Godly Wisdom, Not Foolish Derision - Acts 17:17

Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. - Acts 17:17

    I was watching some very disturbing “emerging church/ neo-Pentecostal worship” video the other day and was truly shocked at the behavior of those alleged Christians as they waved their arms above their heads, rolled their eyes back until you could see the sclera, and muttered incoherently as the camera captured the scene in all its indignity. Now there are many who will chastise me for saying such a thing, suggesting that I am being far too judgmental because my way of worship isn’t like that of the folks on the video. I want to stop you for a moment and ask a simple question - if that kind of worship strikes me as a depreciating mockery of true Biblical Christianity, how must it strike those unbelieving souls whom we have been commissioned to preach the Gospel to?  “Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” - 1 Corinthians 14:23.
    Clearly, if by our behavior we are making unbelievers question our very sanity are we not doing both our faith and God Himself an injustice? The world already believes that we Christians suffer from mental illness. Should we then perpetuate the misconception by coming off as possessed zombies? Does the Holy Spirit indeed demand that we depart from reasonable decorum? “Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’” - Acts 2:13. There is a better way to reach out to the world with our faith, and that is to do so in a pragmatic and clearly understandable manner just as the Apostle Paul did - “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.”  Acts 17:2-4. The response Paul and Silas received came as a result of reasoning with these pagans with the unvarnished truth of Holy Scripture!
    I have encountered many instances on social media where a well-meaning believer will toss out a random line of Scripture without reference, exegesis, or explanation, hurling it outward like a Frisbee, expecting . . . what? How in the world can we properly and effectively fulfill the Great Commission if not lucidly and with reason? “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” - 1 Peter 3:15-16.
    We live in an empirical world. When it comes to proving the Gospel claims we must be able to give a reason for the things we believe in. How can we possibly fulfill the great Commission if not lucidly and with reason? It is Godly wisdom that brings our point home - “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” - James 3:17. 0
    Far too often the unbelieving world sees the behavior of groups on the extreme fringe of Christianity and, quite understandably, sees all of Christendom as just another cult of madness parading as a religion. And as Objectivist author, Terry Goodkind, has said unsurprisingly, “Reality is irrelevant; Perception is everything.”  This is why God’s truth must be presented in a rational and logical manner according to His holy word.
    Christian efforts to comply with Christ’s final directive to His disciples fall upon deaf ears unless His word is presented in an apologetically defendable manner. “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” - Matthew 28:19-20. Yes, it is absolutely true - the Holy Spirit must illuminate God’s word in the heart to make one a believer. But that “Word” must be presented in such a way that inspires its very consideration rather than provide fodder for mockery!
    Let us always seek to explain, instruct, and defend our faith in Jesus Christ as He declared to all the world - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6.

