When God Says …
“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. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!” (John 19:4-5 KJV).
In these scenes, we see Pilate appearing again from the Praetorium after rounds of grilling and subjecting the Lord Jesus to rounds of savage humiliating tortures by the Roman soldiers. He announced before the crowd of religious Jews ‘I find no fault in him.’ Seeming proud of what he did, having the Lord disfigured beyond recognition, he said “behold the man”. This is so confusing for us to discern and understand the conflict between Pilate’s pronouncements and actions. In one hand he proclaimed the Lord’s innocence and desire to let Him go, and on the other hand he inflicted on the Lord the worst kind of torture and shame. It is hard to fathom the kind of person this man was. Were his declarations sincere? Or, was he just about to save himself from the ire of the crowd and his superior in Rome? That, we should place in God’s hands.
As for us reflecting on these passages in our now, we should be in the know that those pains inflected on the Lord Jesus Christ were meant for us. It was a necessary process to set us free from the enemy of our soul. His sinless blood that oozed from the wounds of the crown of thorns that He overcame, washed and overturned the curse of thistles and thorns resulting from the fall of Adam (Genesis 3:17-18). The ground we now stand on by grace through faith and by truly believing in our Lord Jesus Christ, not by mambo jumbo of religion, but through our personal intimate relationship with Him, is cleansed. He is in us and we are in Him. He restores us in our original state before Adam’s fall. He makes us into a new creation. In Him, thistles and thorns are no more. The Scriptures remind: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).
And I say, AMEN!
Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries
When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.
Partners For Christ Ministries, INC
P. O. Box 773716
Ocala, FL 34477
Touching lives in Cambodia, The Philippines, The Middle East, The USA, and... other countries.
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