Trial Before Pilate – Part 1
Matthew 27:11-14, NIV - Meanwhile Jesus stood
before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the
Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders,
he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked
him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single
charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
Silence. The chief priests make their charges
concerning Jesus before Pilate and Jesus’s response is silence. Before this moment, Jesus has always had the
perfect response. He would return their questions
with a vexing question on His own. He
would tell a parable that would make them look silly. Jesus always knew the perfect way to return
the advances of His enemies. But now,
with His life in the balance, silence.
This response, too, is
perfect. Trials are always all about guilt
or innocence. There are arguments
concerning the charges. Are the charges legitimate? Can they be substantiated by facts? Trials are usually much more contentious than
this one. But Matthew makes it clear
that this trial is not about any of that.
This is about Jesus voluntarily giving His life away. Surely, He could have said something that
would have prompted Pilate to release him.
But His mission was to give His life, and so for that, words were not
necessary. Matthew wants us to see what
he saw that day. . . God in the flesh refusing to defend Himself and
voluntarily submitting to be executed.
Why would God do that? If you’re expecting a nice and neat
couple-sentence answer in this short devotional, I’m afraid you will be as disappointed
as Pilate was in the face of Jesus’s silence.
Millions of pages of writing have been devoted to that question since
Jesus stood before Pilate and I suspect that many more will be written before
Jesus returns. While I have greatly
benefited from reading several thousand of those pages devoted to this
question, I still have no easy answer.
Why would God submit to be killed by those created by God?
I don’t think the answer is
supposed to be easy. I’m not even sure
having an answer to that question is as important as continuing to ask the
question. No other religion on earth
claims that God would do such a thing, so it’s only Christians that even ask
this question in earnest. In a very real
way, asking this question is what makes us Christian.
For me, continuing to ask this
question has brought me closer to the heart of God. I have encountered and internalized many
beautiful answers, but all of them put together don’t seem to put the question
to rest. There is still more to
know. So I keep asking the question with
an open heart. I’m sure I will continue
to ask it for the remainder of my days. I
feel quite sure that even on my last day, there will be more to know. Praise be to the God who agreed to die for
those God created.
Question: Why would
God willingly submit to death at the hands of human beings?
Prayer: God, we see Your
love for us in Jesus’s death. We see our
salvation in Jesus’s death. We see Your heart
and character in Jesus’s death. But we see even more than all of that is
Jesus’s death that defies answers or words.
We continue to seek You in Jesus’s death. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for God to bless people you know who
practice other faiths.
Song: Praise the Lord – Crowder
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