John 19, verses 31 to 42, him whom they pierced

 

John 19:31 ¶  The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32  Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33  But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37  And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

The brutality of crucifixion is again revealed here. The following verses were interesting, I thought, in regard to their references to water and blood.

1John 5:6 ¶  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Scripture was fulfilled. Regarding the Passover lamb;

Exodus 12:43 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof…46  In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

And the righteous man;

Psalm 34:20  He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

And as the one pierced being stared at;

Psalm 22:16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17  I may tell [count] all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

Zechariah 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

John 19:38 ¶  And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39  And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40  Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41  Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42  There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

Joseph of Arimathaea is said to be a rich man in Matthew.

Matthew 27:57 ¶  When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58  He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60  And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

Isaiah 53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Jesus’ body is wrapped in linen with a hundred pounds of spices, which must have cost quite a lot. While the Bible does not explicitly say what day Jesus was crucified on in a way that allows us to link that day to one of our days of the week there are three theories; Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Notice that this was a special Sabbath; a high day, as we are at Passover time. I’ll leave the disputation of which day of the week Christ was crucified to others so as not to take away from things God has for us in this narrative.

Nicodemus from chapter 3 was one of the rulers who lovingly prepared Jesus’ body for burial.

Proverbs 30, verse 33 through chapter 31, verses 1 to 9, the words of King Lemuel

 

Proverbs 30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

This verse can be literally linked to the previous ones. If you think of starting trouble put your hand over your mouth. Loving drama is not a trait God wants in Christians. Stirring up trouble is not a good Christian testimony as much fun as it may be to some people. When we are spreading the gospel of Christ or ministering to our brothers and sisters, as Paul tells a young preacher and evangelist named Timothy;

2 Timothy 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

This sort of undermines the concept of screaming Bible verses at people on the street and walking away smugly thinking you have done your job.

And we are not to be troublemakers in any of our dealings as Paul tells another preacher named Titus;

Titus 3:1 ¶ Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, 2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

If you live Godly you are going to stir trouble up just because the world hates Christ.

2Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Without deliberately trying to tick people off.

In your homes, remember when you have a disagreement with your spouse and everything seems to be calmed down, the next thing you say is often the opening salvo of a new argument. It is almost always better to reconcile each other to yourselves. Sometimes, many couples need to argue a bit just to clear the air but it should not be done in a spirit of picking, insults, and humiliation.

I suppose the key is, whenever possible, avoid drama and don’t start trouble or incite people to anger and wrath. That doesn’t mean a woman has to tiptoe around a childish, hot-tempered man or vice versa. The hot temper needs to get right with God, not everyone else live in fear of his or her wrath. But, you know what I mean by digging and trying to “get someone’s goat,” which is annoying them slowly to the point where they are ready to explode, rather than just saying something you know will immediately start a fight.

 

Don’t “force” anger and the resultant strife by playing up to it or stirring it up deliberately.

 

Proverbs, chapter 31

 

Proverbs 31:1 ¶  The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2  What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? 3  Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. 4  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5  Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6  Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. 7  Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. 8  Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. 9  Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

 

I have read commentators that say that Lemuel was probably a pet name given to Solomon by his mother. One meaning of Lemuel is “for God”. She warns him here about giving his strength to women. It is rather ironic that Solomon, along with breaking other rules laid down by God for a king in Deuteronomy 17:16,17 and context broke the one about multiplying wives. This led to him going along to get along with his many wives’ religious beliefs (I Kings 11:4).

Here is the admonition against a king drinking fermented alcoholic beverages. Pharaoh’s butler’s statement shows how a just king handled the fruit of the vine.

Genesis 40:11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

This is the “new wine”.

Isaiah 65:8a Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster,

Squeezed grape juice was pure from adulteration and fermentation.

Deuteronomy 32:14b ……. and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

Strong drink was to be given to condemned criminals to make them less aware of the agony that they were about to experience. These Proverbs go on to say that wine is for the depressed and the sad, to forget their poverty and misery.