The Greater Moral Good - Jeremiah 38:27

   
Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. - Jeremiah 38:27

    In a nutshell; King Zedekiah told Jeremiah to lie. That is the simple and unvarnished fact. Then, Jeremiah indeed lied. Now the question arises: is doing or committing an evil act ever excusable in the eyes of God?.
    Two major considerations must be made when contemplating this issue, “to sin or not to sin.” As to the backstory of the King’s command that Jeremiah lie to the princes; he commanded Jeremiah to deceive these men in order to keep them from killing him over the prophecy of the inevitable conquest of their land by the Chaldeans. But didn’t the ninth Commandment demand that a man should always tell the truth? “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Exodus 20:16. Perhaps the difficulty comes when we use the word “always.” Is there in fact ever a time when we can transgress the law of God?
    As to the first consideration - it is true; Jeremiah did lie to the princes. His motivation? To keep them from killing him. I can’t speak for you but I know what Scripture has revealed about those who would tell a lie to save themselves or the lives of others. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” - Hebrews 11:310-31. Here, the writer of Hebrews commends the actions of the prostitute, Rahab, for protecting the lives of the Hebrew spies by lying to the King’s inquisitors. In the case of Abraham - “Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.” - Genesis 20:2. And what was his excuse for telling such a lie?  When it was revealed to the King that Sara was indeed Abraham’s wife -- “. . .  Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.” - Genesis 20:11.
    In both the aforementioned instances Rahab and Abraham lied. There’s no confusion here; what they both did was bold face lie to those questioning them. So how could any expositor defend their actions? How could any commentator advocate for their transgressions? Well, the simple answer is that no one can defend or excuse the lies. However, when tested against the degree of harm, potential, real, or merely imagined; the weight of the lie did not match the dire consequences of telling the truth.
    Dr. R.C. Sproul once suggested that there are some people who simply “don’t deserve the truth!” Imagine for example the commander of an Einsatzgruppen ( an “operational group” or death squad ) of Nazis knocking at your door and asking you if you knew the whereabouts of your Jewish neighbors. You stare the commander in the eye and tell him you don’t know, when in fact you are hiding them in your basement. Ask yourself this question - is it more important to tell the truth and be honest or lie for the sake of saving human lives? Obviously, the commander doesn’t deserve to be told the truth, considering what his plans are for the family should he discover their location. And while telling a lie is a direct transgression against God’s holy law, it must be a last resort, where no other alternative or option is available. It should only be considered when the greater moral good must outweigh the nuances of the law! Thank you, Dr. Sproul!
    Albeit, the example I just gave works well for those who experienced the tragedy of WWII. But what about now? What about today? Alright, let’s consider a possible 21st Century conundrum: your friend shows up at your front door, sobbing and bruised. She tells you she got into an altercation with her husband, got out of the house and ran to you for help and support. While you’re comforting her, there’s a loud pounding on the door. Her abusive husband, obviously infuriated, is waiting impatiently for you to answer. After sending your friend into another room, you answer the door. He demands to know if you have seen or heard from her. You stare him in the eye and tell him, “No.” He leaves in a huff, cursing as he gets into his car. What does your conscience tell you now? “Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.” - Hebrews 13:18.
    I am in no way advocated for dishonesty in any shape or form, but I am suggesting that such strict and unforgiving views as suggested by many Christian legalists today are in fact simply convoluted views of commandments that neither Moses nor Jesus ever intended to be written in stone!
    We must always weigh the repercussions and consequences of omitting truthful responses or deliberately misleading others with our word. But the consideration must never be to keep ourselves from a righteous judgment or simply to allay inconvenience ( “Tell them I’m not home.”). God will always demand that His moral laws are upheld to the highest standard but never at the cost of the greater good or simply to meet someone’s twisted sense of legalism. “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’” - Acts 23:1.
    May God always grant us the discernment to make the right choices and decisions.

The Danger Of False Prophets - Jeremiah 28:15

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. - Jeremiah 28:15

    I was watching the TNT production of “Waco;” the story of the Branch Davidians and David Koresh. Just like many other issues in history, there seems to be two contrasting points of view as to how the events leading to the deaths and destruction of the compound transpired. I will not entertain such arguments. My point here is to address those who claim that they have literally and audibly heard God’s voice speaking to them as Koresh claimed. I know that this subject is going to be both a slippery slope and thin ice at the very same time; that’s why I have chosen it for this post.
    We have been instructed by the Bible and many of the greatest commentators in history to be very skeptical when considering the claims of those who insist that God has made a new revelation available exclusively to them. “But I fear . . . if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4. Lest we forget the words of Jesus Christ Himself in Revelation - “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” - Revelation 22:18-19.
    Does God speak to us audibly? Can we actually “hear” Him speak to us? This is indeed a very, very slippery slope! But the Bible does assure us - God has indeed spoken to us in the past through His prophets.  “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.” -Hebrews 1:1-2.
But does he now choose to speak directly to us? And which of us does He choose to speak to? Are the words of Christ in Revelation now moot because God has, after all these years, chosen to make new revelation? To whom? Even the most star-struck and naive individual must be able to see the speciousness of such claims. And when they don’t, they have false prophets like David Koresh (even his name was a lie!), Jim Jones, and others to convince them otherwise.
    Let us make no mistakes here: God can do as He pleases, in any century, in any era. If He were to choose to speak to one of us today at His behest, He could and would do so! However, according to Holy Scripture - the canon of Scripture is now closed. There will be no new revelation by God to anyone . . . period. So when someone comes forth with the claim that God has spoken directly to them and commanded them to perform some specific act, especially an act that lacks common decency and godliness, we would do well to proceed with extreme caution. John the Apostle gives us a true “litmus test” when we hear such audacious claims -
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” - 1 John 4:1.
    We are all aware of God’s standards as given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The “shalls and shall nots” were and still are literally written in stone. God will not communicate a desire to anyone to defile the holiness of His laws. It would go against His very nature and attributes. So neither should we let some self-appointed prophet nor the ever fluctuating laws of society convince us God’s laws no longer apply! “You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.” - Leviticus 18:4.
    The tragedies of Waco, Jonestown, and other forays into Satanic manipulation have left us with a bitter lesson: we must carefully weigh the words of such men to see if they match the ordinances of God. When the two diverge, we must always trust and follow God’s true and inerrant word before that of men. The prophet, Jeremiah warns us of these wolves in sheep’s clothing - “Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.’” - Jeremiah 28:15. Moreover, God Himself has witnessed against these harbingers of deceit - “For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.” - Jeremiah 29:9.    Lord, we pray that You grant us the spiritual and practical discernment to know Your true word from the falsehoods of the liar.

