30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 23 01-05 THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM 03 Luke 23 02-05 The Lord’s love for each person
📖 Luke 23:1-5
Tue09Nov2021 – The Lord’s love for each person - Luke 23:01-05 - THE KING OF THE JEWS (03) - Bible reading: Matthew 27:11-14
We live our lives entirely in Jesus. We live and move and have our being in Christ. The lesson that we need to constantly learn, is the lesson of trust so that we will be always cast upon the Lord.
Luke 23:2-5 And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King." (3) Then Pilate asked Him, saying, " Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered him and said, "It is as you say ." (4) So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man." (5) But they were the more fierce, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place."
The Jews took Jesus to Pilate and they were accusing Jesus before Pilate. The Jews were keen that Pilate should give the death sentence and death by crucifixion, as quickly as possible.
Why were they desperate?
Remember, the Jews did not want the crowds that favoured Christ, to turn up and cause an obstruction to their plan, before Pilate. They had a selected crowd with them, who would do their bidding. They wanted Pilate to get the impression that Jesus was alone and that the entire Jewish populace was against Jesus.
They assumed that Pilate would have had Jesus crucified, quickly.
Unfortunately, for the Jews, things were not moving the way they wanted. Things were getting out of their hand and Pilate was not speedily decreeing the death of Jesus on the cross. This delay was making the Jews angry.
The impression that the Jews wanted to lay heavily, on the mind of Pilate was that a revolt was about to happen. It was Jesus, who was stirring up the public throughout Judea and Galilee against Caesar. If Pilate would not nip this rebellion in its bud, then, he, Pilate, would have a serious problem on his hands, which would go against the equation that he was building with the leadership at Rome.
The idea was to make Pilate decide quickly that Jesus needed to be eliminated so that everyone could be at rest. In any case, Jesus did not have anyone to speak on His behalf neither was Jesus defending Himself. He had in fact accepted that He was the King of the Jews.
Jesus had therefore provided the basis for Pilate to decree Him to be put to death on the cross.
To keep the Jews quiet and not create a Palestinian upheaval, (which was the brief for Pilate), executing Jesus by crucifixion, should have been the easiest and quickest decision that Pilate should have taken.
Things did not go the way the Jews expected and Pilate was delaying the decision to have Jesus crucified. Pilate marvelled that Jesus did not defend Himself against all the accusations that the Jews threw at Him.
Matthew 27:11-14 Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." (12) And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. (13) Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" (14) But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly .
Pilate knew that the Jews had handed Jesus over to Him because of envy. Mark 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
Pilate had his own way of gathering information and he knew that Jesus was not a threat to Rome at all. Pilate was very much conscious of the scheming and the evil plan of the Jews. All the allegations that the Jews brought against Jesus were insignificant to Pilate.
What caught Pilate’s attention was the charge that He was Christ, a King. Jesus also acknowledged that He was the King of the Jews .
As soon as Jesus accepted that He was the King of the Jews, Pilate, immediately, told the Jews that he found no fault in Jesus. Pilate was not disturbed. Jesus being King was not a threat to the Roman rule in Judea.
This matter of Jesus being King was discussed in depth between Pilate and Jesus. This is given in John 18:28-38 We will examine this conversation about Jesus being the King of the Jews.
The process of getting a decision to crucify Jesus, which should have taken place, swiftly, was extended, to the discomfort of the Jews.
Why was the trial of Jesus, by Pilate, extended?
The Lord was allowing Pilate to surrender His life to Christ. Jesus was surely going to the cross. (The Jews need not have been anxious) but Pilate needed to be reached. It was God reaching out to this man, Pilate, and through Pilate to the people of Rome.
We see here God’s love for every individual.
Thought to ponder
God’s ways are far higher than man's ways