And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no guilt in this man."
Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him." {Verses 3-4 & 13-15}
Jesus was the King of the Jews. He was innocent of all the charges laid against him. He knew it, his followers knew it, Pilate and Herod knew it. Could I be so bold to say the religious leaders- the ones who wanted him killed- most of them knew it too. Their pride is what killed Jesus. They didn't want to lose the control they had over the people who saw them as being so important. What good would they have been if the Messiah they had always talked about had actually come? People would just want Jesus then, not the chief priests.
Jesus was innocent. Then why did God let him die an undeserving death? Why didn't he prove to the people he was who he said he was? Why didn't he take himself off the cross or have a multitude of angels come and carry him away? That's what our sinful human beings would want him to do, and Jesus wasn't going to submit to that. He was submitted to his Father and his Father's plan and purpose for Jesus on earth was to die an undeserving death to save his people from an eternal death. Jesus knew it all along. If you remember throughout the gospels, Jesus tells his disciples, "I'm going to go away..." "The Son of Man must suffer many things...be killed, and on the third day be raised..." Jesus knew, and he didn't avoid it, but obeyed his Father. YES Jesus could have taken himself off the cross, YES Jesus could have proved to everyone he was in fact the Son of God by gathering angels to come to his side. But he didn't, and there was a purpose for it- a great purpose. You and I wouldn't have the opportunity to be saved from hell if he didn't die.
God's wrath on people in the Old Testament was shown all over, when people sinned against Him. In Genesis we see that God made a way for humans to be cleansed of their sin by an animal sacrifice- most commonly, a lamb. Throughout the Old Testament, it is said that a New Lamb would come that would take away the sin of the world. Jesus was that Lamb. Once and for all, all sin would be paid for. The wrath of God would be satisfied in one sacrifice- Jesus. In a moment, all the sin of every human being- past, present and future laid on the heart of Jesus. Everything you and I have done, he was found guilty for. On a tiny scale, think of a friend choosing to stand before a judge and tell him they are guilty for something you did, something that was punishable by death. Jesus did the same thing, before the Greatest Judge, and he did it out of love. He did it so that we might have life. Life in him. Without his death and resurrection, we would all be sent to hell for our sin, but in making him Lord of your life, even in our sin, he sees us as blameless, because he already paid the penalty for it. Jesus gives all people an opportunity to accept what he did on the cross. There are some that deny it, just like the religious leaders- and maybe for the same reason- pride. You don't want to give up that control. You think maybe calling yourself a Christian, you might get mocked. You think that following Jesus is just a bunch of rules that make life not fun. Well let me tell you three things: 1) Jesus is in control whether you submit to Him or not. 2) You will get mocked, Jesus did, and for His name's sake, so will we and 3) Being a Christian isn't full of rules, but full of freedom.
Jesus is in control- whether you submit to the King or not is your choice however. Think of it like an earthly king, or president. They are the king or president whether you like it or not, but life will go much better for you if you choose to serve him rather than go against him. When I say "much better" I don't mean easier- being a Christian is not easy, at all. It's hard as a human to give up control daily. As a human we want control, we want to understand everything, we want to know what the future holds. It can be aggravating at times to not know these things. But God made us human, he made us to rely on him, he desires for us to rely on Him, because He is God, and He will take care of us. Maybe not in the way we want- accumulating earthly possessions, building fame and success, becoming the "American Dream"... But God's plan is much better than ours, and that's how, even in the hard times of our daily submission, Christians find joy in surrendering to the King. Since Christians show a godly weakness in submitting to God, the ones who reject God seem to also reject them. I understand no one wants to be mocked. Even Jesus didn't! But I would rather be rejected by men than by God. Will I forfeit my soul in order to please people here? Absolutely not. On a day to day basis, it's sometimes hard, even for a believer to choose mockery over claiming to love Jesus. That is why I believe sometimes Christians aren't always the best examples. In the moment, we take people's approval and acceptance over God's- that's why we laugh at the crude joke, do something we know might be wrong, gossip about someone etc. We are human, and we do make mistakes. Unfortunately, because we call ourselves "new creations in Christ" people think that means we don't make mistakes. Well, we do- and although it doesn't make it right, and although it doesn't show the right character of Jesus, we still sin. That's the great part of knowing and serving Jesus. All we do wrong won't be held against us when we stand before God. He will see us as holy, blameless, pure, innocent and open the gates to His Kingdom. People (Christians too) are not the same- they will point out all your human flaws and make sure you feel bad for something you did wrong. Jesus did not say, "Follow me, and life will be easy and you will never be made fun of or have it tough." In fact Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world."
