Mock Tebowing In the Praetorium

# 737 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:16-20, “Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.” Jesus had already been roughed up by the Jewish council and some of the guards. (See Mr 14:65) and now Pilate takes him into the Praetorium, out of sight of the Jews and calls all available Roman soldiers to participate in the sport of mocking this self-proclaimed King of the Jews. What sport for the most powerful fighting force in the world! “Hey King of the Jews, here's a robe for you! How do you like your crown of thorns? We'll give you a reed as a symbolic scepter of power and take it from you and smack you in the head, and we'll spit in your face, and finally, we'll wrap it all up with a little mock Tebowing for You.!” Friend, God will not be mocked, and unless these “mockers” repented, they have been paying big time in the pangs of hell. But let us all beware. For anytime we claim Jesus as our King, but refuse to allow Him to rule, we are in effect doing the same thing! Calling Jesus Lord and then refusing to allow Him to rule in our lives is mockery. Lu 6:46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? Thankfully, there is a cure. Confess! Repent! Believe! Receive His forgiveness, and seek to live under the power and yoke of the Holy Spirit! Father, forgive me for the time my thoughts, words, and deeds have mocked Your lordship in my life. Help me today, by the power of Your Holy Spirit to live joyfully as Your subject.

Deliver Us From Evil

# 736 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:12-15, “Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" 13 So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" 14 Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!" 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Pilate agrees to release Barabbas as the crowd wished, but now he is stuck with this man named Jesus. Then he foolishly asks their opinion as to what kind of punishment he should inflict on Jesus. I don't believe he was prepared for their answer. “Crucify Him!” “What? Why? What evil has He done?” Their answer? They scream even louder! “Crucify Him!” And so Pilate wanting to gratify the crowd, (read that satisfy the desires of their flesh) releases Barabbas, scourges Jesus, and orders the crucifixion. My friends. Be thankful for God's restraint of evil. Because when He withdraws His protection, the murdering forces of the devil and his demons step in. It was this influence, allowed by God to suit His purposes, that killed the Son of God. This turning of the crowd and their barbaric behavior can only be explained in this manner. We need to realize just how deadly the evil one is and how our only help is the protection of God. We need to know how close each one of us is to the possibility of atrocity. Jer 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? We would all do well to respect this truth. Father, thank You for Your restraint of evil. Restrain it in me.

As the Deer Rutteth

# 735 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:9-11, “But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

Pilate sensed a wide gap between the feelings of the people and the feelings of these “envious” religious rulers. Was not their envy due to the high regard that the general populace had for Jesus? Surely the people who outnumbered the religious rulers would demand the release of “The King of the Jews!”

He underestimated the persuasive power of the religious leaders, and as the rulers mingled in the crowd, they convinced them to demand the release of Barabbas! This befuddled Pilate. It befuddles us. Yet, emotional appeals to our flesh, often cause us to abandon clear thinking in spiritual matters as well.

We can get caught up in a moment of emotional weakness and abandon what we know to be true. Isn't that the way of sin in our lives? We get caught up in our “feelings” and like a deer in the rutting season we blindly chase after instant gratification.

Our flesh takes over, and we find ourselves desiring Barabbas over Jesus. Sin over obedience. Death over life. Are you caught up in sin? Get away from the crowd!

Instead of shouting “Barabbas!” Come to the cross and whisper the name of Jesus, for it's His release you really need.

Father, I am so prone to wander from Your Word. My emotions tend to lead me away from the Rock of Your truth. Holy Spirit, reel me in when I face this temptation, remembering that it is Your truth that sets me free.

Envy

# 734 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

Pilate saw through the motives of the Jewish rulers for seeking the death penalty for Jesus. They were envious of His apparent acceptance by the people and of His increasing influence, which would spell doom for them and the cushy deal they had going for themselves.

The Bible warns us of this deadly emotion that often breaks out in a desire for the demise of the person you are envious of. Cain was envious of Abel. Joseph's brothers were envious of him. Saul was envious of David. See where unchecked envy leads? It leads to death!