Which Law? - Acts 5:29

“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”
 - Acts 5:29

    As Christians, we are held to a higher standard than the latest laws of our legislators and decisions of our activist judges. In fact, for a true Christian, it is as difficult for us to navigate the twists and turns of human law as it is to chase down a chicken in a barnyard. Our words are often held against us as are our resolutions to avoid conforming to the world. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:2.
    So the immediate question arises: to whom then do we owe our obedience, God or man? A very basic primer in truth is that we all need to grasp the importance of discerning the eternal difference between the laws of man and those of the one true God. The following are a list of the characteristics of man’s laws and a list of God’s -
    Man’s Laws are: temporary, unreliable, changing, imperfect, arbitrary, discriminatory,
capricious, malleable, and corruptible.
    God’s Laws are: Eternal, Wise, Unchanging, Perfect, Righteous, Just, True, Holy, and Incorruptible. Obviously, these two lists are not exhaustive.
    Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of God’s law is the freedom and liberty man enjoys in it. With men, we are free to do as we please; with God we are free to do as we should.
“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” - 1 Peter 2:15-16.
    With man’s law there are always the traps of subjectivity and relativity, quaking and shifting beneath our feet like a viscous mud-pit, without a solid anchor point of surety. While God’s law provides us with a rudder to steer us to the rock of His will - His will, not ours, and to a foundation like no other. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10.
    The rock of God’s holy will provides us with the liberty to stand for truth and righteousness in the face of doubt and ambiguity. His will provides us with the liberty to resist temptation and to shun iniquity. This rock is a mighty fortress indeed! “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness . . .” - Ephesians 6:14.
    From the moment God dictated His commandments to Moses over 3,000 years ago, His law has remained unchanged. Murder is still murder; theft is still theft; falsehood is still falsehood, and sexual sin is still sexual sin. Man’s law changes as the breeze blows. What was wrong yesterday suddenly becomes right today and visa versa, as it suits us. As often as we can change our minds, we do so. Therefore, to seek the North Star of truth and righteousness we need to stand before the face of God, not an activist judge. Man’s law is born from a humanist agenda based upon political expediency, with an eye on accommodation and inclusion rather than upon the will of God. And while many of these activist judges may believe they are like gods, rest assured - they are merely imperfect men whose self-estimation exceeds both their discernment and the truth. “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” - Galatians 1:10. “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men . . . .” - Ephesians 6:5-7.
    May God grant us the ability to obey the laws of man as long as they do not insist that we break His holy law. And may He grant us the wisdom to know the difference and to comply with His will above all others.               

