Pilate
asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "You
have said it." Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes,
and Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer them? What about all
these charges they are bringing against you?" But Jesus said nothing, much
to Pilate's surprise. Now it was the governor's custom each year during the Passover
celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. ...
"Would you like me to release to you this 'King of the Jews'?" Pilate
asked. (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out
of envy.) But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand
the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. Pilate asked them, "Then what
should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?" They shouted
back, "Crucify him!" "Why?" Pilate demanded. "What
crime has he committed?" But the mob roared even louder, "Crucify
him!" So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered
Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped
whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. Mark
15:2-6, 9-15
The emotion
of confusion…can be confusing. In Jesus time and place with the Roman Empire in
political control and people living under the oppression of that government, daily
life could have been very confusing with a feeling of turmoil and disorder
surrounding them. It is no wonder that the Jews were looking for a Messiah…a
political savior. Jesus may have been confronted with such turmoil—especially
at His trials and crucifixion, but He remained generally silent and obedient to
God the Father. Jesus turmoil was an external event. Although remember His
prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and
John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, "My soul is
crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with
me." He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground,
praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken
away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." Matthew 26:37-39
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| Grape Press - Israel Is your soul crushed with grief...as grapes are crushed? |
His soul was
crushed with grief—now that is inner turmoil. Have you ever felt that much
grief? I have thought that I have when several members of my family were killed…but
even that grief was not as great as the depth of Jesus’ grief. He was about to
take on the sin of the whole world even though He was sinless.
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you
pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So
you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as "foreigners in
the land." For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty
life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere
gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb
of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has
now revealed him to you in these last days. 1 Peter 1:17-20
We are privileged
to see the big picture of Christ’s sacrifice for us…His resurrection…and to
know that He will return again to take us to be with Him. Seek His wisdom to
understand Jesus and your relationship with Him.
If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it
by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from
wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your
heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and
selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual,
and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you
will find disorder and evil of every kind. James 3:13-16
In the Old Testament
the Israelites are given a promise…well, it is more like a curse…if they don’t
obey the Lord.
But it shall come about, if you do
not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His
statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon
you and overtake you: ... The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion,
and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you
perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken
Me. Deuteronomy 28:15, 20 NASB
With Jesus in
our lives—guiding us—we will not be overwhelmed with confusion. Note I didn’t
say that we would be WITHOUT confusion—but that emotion will not overwhelm us.
Trust in the Lord.
Prayer ~ Lord, we put our trust in You that You
would direct our paths in life as promised in Proverbs 3:5-6. Open our eyes and
hearts that we would see and understand what Your will is for us today. Help us
to make the most of our time—to be wise, not foolish, in the things we say and
do.
Daily
Bible Reading: Jeremiah 14-17
© 2018 Text and
photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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