Envy is a work of the flesh, the old nature yearns to be envious, and when we give in to it, and stay in it, we put our very salvation in jeopardy. Envyings are included in the list of damnable sins found in Ga 5. Ga 5:21 says, “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

It is vital to nip this sin in the bud! It was the sin that God warned Cain about, telling him that it was, “crouching at his door and that he should seek to rule over it.”

The way to rule over it is to remind yourself daily of your identity in Christ. As a child of the King you have no need to envy others, for you are rich beyond measure. Lu 12:32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” and, Mt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Father, guard my heart against envy. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

Don't Just Look At the Cross, Read It

# 733 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"

Pilate, ever willing to lord it over the Jews, keeps pointing out what he viewed as their ridiculous notion that Jesus claimed to be a king. This man was certainly no king by Roman standards. So he refers to Jesus in a mocking manner here, calling Him “King of the Jews.”

It was Pilate who also ordered the inscription “King of the Jews” to be placed on the cross in three different languages, and I believe he did that so the world would know that the Romans believed that there is no king but Caesar. But even in his mockery, this pawn of God, (Pilate) would make the declaration, that this Jesus was, is, and always will be the King of the Jews!

Again a reminder, that all authorities are appointed by God and He uses them for His purposes! Furthermore, have you ever considered that those who have placed their trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are in effect “spiritual Jews?”

Paul addresses this in the Book of Romans and states in Rom 4:11, that Abraham (the father of the physical Jews) would be the “father of all those who believe”.

This declaration from the lips of Pilate comes from God, and we would do well to remember that, as believers, Jesus is our King!

And as our King we are subjects to Him and His Word.

Think about that, the next time you find yourself at the foot of the cross. He not only paid a horrific price to save you from your sins, but look up and read what was written about Him by the very finger of God through His pawn, Pilate!. “Jesus King of the Jews.”

Let's live our lives as if He were both Savior and King!

Who Would YOU Choose

# 732 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:6-8, “Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.
7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.

Reading from the other three gospels helps to get the full picture of what's going on here. Pilate has finished his interrogation of Jesus and finds no fault with Him and was willing to simply scourge Him and let Him go.

His wife was putting pressure on him to release Jesus because of a terrifying dream she had concerning Jesus. Pilate was looking for a graceful way out of this situation, and the annual custom of releasing a prisoner to the Jews on Passover seemed the best way to go.

And so he calls the people together and gives them a choice. Barabbas or Jesus. In his mind that was like saying, “Osama Bin Laden or Mother Theresa.”
Barabbas was a convicted murderer and robber, surely the crowd would choose Jesus over him. If you were these religious leaders, who would you choose? Someone who shared your own political views, (a hatred of Rome) or someone who has spent the past three years pointing out your hypocrisy?

To be honest, I'm afraid of my answer to that question.

I think rather, I need to learn from it. I think I need to always be on guard against hypocrisy of any form. I think I constantly need to be open to the correction of the Holy Spirit concerning any and all hypocrisy on my part.

Let's pray from Ps 139:24, Father, “see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”

Hold Your Peace

# 731 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:2 Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

According to Luke 23:2, one of the charges the religious leaders mentioned to Pilate was that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, a king. This of course would get Pilates attention. (Can't have any king but Caesar you know.) So he takes Him inside the Praetorium and asks Him privately, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied in the affirmative.

John provides further details of this conversation with Pilate, with the end result that Pilate took Jesus out to face the people again and to tell them that he found no guilt on Jesus' part.

In Pilate's opinion there was nothing kingly about this man, certainly nothing about the man that Rome needed to be concerned about!

The Jews then replied with one accusation after another concerning Jesus, and Jesus clammed up, fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 53:7, “so he openeth not his mouth.”

Look at the effect this had on Pilate! He “marveled.” The word means he “admired.” Maybe more people would admire Christ followers if we would learn to measure our responses to accusations against us more carefully. Maybe there is something to that passage in Ex 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

Sometimes I think we put a little too much emphasis on defending the faith and not enough on displaying it.

Father, grant us the wisdom to know when to speak and to know when to be silent.