The king here is told that his duty lies in speaking for the condemned and judging the cause of the poor and needy righteously. The king was not only the giver of laws but he was a judge of men’s issues and conflicts, the final judge on earth. The three functions (our branches) of government are bound up in God, and the earthly king imitates these. James Madison did not quote the following verse in the United States’ Constitutional convention and the philosopher that was quoted, Montesquieu, does not quote it in his works either, but it existed for thousands of years before either Madison or Montesquieu.

 

Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Notice the king’s mother said that his duty was to speak for the condemned, the poor, and the needy. Many of our Founders spoke of the duty of government being to ensure the rights of man or, in some cases they said its duty was to seek the common good. However, in God’s Book He says over and over that the purpose of government is to see justice is done and to be the voice for the poor and needy. It has been said that the rich don’t need help. Rich and powerful men only need the help of government to get more wealth and more power. The poor and needy need government’s help just to survive. Just type in “poor and needy” into any online King James Bible and you will get a slew of verses about God’s concern for them.

Most of our Founders did not fear God. He was someone to worship and respect but not much of a concern. Even the aged Ben Franklin who said at the Constitutional Convention that he believed that God judged nations and men on the earth didn’t live his life in a way that showed he took that very seriously. The Bible was a guidebook for living but hardly a living Book that judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. If government is to be Godly and after His own heart, it must be compassionate and champion the cause of those who have nothing, the condemned, and the destitute. A government, a king, without compassion for the poor and needy is Satan’s own kingdom and an excuse for atheistic ideologies like Marxism and Communism to enter in.

Next, I’m going to look at one of the greatest pictures of the church found in the Bible. Then, I’ll be through with Proverbs for this go around.

John 19, verses 16 to 30, they crucified Him

 

John 19:16 ¶  Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18  Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

John 19:19 ¶  And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20  This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21  Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22  Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. 23  Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24  They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. 25  Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 28  After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29  Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30  When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Pilate is persistent, either in rubbing what he said in the Jews’ collective faces or perhaps in trying to mollify his own guilt.  He had the declaration that Jesus Nazareth was King of the Jews placed on the cross in three languages; Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Some would say he was mocking Christ but it is more likely he was mocking the Jews based on the previous exchanges between himself and the Jews. In spite of their objections he insisted on leaving it up.

Luke reports some conversation on the cross between Jesus and the two men who were being executed with Him.

Luke 23:39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40  But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41  And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Roman soldiers at the scene gambled for his clothing but left his coat, made like the robe of the priests’ ephod in Exodus 39:23 in one piece, intact without ripping it up.

Please take the time to read Psalm 22, which Matthew and Mark reported that Jesus began reciting from the cross.

Psalm 22:18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

From this point Jesus gave the apostle, John, the responsibility for His mother. There was no Social Security in those days, no welfare other than begging or, perhaps, pagan temple charity, and a woman depended on her son to care for her in her old age. Jesus did not leave His mother, Mary, without care.

Jesus said I thirst.

Psalm 22:15  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

Psalm 69:21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Gave up the ghost is a euphemism for dying referring to the spirit of a man or woman leaving them upon death.

Genesis 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people…17  And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

Genesis 35:29  And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Jesus, being fully man and fully God, had the soul and spirit of a man in Him, the self-identity, will, and uniqueness of the soul, and the spirit by which a man or woman can know God. We are composed of three parts; body, soul, and spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If any of these are separated from the others we physically die.

Genesis 35:18  And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

The man, Jesus Christ, is dead. But, something is about to happen that has never happened before or since, a dead person raised themselves from the dead.

