Read John 19:7-11. Circle the word(s) that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Reflections on the Word.
Have you ever listened to a sermon and said to yourself, “What did the pastor just say?” You can’t believe you ears! Was that heresy or is that really the truth? You want to make sure you heard them correctly.
Pilate may have thought that Jesus was a misguided person. Jesus was brought before him claimed to be a king, but now the religious leaders said something even more astounding. They said this, “The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
The religious leaders weren’t only saying that this Jesus was an earthly king of Israel, but now they were saying that He claimed to be divine, the Son of God. Pilate must have realized that there was much more to this case. Certainly, the Jewish leaders would not have brought an insane person to him. They took his claim seriously as being the Son of God and sought His death. The text states that their charge of Jesus’ divinity put even greater fear in Pilate. He had to rethink and re-examine the case. Could it be that this man was a king and the Son of God!?
The Apostle Paul had to rethink his understanding of the “heretic” Jesus. He could only think of Him as a delusional fraud until he himself was confronted with the risen and glorified Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Like Paul, many of us had to “rethink” who Jesus is when we heard and understood His claim: more than a good moral man, a good teacher, but the Son of God! This caused for a re-examination of our understanding of who Jesus is or at least what was depicted by others to us. The claim that Jesus is the Son of God is either true or false. There is no middle ground.
The Jewish leaders nor Pilate thought that Jesus was insane. His answers to their questions were rational. Jesus wasn’t blabbing, mumbling, and jumbling words, making outlandish claims about himself. He was quiet and compose before both the Sanhedrin and now before Pilate and the ONLY charge against Him was that He claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate remembered Jesus words, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (NIV). Is Jesus telling the truth of who He is to Pilate and to the religious leaders?!
Every person must come to some conclusion of who they think Jesus is after reading or hearing about Him. The decision will not only affect our treatment of Him, but our own lives eternally and in the here and now. Who is Jesus to you? Take a moment to re-examine the claims of Jesus.
-Kingston