Today’s devotion comes from Luke 23:1-7.
“Then the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”
When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time.” Luke 23:1-7.
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It is noteworthy that despite the accusations, Pilate did not ask any question to Jesus about the accusations that Jesus was misleading the nation or forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar.
Pilate did not have to do so; he knew that the accusations were not true.
And, it is also noteworthy that he did not care about how Jesus would answer the only one question that he did ask: “Are You the King of the Jews?”. If Pilate did care about how Jesus answered the question, then he would either have found him guilty or asked follow-up questions. Instead, in response to Jesus’ simple and unequivocal admission (“It is as you say.”), Pilate immediately “said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
“But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”
When Pilate heard their insistence, Pilate conceived an excuse and “passed the buck”, so to speak, and “sent Him to Herod”.
In summary, Pilate made it appear that He was sincerely searching for the truth. But, He was trying to deceive with the goal of pacifying the chief priests and the crowds.
The purpose of this review is to not specifically condemn Pilate but rather to generally consider that Pilate exhibited a trait that is common to man.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.
“10 as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” Romans 3:10-12.
When we are presented with the Jesus of Scripture by Reformed preachers and teachers, we may be like Pilate and try to deceive the Reformed preachers and teachers and others in the crowd by asking questions that seem to be sincere, but we do not care how those questions are answered. We may also be like Pilate and admit certain truths about Jesus. We may be like Pilate and try to “pass the buck” by promising that we will study Reformed Doctrine more. But, we may be doing all of these things and other things to deceive without any sincere intent to pursue truth.
But, there is hope!
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:26-27.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 