John 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

God raised Christ by granting that authority, that power, to resurrect from the dead. Believing that is the foundation of salvation. Without that belief a person is lost; not church membership or attendance, how many people you get to say 1-2-3 repeat after me, repenting of your sins, or what Bible version you use will save you. Only this;

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

To believe in the Resurrection is the foundation fundamental of Christianity. Salvation is predicated upon belief, not works. Works come as a result. Yes, it is important to believe that Jesus is God because it has been shown that He did declare Himself to be God in the flesh, the Messiah, and the Christ, that He is the only way to eternal life.

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But, believing in Christ’s physical resurrection is essential to this saving faith. Examine yourself. When whomever led you to Christ prayed with you was there any examination of whether or not you trusted in Christ’s resurrection?

In the narrative, though, at this point, there is despair and uncertainty.

Proverbs 30, verse 32, lay thine hand upon thy mouth

 

Proverbs 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

Here is referring to blowing your own horn and thinking of yourself more than you are. It also refers to thinking evil, malicious thoughts. The Proverb says that the smartest move in these cases is to shut up. The specific literal reference here for the Hebrew goes back to the previous verses when in the presence of a king. You will do well in the presence of a king not to exalt yourself or speak evil thoughts. It is best to just keep your trap shut. Let the prince lift you up if you have any merit to him. Be humble, not arrogant, when standing in the presence of power.

Proverbs 25:6 ¶ Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: 7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

But, what good is that to most of us who will never stand in the presence of so called “great men?” In any event, if you are humble in the presence of the worldly businessman, the head of your company or a manager, they may view you as weak. Still, not tooting your own horn or speaking in a hateful manner is what God calls the Christian to do.

In fact, to bring this verse to a level of application for the average Christian Joe or Josephine in our daily lives we need to put a slightly different view on it. Christians are told to bring every thought into obedience to Christ, as Paul told us.

2Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Not to think too highly of themselves, again from Paul;

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We are not to put ourselves up higher than others. Here James and Peter repeat the same sentiments;

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

 

This is one of the problems with competitive sports. The winner is exalted and for a brief time shares in a counterfeit glory, a sort of self-exaltation. Athletes past their prime might dwell on their medals and awards. Sports are about winners and losers, one side being lifted up, one side being cast down. They teach a false ideal to the Christian. This is often also exacerbated by the pressure put on coaches to produce winners on the field, the court, in the ring, or on the mat. Instead of being rewarded for excellent character the athlete is rewarded only for outstanding performance. His bad character is only acknowledged if he or she embarrasses the coach or school.

In the cult of self, the exaltation of the flesh is the greatest good. Yukio Mishima, the famed Japanese author and Samurai, said in his classic Sun and Steel that physical excellence is a sign of spiritual excellence and that bodily weakness proved a kind of spiritual sloth. That classic work is a prime case of the lifting up of Self as the greatest ideal. As the pop song made famous by Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love of All, makes abundantly clear, the world acknowledges love of self as the greatest love, not love of others or love of Christ.

Even in spiritual matters we tend to give ourselves honor for our supposed faithfulness, success at soulwinning, church attendance, dress, or manner of living, as we hold ourselves out as a model of Christian virtue and spirituality.

It is more important in sports to give your best, train hard, and to show humility in victory and noble graciousness in defeat. Temper tantrums, foul language, trash talk, and bragging are the signs of a truly weak person. It is more important in your spiritual life to quietly go about serving God and remember where you’d be and where you’d be going without Him.

The Christian should always be giving glory to God alone. But how often do you, when you receive or accomplish something good in the eyes of the world, publicly give Christ the glory? At the end of the day it is SELF whom you lift up and exalt as a little god. Look what I accomplished. I’m proud of what I did. These things are not from God. They are from your own flesh. At work, at play, in politics, in sports, keep in mind that after you die, within a generation or maybe two, as people who know you now also die, you will be forgotten. It will be as if you never existed on earth except as a name on some ignored records. Even now, your athletics and other achievements have been forgotten and are only a dim memory, even to you.