The Bible is full of do this and don't do that... so it seems to the unbeliever who loves control. If you are an unbeliever reading this, I may have just peeved you. But trust me when I say, as Christians we want control too- that's why we can be so stubborn at times when God is trying to change us- we want to do it on our own! You aren't the only ones who like to be in control. But your control as an unbeliever, doesn't like the Bible often because of all the "rules" that seem to overwhelm it. Do you like playing games? If you don't play by the rules, it's not fair. In fact, if you don't read the rules first, you might not even know how to play the game! Don't like games? How about cars? If you just decided to build an engine one day without instruction, would you get very far unless you were well educated? Those manuals even have pictures! The Bible is God's manual for teaching us about Him and for giving us instruction in life on earth. Yes it does have some do this and don't do this- but not to make life not fun, but to make it freeing. Sin is fun- there's no doubt, that's why people do it. If it wasn't fun, no one would want to do it, right? But sin is also crippling, consuming, enslaving, hurtful. I could name a few like getting drunk, watchin' porn, having sex before marriage, lying, adultery, murdering- but those, I think to an unbeliever are even obvious as to why they can be hurtful, consuming, enslaving and crippling to the human life. If you want me to explain those further, email me. How about though selfishness, pride, envy, lust? Those go much deeper into the core of a person. When we examine our own heart honestly, we have these things in us. We do things for our own gain, we think of ourselves more highly that we ought to, we covet other people's things and work hard the rest of our lives to attain them, when once we get them, we aren't satisfied. We lust after models, celebrities, our coworkers, our neighbors. This is our human nature- we are sinful. The do this and do that's of Scripture help us surrender these sinful traits to the only One who can change them. For me selfishness has always been-unfortunately, a large thorn in my character. It has been a process over years to surrender it daily to Jesus and let Him transform me, but if you talk to people close to me, you would know that it is only by the power of Jesus that I am showing selfless attributes at all. God's Word is our daily bread, it feeds the hunger in our hearts, it is God's voice to us when we are seeking Him, it is our "manual" of life. The reason we as believers don't see it as a list of rules or a list of to do's and not to do's is because we have chosen to live under God's reign and not our own. That wouldn't be possible if Jesus hadn't died, and as we see tomorrow, Jesus raises from the dead. It's only by Him that we can be transformed, changed, renewed. It's only by Him that we don't have to be crippled, consumed, enslaved and hurt by sin. We can be free of it. That's why following Jesus is full of freedom. It's like being a prisoner for years behind chains of addictions, selfishness, enslaving flaws, consuming behaviors... and being set free. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And it's only by believing in Him that you can have freedom and eternal life.
~Leanne~
Jesus was innocent. Then why did God let him die an undeserving death? Why didn't he prove to the people he was who he said he was? Why didn't he take himself off the cross or have a multitude of angels come and carry him away? That's what our sinful human beings would want him to do, and Jesus wasn't going to submit to that. He was submitted to his Father and his Father's plan and purpose for Jesus on earth was to die an undeserving death to save his people from an eternal death. Jesus knew it all along. If you remember throughout the gospels, Jesus tells his disciples, "I'm going to go away..." "The Son of Man must suffer many things...be killed, and on the third day be raised..." Jesus knew, and he didn't avoid it, but obeyed his Father. YES Jesus could have taken himself off the cross, YES Jesus could have proved to everyone he was in fact the Son of God by gathering angels to come to his side. But he didn't, and there was a purpose for it- a great purpose. You and I wouldn't have the opportunity to be saved from hell if he didn't die.
God's wrath on people in the Old Testament was shown all over, when people sinned against Him. In Genesis we see that God made a way for humans to be cleansed of their sin by an animal sacrifice- most commonly, a lamb. Throughout the Old Testament, it is said that a New Lamb would come that would take away the sin of the world. Jesus was that Lamb. Once and for all, all sin would be paid for. The wrath of God would be satisfied in one sacrifice- Jesus. In a moment, all the sin of every human being- past, present and future laid on the heart of Jesus. Everything you and I have done, he was found guilty for. On a tiny scale, think of a friend choosing to stand before a judge and tell him they are guilty for something you did, something that was punishable by death. Jesus did the same thing, before the Greatest Judge, and he did it out of love. He did it so that we might have life. Life in him. Without his death and resurrection, we would all be sent to hell for our sin, but in making him Lord of your life, even in our sin, he sees us as blameless, because he already paid the penalty for it. Jesus gives all people an opportunity to accept what he did on the cross. There are some that deny it, just like the religious leaders- and maybe for the same reason- pride. You don't want to give up that control. You think maybe calling yourself a Christian, you might get mocked. You think that following Jesus is just a bunch of rules that make life not fun. Well let me tell you three things: 1) Jesus is in control whether you submit to Him or not. 2) You will get mocked, Jesus did, and for His name's sake, so will we and 3) Being a Christian isn't full of rules, but full of freedom.
