Pilate knew it was going t to be a long day when the Jews were already clamoring at his terrace. “Oh great Caesars! What is it now?” He must have been in a terrible mood. But who could blame him. What a rotten office to be given. Jerusalam… the supposed city of peace. Instead, to him, it was a city of nightmares.
Are you a king?
He knew who Joshua Ben Joseph was. He had heard of him when he cleansed the temple. He had also known about the centurions tales of his servant. He had known about Ben Josephs entrance into the city just days before, and he knew very well about Ben Josephs cousin, John Baptist. Now Pilate just wanted to know the truth. Was this Joshua like the Joshua of old or not? Was he the redeemer, the Christ?
You say correctly that I am a King…
Everyone who is in the truth hears my voice…
That was all he had needed, So, leaning forward in his chair… straining and searching the condemned mans face, he said:
What is truth?
Pilate declared him perfect.
The translation goes: “I find no fault in him at all.”
None? Apparently Pilate was sold on the matter.
“Look, here he is, I am giving him over to you but know this: I do not find any fault in him. He is perfect.”
To prove his point, he made a sign to spite them. It read: “Jesus of Nazarath. King of the Jews.” It was written in three languages. The King. Pilate had switched allegiances. Though he was not a Jew, he realized something powerful. Something true. Jesus as king. Jesus was more powerful than Pilate could ever be, and he could not compete with that. His wife had even told him that.
Pilate is like you or I. We desperately want to find something wrong with Christ so that we may denounce him. Anything. We cannot. We find him perfect everytime. We want to be better than him. But we are not. We cannot even compete. We are left with two choices. Release him, or crucify him.
It all boils down to this. Every person that I have talked to has some grievance against Christianity in one respect or another. But no one I know has a problem with Jesus. Our only problem arises when it comes time to do something with Christ. What is he to us? Is it our part-time thing? Our Sunday Jesus? Or is he the risen King, the Lord of all Lords?
You see, it differs for every man. I do not know the stipulations that are on your life, but I do know this… To one man, he said that he must be born again. Another man was told by him to sell everything that he had and then he would be perfect. But to everyone of his disciples, and to you and I today, he tells us to follow him. He will not turn you away. As the scripture says: “Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
What a simple concept. Following Jesus. What simpler way to lead others than to follow someone in front of you. A good scout follows a path. A good leader follows those that have gone on before him. Lost you may feel, but follow Him, and all will be well.
Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened for you. Follow and you will arrive. Through the cry, the pain, and the goodness. Through the valley of Baca. Through being a witness to the ends of the Earth. Follow Christ and him only.
My friend, my dearest reader, if you follow Jesus with all that is in your heart, you will arrive at truth. We all go from strength to strength. We all go from glory to glory. We will all appear before God in Zion, if we but follow him. He knows you, and he knows your troubles. There are six billion people on this planet and yet, he knows all of us! What a God to love me for who I am. Not because I am doing anything important… but just because I am here.
Ok. Maybe you followed Him, and you felt lead astray. Maybe you gave in. Maybe you felt that the valley was too deep and dark, and you let go. Maybe you quit. It is not too late to start back to him. No one ever succeeds at running away from their problems. Problems always have on better running shoes than us. Pray this prayer from your heart. If it doesn’t seem real enough, then make something up. Just be real with God. He wants you to be one with Him today.
Copyright 2003 by pauly hart
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