As the Romans said, “all glory is fleeting.” Only what you do for Christ and with Christ has eternal value, or to quote a movie character, “echoes in eternity.” The Christian who is puffed up at some vain, worldly accomplishment should remember Jesus words in a reference about spiritual things;

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 19, verses 1 to 15, Behold the man

 

John 19:1 ¶  Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2  And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3  And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4  Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5  Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6  When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7  The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9  And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 10  Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12  And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14  And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

Scourging was a particularly brutal whipping which tended to tear the flesh off the victim. There is no need to go over the details here as many sermons have been preached on the absolute agony and degradation that Jesus endured. The danger of that is to start to think that the scourging was so brutal it led to His quicker death, as Pilate was amazed Jesus didn’t linger and suffer longer as some did (Mark 15:44). But, Jesus died at the time appointed not because of the whipping but remember that He had the power to lay down His life as He had the power to take it up again.

John 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Pilate then exposes this bloody mess of a man, our Lord, to the crowd and insists again that he finds no fault with Him, saying the great words Behold the man! Perhaps this means that he hoped that the torture would be sufficient to satisfy the bloodlust of the mob. It wasn’t. Pilate even argued when the chief priests screamed to have Jesus crucified. Again, he says that he finds no fault with Christ.

The Jews respond that Christ must die because He declared Himself the Son of God, which is to say, that Jesus had made it clear that He was God in the flesh.

Luke 1:35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

This frightened Pilate who goes back to Jesus and asks Him where He is from. This indicates that Pilate has some stirring of concern about Jesus’ true identity. Perhaps he was becoming convicted as his wife had already told him that she had a nightmare about Jesus in Matthew 27:19. Jesus would not answer him.

An upset Pilate cannot believe that Jesus will not answer him. After all, he says, I have the power to execute you and the power to release you. The word power, in certain contexts, means authority.

Luke 4:36  And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Luke 9:1  Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

Luke 20:20  And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

1Corinthians 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

Revelation 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

This authority is given by commandment, whether it be from God the Father;

John 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

…or, as in the case of Pilate, a human authority, and see in the following the connection between the commandment and the ability to rule over someone or have power…

Esther 9:1  Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

Jesus then declares to Pilate that Pilate’s power comes from God Himself because without God’s permissive will Pilate would have no power over Him at all. This is something we forget. God’s hand in the leadership of oppressive authority, for a purpose, is something that the modern Christian cannot begin to understand.

When the era, unfortunately called The Enlightenment, came in Western history our way of viewing God changed first until the intellectual elite abandoned the idea of God altogether. Edwin Burtt, in the book The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science, published in 1954 (from earlier editions in 1924 and 1932), pointed out that what modern scientific thought did, and I’m paraphrasing from numerous points he made throughout, was to change our idea of God from an active agent in every facet of reality to simply the First Cause. So, we now view God, not as He Himself declared in Job as bringing the prey to the predator, creating dirt clods out of dust, and making events happen in the furthest heavens or rain to fall in places on earth where no man is, but as the Creator who wound up the clock and watches it run.(34)

Face it, you have been brainwashed to view God as an absentee landlord to whom you complain when the plumbing leaks or a big brother you run to when the Devil roughs you up on the playground and not the God who made the plumbing leak and gave the Devil permission to go so far against you and no further. We have reduced God to a simpering, milquetoast who cannot even keep you saved, who has no power to preserve the Bible He wants us to have, and who is facing an almost equal, Satan, in a non-existent war for our souls.

But, the oppressive dictatorship of Rome was, at the very least, allowed by God and such governments will not end until Christ returns. Read Romans 13. On the other hand, government can do something other than for which it was ordained, which, according to Romans 13 is to avenge evildoing, and then it becomes an evildoer itself.

Pilate is about to execute an innocent man because of political realities and God is going to let him do it because it is part of God’s plan. But, Pilate is still guilty.

