SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2017
9:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Accusation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
18:29-32
Message of the
verses: “29 Therefore Pilate went
out to them and *said, "What accusation do you bring against this
Man?" 30 They answered and said to him, "If this Man were not an
evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you." 31 So Pilate said to
them, "Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law." The
Jews said to him, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death," 32
to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death
He was about to die.”
Well we learned a little bit about this man Pilate in our
last SD, and I think that will help us understand why he did what he did even
though it seems to me that he may have been trying to conduct this trial in a
right fashion as seen from the question he asked in the last part of verse
29. Pilate had undoubtedly gotten word
from his soldiers as to what was going on, and he knew that the Jews wanted him
to rubber-stamp the death penalty very quickly for the Jews had to run off and
take part in the Passover celebration and also they did not want any of the
crowds to get involved in all of this.
If you skip down to verse 31 you can see exactly what the Jews expected
of Pilate when they said “we are not permitted to put anyone to death.” How did they know how Pilate was going to
rule?
The Jews answered Pilate’s question from verse on by
saying “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to
you.” This answer was not only
insulting, but it also skirted the issue.
This false accusation was an insult to the character of Jesus, whose character
was perfect even though they did not realize it. MacArthur writes “Quite unintentionally,
their utter inability to bring one legitimate charge against Him affirmed Jesus’
innocence. Still, they made it clear
that they expected Pilate simply to confirm their decision and sentence Jesus
to death.”
Pilate knew what the Jews wanted him to do, but he was
not ready to comply with what they wanted and so he fires back at them to take
Him and judge Him with their own laws, but as stated earlier their next words
shows they were not really interested in justice as they told Pilate that they
were not permitted to execute Him, and this was because the Romans would not
let them do this.
MacArthur writes that “there was a deeper significance to
the exchange between Pilate and the Jews.
The wicked scheming of the Jewish leaders and the cowardly connivance of
Pilate merely served ‘to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying
by what kind of death He was about to die.’
Jesus had predicted that Gentiles would be involved in His death. ‘Behold,’ He told the disciples,
“"Behold, we are
going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief
priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him
over to the Gentiles. 34 "They will
mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He
will rise again."”
As we have looked at the OT prophecies of Jesus’ death,
the way He would die we saw in Psalm 22 a vivid picture of crucifixion 1000
years before Jesus would die on the cross on this Passover Day. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach
of men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me sneer at me; They separate
with the lip, they wag the head, saying, 8 “Commit yourself to the LORD; let
Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him."”
The following is a quote
from Henry Morris from verse six of Psalm 22, and I know that this has been
quoted before, but it does fit in here too.
“Look at the 22nd Psalm. This is the great Psalm of
the crucifixion of Christ written 1,000 years before it was fulfilled. It
describes in great detail the sufferings of Christ on the cross. "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" he cries out. Then down in verse
6...he says "But I am a worm (08438), and no man; a reproach of men, and
despised of the people." What did he mean by saying "I am a
worm"?...This particular worm is different from other kinds of worms.
There are different kinds of worms, different varieties, but this is a
particular worm. It means more than just he is not a man. Isaiah 52 says,
"his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the
sons of men." He was literally made corruption personified; he didn't even
look like a man there on the cross*; it is talking about more than that here.
He says "I am a worm and no man." This is a scarlet worm and the
reason it was called that was because it had the ability to secrete a scarlet
fluid which was used in making the scarlet dye that they used in ancient days.
As a matter of fact, when you find the word "scarlet" in the bible,
it's the same word. "Though your sins be as scarlet," it's the same
word exactly. The worm was identified with the crimson color. The life cycle of
that worm is something like this: when the mother worm was ready to give birth
to the baby worms, she would find the trunk of a tree, a post or a stick
somewhere and then she would plant her body in that wood and she would implant
her body so firmly in it that she could never leave it again. And then the
young would be brought forth and the mother's body would provide protection for
the babies as long as they needed before they could get out and take care of
themselves. Then the mother would die, and in the process, the scarlet fluid
would stain her body and the body of the young and the tree and so on. The Lord
Jesus said "I am like that scarlet worm." He's making peace through
the blood of his cross; he's bringing many sons into glory through the
suffering. And this is a graphic testimony of the fact that eternal life comes
out of the suffering and death of the Son of God.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Once again I see the plan of God being perfectly worked out so that Jesus Christ would take my place on the cross, and for that I am eternally blessed, and eternally thankful.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that the Lord will give me the right words to say and the calmness I need to teach Sunday school class tomorrow.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “He was let down from the wall in a basket” (Acts 9:23-25).
Today’s Bible question: “What miracle did Jesus do at Cana?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/22/2017 10:17 AM
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