The Murder Of Innocents - Jeremiah 2:34

Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things. - Jeremiah 2:34

    Anyone who has ever read any of my posts knows that I seldom mince words. I would like to attribute that trait to my age. Unfortunately, I would be misleading you if I tried to impress that upon you. Still, the truth remains the truth, and from it, I will not wander. It seems as if the biggest cry from the secular progressives today is that it is wrong to deport a child but it is perfectly fine to abort one. The convolutions of atheist extremism continue.  I say “atheist extremism” because you cannot believe in the holy God of the Bible and support abortion or even the right to choose one!
    The shedding of innocent blood remains a sin against which God’s holy wrath will not be withheld. “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood . . . .”- Proverbs 6:16-17. To one who has decided he or she holds the right to destroy human life, let them be cautious in both their discernment and action: God has already spoken twice on the issue of murder; He will not speak again. “You shall not murder.” - Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17.
    Innocent blood. How much more innocent can the blood of an unborn child be? A child conceived by intention, accident, or crime is still innocent blood and no man or woman has the right to shed its blood! A human life is not about convenience or expediency; it is about God’s will. And to violate or transgress God’s will is a sin. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” - James 4:17.
    Not only have we decided to commit this atrocious act, we no longer even hide the fact. We point to a horribly and erroneously contrived Constitutional “right” to murder our own flesh and blood and insist that our courts, judges, hospitals, clinics, doctors, and nurses become accomplices in our sins. A Constitutional right? To murder?!
    As fallible human beings, we cannot devise or imagine what is right in our own hearts. There is but one standard of righteousness and it is God’s. “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.” - Psalm 5:4. The standard for holiness is God’s and God’s alone. He will not share His throne with mankind.
    And what of those who have committed the heinous act of shedding innocent blood? Because God is a God of holiness, wrath, love, and mercy, He is faithful to forgive us our transgressions if we repent and turn from our sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. Our good and gracious God is always willing to forgive us and longs for us to return to Him in humility and contriteness. “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’” - Joel 2:12. We can be forgiven for the things we have done wrong. For while the wages of sin is death, there is no automatic death sentence for sin if we but repent. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” - Acts 3:19. But with the promise of forgiveness also comes the warning - “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” - John 8:24.
    When we come to our senses about the terrible sin of infanticide and seek humble submission to the Lord let our words echo those of Israel - “We lie down in our shame, and our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” - Jeremiah 3:25.
    The murder of innocents must stop in our lifetime. Let us pray for the will of God to rule in our hearts.

We Are The Evidence - John 1:3

   
 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. - John 1:3

    A thought occurred to me the other day and I wondered why it seems that unbelievers never seem to think in this way. As I looked around the living room, I took a minor inventory of all the things that were occupying space there. From the ceiling texture to the tile floors, the walls, the tv, the unopened letters on the counter, the newspaper, the couch, the coffee table and everything else in that room. Everything in that room from the roof to the floor had both a designer and a fabricator, everything!   
     I went to the window and looked out at the street where I spied my mailbox, the asphalt street, the telephone poles, my driveway, my car. Again, taking this issue to the point of absurd redundancy: every man-made thing I saw was . . . made by man! In fact, the only things that weren’t made by man were those elements of the natural environment, i.e, the trees, the grass, the clouds, the sunshine; all the things that were just as tangible and as observable as the man-made things. All of which brings me to this question: why can’t unbelievers sense a designer and creator in the elements of nature? “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”- Colossians 1:16
    It’s only a reasonable extension of logic. If every man-made artifact has a designer and a maker then why do we draw the line at nature? If you walked into my home, saw a beautiful Gauguin print hanging on the wall and asked me where I got it and I told you that I blinked my eyes and just appeared there, you would think I was a lunatic. How much crazier do the unbelievers sound when they dismiss the idea of God? “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.’” - Psalm 14:1.
    Everything from the furthest reaches of our universe to the center of the earth and all that is in between was designed and created by none other than God Himself. There really isn’t any good reason to doubt the facts as described in the Bible. Unbelievers simply “choose” to reject the idea that our intelligent designer is God!  “. . .  having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart . . .” - Ephesians 4:18.
    The prevailing attitude for many is their uncertainty (when it’s not outright denial) of God. And as simple-minded as it is, one of the main reasons for their doubt or denial is that they cannot see God. Well, I didn’t see the men who were responsible for building my car but I’m 100% certain that it was both designed and built by men. Why? Because it’s sitting in my driveway! This is the evidence: that it exists! No, it doesn’t take rocket science. What lies at the base of this belief is much more powerful than science. It’s faith. And faith like this is of the utmost importance because of what man does when he refuses to acknowledge God.“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting . . .” - Romans 1:28. Unbelievers will persecute the faithful unto death if they are not restrained rather than admit they recognize the one true God of creation. Our scientists are not shallow minded men and women; they are bright and intelligent, yet their deception runs deep because to admit the existence of God implies an accountability to the One who has created the universe. Men such as Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson carry their condescending and arrogant hatred for God on their sleeves. Yet they too know in their darkened hearts that God exists, but they hate the idea of subservience and obedience to something or someone they cannot view through a telescope or a microscope! “. . . because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse . . ." - Romans 1:19-20.
    And in their intentionally flawed reasoning, they would be correct: we do owe the Holy God of creation our very lives. We owe Him reverence, obedience, awe, and glory. The evidence of God’s existence is you and I, and based on the traditional definition of empirical (i.e., observable and experiential) it doesn’t get any more empirical than that! We are the evidence of God’s existence. Again, we are the evidence because we exist.
    Two of the greatest reasons we can reliably believe in the one true living God is the intricacy with which the liars have woven their whole cloth theories for denying His existence. Anyone who has ever known a liar understands that their lie is never simple; it is always intricate and complex. So, we must understand that whenever a liar has a story to tell, their details or “narrative,” as it is referred to today are so convoluted it would be hard for water to follow the course.  But such stories must have a beginning, a first cause; their’s has none. Our narrative does -  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” - Genesis 1:1.
    Second, we look at the law of problem-solving credited to the English Franciscan monk, William of Occam, also known as “Occam’s Razor.” The concept states when two or more hypotheses compete with one another, the one with the least complexity is usually correct. God is primo causam - “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” - Genesis 1:27.
    May we always put our faith in the one true and holy Father and Author of creation, His only begotten Son, Jesus; and His Holy Spirit.