Matthew 18:7  Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Luke 17:1  Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

We are enabled to resist human government when it goes against God, specifically, when we are forbidden to preach Jesus.

Acts 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Jesus does not give Pilate a pass for his cowardly avoidance of justice in wavering about whether or not to free an innocent man but says that the Jews who delivered Him have the greater sin.

Pilate tries again to release Jesus but the Jews accuse him of treason against Caesar. In spite of that, Pilate presents Jesus as the King of the Jews. The crowd, consisting also of the leadership of the Jews, then proclaims that they have no king but Caesar.

Before you gloat over the Jews choosing a human king over God’s authority examine yourself. Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

The Jews had rejected God’s authority over them in favor of a human king previous to this.

1Samuel 8:4 ¶  Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5  And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6  But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Matthew added this statement in 27:25; Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

And so, it appears from history that they suffered mightily for nearly two thousand years. Paul noted that the Thessalonians suffered from the pagan Greek culture around them as the Jewish churches suffered from the Jews and that God’s wrath came upon them.

1Thessalonians 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: 15  Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

Again, before an American Christian gloats over the Jews choice, though, he should examine his own placement of the state, meaning the government, in front of his worship of Christ. For many years of our history our worship of Christ was filtered through our patriotic devotion to the god of the state. Our ancestors and many of us only saw Christ dimly by looking through the flag. For many conservative Christians, at least in regard to unlawful wars and unconstitutional military interventions, though not in regard to helping our own citizens who needed help, the state has had a divine right in place of God to be God’s agent on earth. It was believed and is still believed by many that we send our military, not on a mission to support some ill-conceived foreign policy mandate or some secret, veiled business interest, but almost as a messianic crusade of good (us) versus evil (them). Everything the government does in regard to war is then couched in terms of good and evil and defending our freedom as if some goat herder in a cave in Afghanistan was more of a threat than our own government and if you don’t wholeheartedly support what the government of either party declares is its intention on the surface you are not supporting your sons and daughters in arms that you have gladly delivered into the arms of Molech.

Be aware. God is able to take your nation away from you as He took the Jews’ nation from them. Repent of your worship of the state before it is too late.

(34) Edwin A. Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science (1954, repr., Dover Publications, 2003), Kindle Edition.

Proverbs 30, verses 24 to 31, the traits of a successful king

 

Proverbs 30:24 ¶ There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: 25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; 26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; 27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; 28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

One of the things about these verses that I like is how the writer calls the ants a people and the conies (some say this is a rabbit, some say it’s a mouse of some type) are a folk. In any event, these four creatures are very small and physically weak in comparison to larger animals but they do amazing things.

They are, in order, wise, industrious, organized, and pervasive.

Proverbs 30:29 ¶ There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: 30 A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.

In these comparisons are found strength, speed, and agility, with finally the key to these comparisons being found by the mentioning of a king at the very end. All of these traits are then the ideal traits of a human king; wisdom, industriousness, organization, having his agents everywhere, with strength, speed of action, and ability to change direction at a moment’s notice. In Niccolo Machiavelli’s classic work, The Prince, he talks about how a successful ruler must think quickly and be flexible.

A ruler is also called to be a judge and at times in history has had to deliver his people from a great danger. Notice how these positions are all defined and linked in these verses.

Exodus 2:14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

Notice that a prince is a judge in the way the Bible is laid out for understanding. Now, when the martyr, Stephen, quotes this verse in Acts, ruler is substituted for prince, showing these are synonyms or having similar or like meanings. The concepts are then further explained by simple word substitutions. This happens all through the Bible.

Acts 7:35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

In this verse the parallels; ruler and judge, then ruler and deliverer, are made. Ruler is the hinge on which the self-defining qualities of this verse are evident. A ruler is a judge, which explains the Book of Judges’ secondary characters (the main character is Christ, the physical image of God, acting on the Godhead’s behalf). A ruler is also a deliverer, which also helps explain that Book. So, the Judges were rulers and deliverers of their people, which is also evident by reading the book.