Jesus is in control- whether you submit to the King or not is your choice however. Think of it like an earthly king, or president. They are the king or president whether you like it or not, but life will go much better for you if you choose to serve him rather than go against him. When I say "much better" I don't mean easier- being a Christian is not easy, at all. It's hard as a human to give up control daily. As a human we want control, we want to understand everything, we want to know what the future holds. It can be aggravating at times to not know these things. But God made us human, he made us to rely on him, he desires for us to rely on Him, because He is God, and He will take care of us. Maybe not in the way we want- accumulating earthly possessions, building fame and success, becoming the "American Dream"... But God's plan is much better than ours, and that's how, even in the hard times of our daily submission, Christians find joy in surrendering to the King. Since Christians show a godly weakness in submitting to God, the ones who reject God seem to also reject them. I understand no one wants to be mocked. Even Jesus didn't! But I would rather be rejected by men than by God. Will I forfeit my soul in order to please people here? Absolutely not. On a day to day basis, it's sometimes hard, even for a believer to choose mockery over claiming to love Jesus. That is why I believe sometimes Christians aren't always the best examples. In the moment, we take people's approval and acceptance over God's- that's why we laugh at the crude joke, do something we know might be wrong, gossip about someone etc. We are human, and we do make mistakes. Unfortunately, because we call ourselves "new creations in Christ" people think that means we don't make mistakes. Well, we do- and although it doesn't make it right, and although it doesn't show the right character of Jesus, we still sin. That's the great part of knowing and serving Jesus. All we do wrong won't be held against us when we stand before God. He will see us as holy, blameless, pure, innocent and open the gates to His Kingdom. People (Christians too) are not the same- they will point out all your human flaws and make sure you feel bad for something you did wrong. Jesus did not say, "Follow me, and life will be easy and you will never be made fun of or have it tough." In fact Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world."
The Bible is full of do this and don't do that... so it seems to the unbeliever who loves control. If you are an unbeliever reading this, I may have just peeved you. But trust me when I say, as Christians we want control too- that's why we can be so stubborn at times when God is trying to change us- we want to do it on our own! You aren't the only ones who like to be in control. But your control as an unbeliever, doesn't like the Bible often because of all the "rules" that seem to overwhelm it. Do you like playing games? If you don't play by the rules, it's not fair. In fact, if you don't read the rules first, you might not even know how to play the game! Don't like games? How about cars? If you just decided to build an engine one day without instruction, would you get very far unless you were well educated? Those manuals even have pictures! The Bible is God's manual for teaching us about Him and for giving us instruction in life on earth. Yes it does have some do this and don't do this- but not to make life not fun, but to make it freeing. Sin is fun- there's no doubt, that's why people do it. If it wasn't fun, no one would want to do it, right? But sin is also crippling, consuming, enslaving, hurtful. I could name a few like getting drunk, watchin' porn, having sex before marriage, lying, adultery, murdering- but those, I think to an unbeliever are even obvious as to why they can be hurtful, consuming, enslaving and crippling to the human life. If you want me to explain those further, email me. How about though selfishness, pride, envy, lust? Those go much deeper into the core of a person. When we examine our own heart honestly, we have these things in us. We do things for our own gain, we think of ourselves more highly that we ought to, we covet other people's things and work hard the rest of our lives to attain them, when once we get them, we aren't satisfied. We lust after models, celebrities, our coworkers, our neighbors. This is our human nature- we are sinful. The do this and do that's of Scripture help us surrender these sinful traits to the only One who can change them. For me selfishness has always been-unfortunately, a large thorn in my character. It has been a process over years to surrender it daily to Jesus and let Him transform me, but if you talk to people close to me, you would know that it is only by the power of Jesus that I am showing selfless attributes at all. God's Word is our daily bread, it feeds the hunger in our hearts, it is God's voice to us when we are seeking Him, it is our "manual" of life. The reason we as believers don't see it as a list of rules or a list of to do's and not to do's is because we have chosen to live under God's reign and not our own. That wouldn't be possible if Jesus hadn't died, and as we see tomorrow, Jesus raises from the dead. It's only by Him that we can be transformed, changed, renewed. It's only by Him that we don't have to be crippled, consumed, enslaved and hurt by sin. We can be free of it. That's why following Jesus is full of freedom. It's like being a prisoner for years behind chains of addictions, selfishness, enslaving flaws, consuming behaviors... and being set free. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And it's only by believing in Him that you can have freedom and eternal life.
~Leanne~
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