilate knew. Yet, he went along with the Jewish leaders and had Jesus punished as a common Jewish criminal!  Poor Pilate.

The Roman soldiers had not one ounce of sympathy for Jesus.  They were not involved in the dispute between the Jewish rulers and Jesus, nor was Pilate.  The soldiers in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus agreed with the Jewish authorities, Jesus must die!  On what basis?  That they were told that Jesus was a common usurper who claimed that he was the ruler, not the Romans.  For this he must die.  These Roman soldiers, occupying Palestine, had no idea who Jesus is but the reason he is being killed is because they were told he wanted to be the King of Israel.  They would have none of that.

Jesus had no army.  He was absolutely powerless politically.   So, the Romans and the Jews agreed that he was out of place and must be killed.

Our minds reel and our spirits are distraught at what is happening.  It is one of the most distressing scenes in the Bible.

They slapped Jesus in the face. They hated him. Is this not the dominant theme of life, to this very day?

Can you believe that we have more than a hundred of these yellow throated frogs?  What will happen to them, I have no idea.  The herons will be here later this year but I do believe they prefer the gold fish.

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 18:36

I read Jesus’ words again, and again.  I begin to understand, and do to some degree, but push on to try to grasp how these words of Jesus, his self-disclosure, influences me.

I agree that Jesus’ kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world.  It is strikingly different.  He explains it by the truth that his Kingdom is from another place.  I try to grasp the meaning of what is “another place?”  What he was enduring at the time, torture in the hands of both Jews and Romans, casts a revealing light on his suffering.  He was being judged and tortured by the laws of “another place.”   His place is the Kingdom of God.

Nothing in the world view of his persecutors reflected his kingdom one bit, they did not reflect on who Jesus is and what he is doing.

Jesus came announcing the new kingdom that he came to establish.  It resembles neither the kingdom of the Jews or the Romans.  It is the kingdom that is not built on nationhood.  No, it is from another place. That other place is where God reigns in love and mercy, the place in which Jesus is standing.

I live in this world, but I stand, primarily, in the Kingdom of God.  Lord Jesus, help me to understand and obey what that means, now.  Above all, give me roots that are firmly established in the Kingdom of God.  Give me that wisdom from above to plant my roots in that which is eternal.