In the Law of Moses there were conditions for a king’s rule laid out;

Deuteronomy 17:14 ¶ When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

In 2nd Samuel we find a further qualification;

2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

Even a casual reading of the Old Testament can show you just how the kings of Israel and Judah failed to live up to those qualifications.

In the Bible we find the three branches of our government; the judicial, the legislative, and the executive;

Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

By what criteria do you judge the person you would elect as chief executive of your own country? And is there any way to even judge a modern, secular government office with the theocracy of the Hebrew Kingdom of the Old Testament?

What about you, men and women, as the rulers of your families? Do you share the qualifications for kingship as co-heirs in the grace of life?

1Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

What about your standing with each other?

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Or is one of you a petty tyrant (and that can be either male or female?) These character traits of a ruler can easily be applied to Christian parenting, much more easily than they can be applied to a secular elected president. What kind of a leader are you in your home? We tend to try to put off the standards of God to people as far away from us as we can get, to our political leaders or to some person in prophecy, but all I am asking you to do is to apply them to yourselves and see where you stand in the order of things. Consider it, please.

John 18, verses 28 to 40, What is truth

 

John 18:28 ¶  Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. 29  Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30  They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. 31  Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32  That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. 33  Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34  Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35  Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38  Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. 39  But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 40  Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

The Jews did not want to enter the judgment hall of the Roman governor, Pilate, lest they be defiled for the Passover for the Jews were all about their spiritual superiority over their rulers and the worry about being tainted by contact with them. Verse 31 presents us with an interesting question. If the Jews were not allowed to inflict capital punishment then were they not risking Roman justice by threatening to stone the woman caught in adultery and would they not, in Acts 7, be in danger because of their stoning of Stephen?

Here we have a crowd demanding that a Roman governor put Jesus to death and insisting that they have no lawful right to do so themselves. So, clearly they needed Roman permission for a death sentence to be executed. They certainly weren’t afraid to murder someone they were enraged at, as we see in the two aforementioned passages about the woman taken in adultery and Stephen’s extrajudicial murder. The Jews wanted Jesus crucified, not stoned. They wanted Him treated like a common criminal by the Romans, someone guilty of a capital crime that was worthy of death. Worthy of death to them they wanted to be worthy of death to the Romans. This becomes a political issue very quickly and is very dangerous to Pilate’s position among a people who are constantly creating civil disturbances.

It is also a matter of prophecy. Verse 32 shows us why, in how Jesus was to die. Being hung on a tree becomes a euphemism for being crucified on a cross of wood.

Deuteronomy 21:22  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree…

As Peter said;

Acts 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Acts 10:39  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

And Paul;

Galatians 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

The Jews were not going to take Jesus out in an extrajudicial proceeding. They wanted the full Roman authority behind His death as if He were an insurrectionist fomenting a disturbance against Rome’s authority itself. I point you back to what Caiaphas said much earlier about the need to sacrifice Jesus.

John 11:47  Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. 49  And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50  Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 51  And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52  And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 53  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

John 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Pilate tried to see if Jesus would claim to be the king of the Jews, thereby lending credence to the Jews’ accusation without proof. But, Jesus tells Pilate an important truth that Christ’s kingdom is not of this earth. This has been a hard pill for state religionists to swallow so it is usually ignored. The Roman Catholic Church thought that they were ruling the earth in Christ’s name and that His kingdom was represented by them for many centuries. The American Theological Review, in 1859, said that postmillennialism, whereby a millennium would be set up and the religion of Christ would be everywhere and, “his spiritual reign would be universal,” and that would be followed by Christ’s physical return was the, “commonly received doctrine.”  While admitting that this was not what the early church believed, as they and we believe He will return first to rule and then the millennium, the thousand year reign, will come, the author goes on to say that the early church was simply wrong.(28)

