Devotion – John 18:28-32 Jesus Before Pilate
John 18:28-32 Jesus Before Pilate
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
Words to Live By:
To avoid religious contamination, the Jewish leaders refuse to enter Pilate’s residence, but they unjustly seek to use Pilate’s authority to put Jesus to death. Even religious people are capable of manipulating others to advance personal agendas. Remarkably, Jesus’ death at the hands of unjust accusers became the very means through which our gracious God took away the guilt of sin.
Living God’s Word:
IT HAD TO BE A CROSS
Jesus sacrificial death was an inevitable necessity for our salvation. But the very means of that death was designated by God in order to accomplish several detailed purposes of God. Among the reasons for the Crucifixion are the following:
- The Crucifixion preserved the accuracy of long-standing messianic prophecies, or typology—that none of Jesus’ bones would be broken, whereas stoning broke bones (Exodus 12:46) and that piercing would occur (Zechariah 12:10).
- The Crucifixion combined the Jews and Gentiles in a conspiracy of death. The responsibility and guilt for the death of Jesus was thereby placed upon the world (Acts 2:23; 4:27).
- The Crucifixion actualized another Old Testament type, the serpent lifted on a pole as a sign of salvation (John 3:14).
- The cross also represented God’s commanded form of death for anyone who was under divine curse. He was to be hanged from a tree in judgment for his sin (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13).
God used the cross of Jesus to work out every detail of his eternal plan to accomplish our salvation!
Making it REAL in your life:
What do you see when you look at the cross?.
Prayer:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10). Amen.