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This week we conclude our discussion of chapter 22 of Luke’s Gospel. Please read verses 63-71 and Chapter 23:1-3 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 23:1-3 (NIV)
‘Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” So, Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.’
Over many years, I’ve been in situations that have not been all that pleasant. In my work-life and sadly, also in some aspects of church-life, there have been instances where circumstances have led to conflict of sorts. Accusations have been levelled at all concerned and as tension rises, comments have been made that are regrettable.
There have been times at work where I have had to attend meetings with our Human Resources department in order to discuss some work-place conflict reports. In a high-stress environment, working in a small team, it’s almost inevitable that tempers are frayed. Normally, having a good relationship with everyone means that things are easily resolved and quickly forgotten. However, when there are some issues between the various characters, it’s certainly not so straight-forward ‘to fix’ conflicts. I remember one meeting where many accusations were made in regard to comments I’d directed at one particular colleague. I sat there listening intently as the list was read out. It is very embarrassing and shameful when, in the cold light of day, your worst features are detailed plainly in front of witnesses. I was very sad that this kind of thing was happening to me and was full of remorse. However, after several minutes, a few things were read out that I knew to be untrue. My sense of contrition suddenly disappeared and was replaced with anger. This colleague was fully justified in a lot of the accusations, but now that they had resorted to lies about me, it was a different story and I felt I needed to defend myself. The meeting did not go well and eventually, my colleague resigned and left the company.
During the various stages of the arrest and subsequent ‘trials’ of Jesus, many things were ‘thrown’ at Him. In our verses today, there are three specific things that the Jewish leaders want Pilate to hear. They are religious leaders and yet, they are, seemingly cleverly, bringing political issues to Pilate. Only one of the issues has anything to do with religious or spiritual issues and even that is heavily disguised to gain maximum political advantage. What is particularly sad for me is that they choose to tell a bare-faced lie as one of those accusations. It could be argued that Jesus was in fact subverting the nation because He continually preached a message that rallied against the authority of the religious leaders. It was definitely true that He claimed to be the Messiah. That’s because He was! To stoop to lies accusing Jesus of opposing the payment of taxes was a complete and utter lie. Jesus categorically stated that they should ‘give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’.
Despite being completely misquoted on many things and hearing an absolute lie, Jesus didn’t react in the way that I did earlier in the story. He didn’t seek to defend Himself or to justify His position. The time had come to offer His life as the supreme sacrifice and He was ready. He did all that for us. What a wonderful Saviour.
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