From the America’s earliest days prominent voices like John Winthrop evoked the concept of America’s destiny to be, “a city upon a hill,” and that, “the eyes of all people are upon us.”(29)  Preachers and prominent men, such as the president of Yale College, Ezra Stiles, at the country’s victory in the American Revolution, referred to God’s special grace on America as a divinely inspired (and white) nation.(30)  This early concept of America’s divinely ordained place in the world is represented by the co-opting of the reference in Daniel 2:45 in the Old Testament to a fifth kingdom that is, “a stone cut out of the mountain without hands,” that smashes the feet of the statue of past kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which was prominent in the early American mind, as preached by Rev. Pitts before Congress itself in 1857.(31)   Early American writers spoke of a millennium to come of peace and progress initiated by America’s very existence.(32) Millennial beliefs based on the Bible combined with a faith in America’s inevitable progress and capacity for being a beacon of freedom in the world was common in American belief. John Eliot, Cotton Mather, and other notables such as Jonathan Edwards linked America during the colonial days with a golden age of progress for mankind and as the center of the millennium of Christ’s reign, although without Christ being physically present but reigning through the church, a radical departure from traditional Calvinism’s hopelessness for a world full of sinful, depraved men.(33)

But, they were wrong. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world as in a physical, earthly kingdom until He reigns from Jerusalem in the millennium over the all the kingdoms of the earth, as the early church believed and the Bible teaches. The kingdom of God is invisible on earth. It is in each believer connecting them to their king, Jesus Christ, who is God.

Luke 17:20 ¶  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

So, how plain does that have to be? Jesus will bring in His physical kingdom when He returns.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

For two thousand years groups of so-called Christians have been murdering and pillaging under the excuse of bringing in Christ’s kingdom. The weapons of our warfare are not physical, though.

2Corinthians 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…

Pilate asks Jesus directly if He is a king. Jesus answers that He came into this world to bear witness to the truth. Then, Pilate asks sarcastically, “What is truth?”

Having found no fault with Christ Pilate offers His release to the Jews, as we as the custom at Passover. But, they cry out for a robber and a murderer (Mark 15:7) to be released.

The world will always prefer to glorify thieves and murderers to Christ and unfortunately, so do most Christians. Liberal Christians seek the approval of powerful men in government and business whose intentions may be totally selfish and ungodly. I recall listening to Billy Graham, on tape, and reading about Anthony Campolo justifying the wrongs of presidents, saying what they wanted to hear and pumping up their huge egos. Fundamentalists will totally disregard Christ’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the sermon given on a plain in Luke, 6, and preach a militaristic, hate-strewn, justification of every war the high mucketymucks say we need and every policy of someone who convinces them that they want to return America to some mythical time when it was God-fearing, decent, and moral. But, the Christ of the Bible, not so much. Give us Barabbas. He’s cooler and appeals to the flesh more.

 

(28) Henry Boynton Smith, ”History of Opinions Respecting the Millennium,” The American Theological Review (Boston: Charles Scribner & Son, 1859), 642.

(29) John Winthrop, “A Modell of Christian Charity,” Hanover Historical Texts Project (1630, repr., Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1838) http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html (last modified, August, 1996.)

(30) Ezra Stiles, “The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor,” in The Pulpit of the American Revolution, or, The Political Sermons of the Period of 1776, John Wingate Thornton, ed., (Boston: D. Lothrop & Publishers, 1876), 405.

(31) Fountain E. Pitts, A Defence of Armageddon or Our Great Country Foretold in the Holy Scriptures In two discourses, Delivered in the Capitol of the United States, at the request of several members of Congress, on the anniversary of Washington's birthday, 1857. (Baltimore: J.W. Bull Publishers, 1859), 90.

 

(32) David E. Smith, “Millenarian Scholarship in America,” American Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 3 (Autumn, 1965), 541. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2710907. (accessed 10.28.2015).

(33) Ibid., 539.