865
THE KING'S BUSINESS
a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of truth, over which the King of Israel shall reign. Secular history only records the bru– tality of Pilate, but sacred history re– veals his conscience and Its working. Touched by the demeanor of Jesus, gen– tle, patient, gracious, He asks, "Art thou a king, then?" Listen to the re– ply of Jesus: "Thou sayest. To this end was I born (as a man) ; !or this cause came I into the world (as God) that I should bear witness to the truth." The mission of Christ was not simply to save sinners, but to bear witness to the truth, to seal the truth of the Scriptures. Prophecy must be fulfilled and until He came and put the red seal of His blood to that prophecy, there could be no fulfillment. It was the only way by which God's promises could be fulfilled. In every act of His earthly life, He revealed the Father-the character of God; His disposition toward sin. Re– ceiving sinners, He showed God as ready to pardon. Weeping over sorrow, He showed the compassion of God. Heal– ing sickness, He displayed the grace of God. That He came to provide a way of sal– vation for sinners was a proof of His love. That He did it by way of the cross, was a proof of His justice. Men shrink from the way of the cross and of blood, but God could not evade It. Jesus bore witness lo the truth of the wrath of God and the fires of hell. He was loyal to the truth even though it led Him to the cross. (3) THE CHOICE OF THE JEWS, vs. 38-40: "Not this man, but Ba– rabbas," v. 40. Pilate was persuaded that Christ was an innocent man. He knew that be– cause of envy the Jews had delivered Him up. Six times did he declare J esus to be Innocent, and seven times did he plead with the Jews for His release, but )le lacked the moral firmness to do what
understand the real nature of defile– ment. (Matt. 23: 24-29.) "Ye blind p;ulde.w. which strnln at a gnat and •wnUow- a camel. 'Voe unto you, HCrJbe• and Pharisee•, hypocrites! for ye make cleun the outside of the cup and the platter, bnt ·within they ure full of extortion and exce1!U!l." We need an educated conscience, made tender by the Word of God. Then we need to obey that conscience and do nothing which will affect our relation to and destroy our fellowship with God. The Jews supposed that Pilate would willingly confirm their sentence at a hint of J esus being a traitor, though they usually opposed any condemnation of traitors by Rome. But Pilate's suspi– cions were aroused and he asks, "What accusation bring ye against this man?" To this they r eply, "If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him unto thee." Pilate, supposing that Jesus had been guilty of some minor offense, answers, " Take ye him and judge him according to your law." But the J ews had de– termined upon His death, and being well aware that they could not impose a sentence of capital punishment they make plain to Pilate that they are bring– ing a charge of a capital crime against Jesus which should be punished with death-and that death lo be by cruci– fixion. (2) THE CHALLENGE OF J ESUS, vs. 36, 37: "My kingdom is not of this world," v. 36. Pilate then takes J esus apart and con– fers with Him, asking Him the question, "Art thou a king?" Jesus replies, "Do you ask this of yourself?" I. e., "Are you asking from a Jewish point of view, or from a Roman point of view?" Pilate disclaims any affiliation with the Jews and again asks, "What hast thou done?" Then Jesus explains the nature of His kingdom-what it is not. It is not of this world, not of pomp and glory, not of show, not with authority from earth or human will, not backed up by bayonet or sword; but It I~
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