We finished last time with the pronouncement of Pilate's verdict concerning the accusations made against our Lord..."I find no fault in him!" Luke, in his Gospel account, 23.20-23, has recorded that..."Pilate addressed (the Jews) once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, 'Crucify, crucify him!' A third time he said to them, 'Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.' But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted."
Pilate had been determined, but the Father had determined from eternity past, that the Son was to die...the sinless Lamb of God...not for His own sins, but for Adam's, and for mine and your's. And Pilate was powerless to either prevent, or pervert the eternal justice of the Great Almighty God!
We have referred-to Peter's commentary by Holy Spirit cumpulsion, in Acts 2.23 and 4.27-28, that these fateful events had been preordained by the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God". Jesus was to die for the sinners' sins...and the truth is, that The Truth is! So we read in John 19.1, that "Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him." And then in verses 2-3 we have recorded for us, the state of the very heart of sinful man, taking their sin one small step further at a time, toward their own eternal destiny.
The prophet Jeremiah has described the dark state of the Christless heart, in chapt. 17.9, that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desparately wicked...". The apostle Paul has also recorded in his letter to the Romans, chapt. 8.7 that, "the carnal mind is enmity against God...". It's as though the Father had already forsaken the Son, in order that their Heavenly contract be fulfilled, and God's word is immutable, never to be forsaken!
These were to be Satan's finest hours...the fulfillment of the prophecy made back in Genesis 3, that he would bruise the very heel of the Son of Man! And sin had certainly entered-in...lawlessness, transgression, iniquity, rebellion, offence, defilement and disobedience ruling the heart of man for all this time, and now, the Lamb had to be slain. And as a part of the process, He had to be scourged and mocked and tormented...the sinless Lamb of God, treated like the criminal He wasn't! But He did-so by choice, out of obedience, because the Father had placed the unbearable weight of our sin on His very shoulder...and there was no other choice. Shame on the serpent, and shame on Adam, and shame on me!
So we read in vs. 4, that "...Pilate went forth...". You see, He knew the truth, even though he had just questioned the nature of it, and..."...could find no fault in him". He had fulfilled his responsibility to Rome, so far as he was concerned, and he had no problem telling those religionists so.
So we read in 19.5,6 that Jesus was sent out, wearing the purple robe and the crown of thorns, with the judgment of Pilate in sharp contrast to the time and place and circumstances of the birth of our Lord, now echoing across the paving stones..."Behold the man!" Indeed. "See his suffering and his pain and his defilement and his shame...enough already! Out of all the criminals in Jerusalem, you bring the innocent before me!"
And again, the Jews, unimpressed by the objective wisdom of a Gentile, echoed back..."No...crucify, crucify!" By now, their frenzy could be satisfied by nothing less, and their thirst for blood, unquenchable, yet it would be Pilate who would, in the end, wash his hands! The Jews, by now, were focussing only with hatred upon their nemesis, but do you know what Jesus' final words would be? "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!"
So Pilate replied with anger of his own, I'm sure..."Take him then, and crucify him yourselves, for I find no fault in him." And the Jews, excusing their ignorance of the very things of God, replied..."We have a law...". And we're told that at that point, Pilate began to experience a holy fear...the fear of a cornered animal...the fear of God. If at the first he was doubtful, now he was terrified at the prospect of an illicit execution.
You know, Pilate had seen many malefactors in His day...not only treasonists, as Jesus was accused of, but the very dregs of Roman society...the innocent along with the guilty, but nothing to compare with this. It almost seems, that if he had taken the time, he might very well have become a disciple of Jesus. His wife certainly believed in His innocence, and we're told that she had tried to convince her husband not to have anything more to do with the whole affair. I can't begin to imagine the state of his mind as he pondered, like King Agrippa with the apostle Paul, in Acts 26..."Almost, thou persuadest me to be a Christian!"
What a position in which to find yourself...almost persuaded! Instead, as recorded in vs. 9 we read..."From whence are you? Just who are you, anyway?" Pilate had been back and forth from the Jews to the Saviour a number of times by now, and this is at least, his sixth question of Jesus (see 18.33,35,37-39). And his last question, asked of the Jews to end this whole ordeal, "Shall I crucify your king?!" And we're told in vs. 16 that he then delivered Him to them. But back to the question at hand.
"From whence art thou?" Tell me anything you can that might enable me to spare your life. If you really are the Son of God, then tell me so; anything that might allow me to spare your life. But Jesus, like the Lamb He is, gave him the soft reply..."You would have no authority over Me, if it had not been given you by the Father...". He was not simply resigned to His fate...He was resolved; and He could be relied upon, and He was ready, and He remembered the purpose of His mission, and He would not repent of His commitment to the task, regardless of the terror which awaited Him.
There was no place left to go, and they both knew it. Pilate had joined a pretty elite group that day...Pharoah, King Saul, King Ahab, Nebuchadnezzar...a whole string of pawns in the hand of God, for His own eternal purposes. As we read in vs.11, Jesus knew full well Who holds the power. And you know what? It's only by the mercy and grace of the Father that any one of us amounts to any more than a grease spot on eternity. But even if I am no more than a grease spot, let it be known that I'm a grease spot for the spotless Son of God...the Lord be praised!
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