Daily Devotions
John
John 19:16-42 "FULFLLING ALL LEGAL REQUIREMENTS"
Day 301 – John 19
FULFLLING ALL LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
All the legalities had been fulfilled. Pilate had interrogated his prisoner. He had also spoken to the accusers. True, he had to handle this case differently, but still he could write in his report that he had fulfilled all that was required of a governor judging a case brought to his attention.
Pilate had ascended his Judgment Seat and before all present, he had to fulfill the last bit of formality.
“Then he released Barabbas to them …”
Matthew 27:26
This was what the Jews had wanted. They preferred that a robber and a murderer be released than to see Jesus set free!
The feckless Pilate conceded to the ruthless Jews. Luke recorded this traumatic event in the following text.
“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.’But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices
that He be crucified. And the voices of these men
and of the chief priests prevailed.So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they
requested. And he released to them the one they
requested, who for rebellion and murder had
been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus
to their will.”
Luke 23:22-25
John wrote very little about the sentencing of Jesus. But he too recorded the fact that Pilate delivered Jesus to the will of the Jews.
“Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified.
Then they took Jesus and led Him away.”
John 19:16
Once again, we ask ourselves why Pilate did what he did? Mark gave the most devastating opinion of all.
“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
PRACTISING AND FULFILLING WHAT HE PREACHED
Jesus had spoken to His Disciples about the possibility of suffering for His sake. Before He sent out His Disciples, He warned them in the most sobering of tones that they could be persecuted.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst
of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and
harmless as doves. But beware of men, for
they will deliver you up to councils and
scourge you in their synagogues. You will be
brought before governors and kings for My sake,
as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, do not worry
about how or what you should speak. For it will
be given to you in that hour what you should
speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit
of your Father who speaks in you.”
Matthew 10:16-20
Jesus had to warn His Disciple that they could be terribly persecuted, whether or not they would actually have to endure suffering. Mercifully none of the disciples experienced any of the suffering Jesus warned them of … at least not in His lifetime. In time to come, what Jesus said would be fulfilled!
The words that Jesus spoke as forewarning were the very things that He Himself personally experienced. He was scourged by order of the high priest (Matthew 26:65-67). He was brought before the Gentile Governor Pontius Pilate (John 18:28-29). He was also brought before Herod the king (tetrarch – Luke 23:6-12).
He was not in the least worried. Where it was possible to speak meaningfully, on occasions, Jesus spoke with the obvious power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Where it was not meaningful to speak, for any word at those times would be disastrously taken out of context, Jesus kept silent. He had spoken to His Disciples about the ministry of the Spirit of God. In all that Jesus endured, He demonstrated and proved to His Disciples that all that He had taught them, could be achieved! He had not set impossibly high standards!
Were there any of His Disciples near Jesus as He faced His accusers, they would have felt nothing but immense pride that their Master had practised what He had preached! All this time that they had known Jesus, they could not help but admire that He literally practised what He had preached! He could speak of the hardest things – like “suffering” or about “not worrying” and that at first, would seem virtually impossible, but He had always lived out every word that He had preached!
The Disciples had fled – even before they entered into any kind of suffering. Jesus on the other hand had undergone intense suffering, under the hands of the Jews, Herod, and finally Pilate and his soldiers! Not content with physical abuse, Jesus had to face torrents of humiliating abusive words.
He bore a wonderful testimony – the finest ever! He had remained calm! He blamed no one, not even Judas for having betrayed Him. He took everything in His stride. He trusted His Father implicitly. The final hours of His earthly life would now have to be faced with the same spirit of faith and trust! The countdown of His last hours had begun with Pilate’s pronouncement of the death sentence.