SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2024 9:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4
"The Accusations of the Jews"
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
27:11-12a
Message of the
verses: “11
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying,
"Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "It is
as you say." 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests
and elders,”
I want to continue to quote from John MacArthur’s
commentary as I finish this section “The Accusations of the Jews.”
“In this context, ‘find’ represented
a judicial verdict. Pilate acquitted
Jesus of any civil or criminal wrongdoing.
In modern parlance, he threw the case out of the court for lack of
evidence. He exercised ‘summary
judgment.’
“Not only were the charges patently
false, but Pilate knew that the Jewish leaders themselves hated Rome
passionately. Had Jesus actually been an
insurrectionist, they would have supported Him and sought to protect Him, not
brought Him before a Roman court and demanded His execution. He knew quite well that ‘it was for envy’ of
Jesus, not loyalty to Rome, that ‘they delivered Him up’ (Matt. 27:18).
“The high priests, chief priests, elders, scribes,
Pharisees, and Sadducees all hated Jesus because He undermined their religious
influence with and stature before the people.
He exposed their sinfulness, hypocrisy, and doctrinal error. He was popular, whereas they were not.. He could heal, whereas they could not. He taught truth, whereas they did not. Their true motivation was transparent even to
a pagan politician. The governor probably
suspected something of what they were up to when they requested the escort of
Roman soldiers in arresting Jesus. But
he already knew that Jesus was no danger to Rome and probably thought that,
after condemning and flogging Jesus in their own court, the Jewish leaders
would be satisfied and that His threat to them would end.
“But the Council leaders would not
be put off by Pilate’s verdict of innocent.
As he stood before them again on the balcony of the Praetorium, Jesus
continued to be accused by the chief priests and elders. Luke reports that ‘they kept on insisting,
saying, ‘He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee,
even as far as this place’’ (23:5). They
increased the pressure on the governor as they desperately grasped for a charge
that would arouse his concern. All this
failing effort emphasizes the perfect virtue of the Savior.”
Now Lord willing we will begin to
look at “The Attitude of the Lord” from Matthew 27:12b-14 in the next SD.
7/23/2024 9:38
AM
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