30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 23 18-25 THE WILL OF MAN 10 Luke 23 20-23 He who does the will of God abides forever
📖 Luke 23:18-25
Wed 08 Dec 2021 – He who does the will of God abides forever - Luke 23:18-25 - THE WILL OF MAN (10) - Bible reading: Mark 8:35-38
The Lord is showing us what it would cost us when we live for our own will and not for the will of God. The consequences are devastating.
We will look one more day at what happened just before Pilate gave the final sentence to crucify Jesus.
Luke 23:20-23 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. (21) But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (22) Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go." (23) But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.
Pilate was swayed by the crowd. Though in his heart he may have believed in Jesus, he was not willing to openly confess his surrender to Christ.
John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."
Pilate was wanting to release Jesus but the pressure of the crowd came heavily on him.
(13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Pilate sitting at the judgement seat was a sign of him having resigned to the situation. Pilate had lost the fight. He did not want to carry on with this trial anymore.
The will of man prevailed. Pilate was not willing to confess Jesus as his Master.
(14) Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, " Behold your King !" (15) But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"
Pilate asked a lame question to the people if he should crucify their king. This was a question loaded with cynicism. Pilate had earlier called Jesus, “a Man”. Now, he called Him King.
John 19:5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"
Pilate was ready to give the final sentence on the trial of Jesus. Pilate was preparing to go according to his own will.
Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it."
Pilate sat at the judgement seat and took a decision. It could have been the opportunity for him to have taken a stand for Jesus.
If he had done so, he would have had to face dire consequences. The Jews were threatening to create a riot and he would not be in a favourable position with Caesar.
Pilate’s judgement was the will of man. “I realise that Jesus is God but I have to live for myself and not for Christ”. Pilate chose to live for himself. Pilate took the easier and safer option.
Mark 8:35-38 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. (36) For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (37) Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (38) For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
It was the will of man that carried the day.
Psalm 58:2 No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
Just because Pilate washed his hands at the judgement seat, did it wash away his guilt? No, it did not .
Matthew 27:25 And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."
The people made an atrocious statement. They were willing to take the responsibility of the crucifixion of Jesus, on themselves and on their children.
A little while later, these Jewish leaders were behaving as though the guilt of their decision to crucify Jesus, did not weigh on them.
Act 5:27-28 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, (28) saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us !"
They thought that they could wash away their guilt but the will of man carries on it the judgement of God .
I Thessalonians 2:15-16 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, (16) forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
History has shown how much the Jews have suffered over the years. Their guilt could not be washed away.
When man chooses to live by his own will, there will be painful, long-term consequences but what happens when we choose the will of God?
I John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Thought to ponder
Are you finding, doing the will of God, difficult now? Remember, doing your will may seem easy now but its painful consequences will be for generations.