God reigns sovereign!
For millennia Super-Powers have risen to glory, but given time, decadence, and a fiercer foe, have sunk back into obscurity. Ask your friends if they have ever heard of Cyrus the Great or Charlemagne. If they haven’t, don’t be too hard on them, for even Elizabeth I is slipping from memory.
National security is no small matter. For citizens to feel safe to go about their business, their enemies must understand the consequences of crossing their borders.
You and I may give little thought to such things. Most of us have never seen war, and we may never even know its horrors up close—For that we give thanks!
Every single day of Jesus’ life existed within the influence of the brutal Empire of Rome. They reserved the right to have the power of life and death over everyone.
So, from the moment the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus dead, his life was set on a collision course with Pilate, the Roman Governor.
During Jesus’ trial, Pilate warned Jesus of his power over his life. Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (Jn.19:11). Pilate, though literally staring into the eyes of Truth, chose political survival…and spiritual suicide.
Pilate, like Judas, refused Jesus’ personal invitation to repent before it was too late. He only saw his future in the Empire of Rome. Jesus was, to him, a problem to be disposed of.
Pilate was being swept along (by his choices) in God’s recovery plan. In fact, everyone who participated in Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion “did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:28). Righteousness was born amidst a rush to evil.
God’s will is unstoppable!
John Staiger
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