Conscience Or The Crowd - Luke 23:24

   
So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. - Luke 23:24   

    We often speak of the stunningly powerful effect of “peer pressure,” especially upon our young people. And as true as that may be, there is a much more insidious pressure we all (both young and old)  face as Christians today - it is the insistent, demanding, and loud voice of the crowd. “But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.” - Luke 23:23.
    To understand how powerful such pressure can be we must take a closer look at Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate was appointed governor, despite historical allegations of incompetence, because his superiors saw qualifications in him that lent themselves to making him an effective leader. He was both articulate and a man of finely honed political skills, as well as being a skillful negotiator. “When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. . . That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.” - Luke 24:6-7; 12.
    Pilate was no fool, yet he acquiesced to the “insistent, demanding, and loud voices” that cried out for Christ to be handed over to them for crucifixion. “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”- Mark 15:15.
    Allow me to pause for a moment to clarify that no insistent, demanding, or loud voice could ever overcome the will of God. Christ’s death upon the cross had been prophesied and that prophesy had to be fulfilled. Pilate was merely one of the human agents God used to accomplish His will.
    So what we see here is a man of law and worldly honor being manipulated by the voice of the crowd in spite of his better judgment. “Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, ‘You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.’” - Luke 23:13-15.
    The question we must all ask ourselves is, “How often have we gone against our better judgment to pacify the insistent, demanding, and loud voice of the crowd?”
    Pilate could easily have gathered a contingent of Roman troops and given Jesus and His disciples safe passage out of Jerusalem and refused to give in to the demands of the crowd, had he chosen to. He had the power to do so yet he balked, and he did so to appease the crowd! Despite what his conscience was telling him he chose the path of the least resistance which is often the path of cowardice rather than stand up for what his conscience was telling him. Even his wife warned him of giving in to the crowd. “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.’” - Matthew 27:19.
    Our consciences should scream at us rather than allow us to give in to what we know is wrong in the eyes of God! Our consciences should beat us into holy submission rather than allow us to choose the way of the world! Our heavenly Father’s declared will should be firmly engraved in our hearts so that no matter how insistent, demanding, or loud the crowd becomes, we should always make the right decision, rather than go along with the madness. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:2.
    Incidentally, according to the 4th Century historian, Eusebius, Pontus Pilate fell out of favor with Roman Emperor, Caligula, and committed suicide around 37/38 A.D. We see that despite both Judas Iscariot’s and Pilate’s role in helping to fulfill the Scriptures, God will not be mocked and we are still responsible for our own sinful behavior.
    Let us vow to always follow God’s will within our Christian hearts regardless of the insistent, demanding, and loud demands of the crowd.