The Princes and People at the Cross
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25)
PILATE ASKED THE PEOPLE AT JESUS" COURT HEARING what he should do with Jesus. God was watching and listening and held them accountable. They were part of the total mindset that had rejected the promised Messiah. Some were at Pilot’s hearing and some climbed the hill of Calvary. They were all full of hatred and were tools of Satan. Paul wrote: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1Corinthians 2:7-8)
THE PRINCES AND PEOPLE WERE DISCUSSING THE FATE OF THE LORD OF GLORY. Pilate was a government authority. He was a prince, but he didn’t know much. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He prayed the Father to forgive them: Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34)
GOD JUDGES PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF WHAT LIGHT THEY HAVE. God instructed Jonah on this: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? (Jonah 4:11)
WHEN GOD CONFRONTED BELSHAZZAR before He judged and killed him in Babylon, He said to him: “…and thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven;… (Dan 5:22-23a)
People at the Hearing were held responsible for the death of their Promised Messiah and were considered among the foremost people at the Cross. They had forty years to repent before God would destroy the city of Jerusalem and their beloved Herod’s Temple in A.D. 70 at the hands of Titus.
SOME OF THE PEOPLE AT THE CROSS had listened to Jesus, had eaten of His loaves and fishes, had seen Him heal great numbers of people and possibly saw or heard of His raising some from the dead. Surely, they knew about Lazarus being raised from the dead. And yet, they gave Pilate a startling answer. Albert Barnes makes a good statement about this:
“His blood be on us ... - That is, let the guilt of putting him to death, if there be any, be on us and our children. We will be answerable for it and will consent to bear the punishment for it. It is remarked by writers that, among the Athenians, if anyone accused another of a capital crime, he devoted himself and children to the same punishment if the accused was afterward found innocent. So, in all countries the conduct of the parent involves the children in the consequences of his conduct.
“THE JEWS HAD NO RIGHT TO CALL DOWN THIS VENGEANCE ON THEIR CHILDREN, but, in the righteous judgment of God, it has come upon them.
“IN LESS THAN FORTY YEARS THEIR CITY AND TEMPLE WERE OVERTHROWN and destroyed. More than a million people perished in the siege and destruction of the city. Thousands died by famine; thousands by disease; thousands by the sword; and their blood ran down the streets like water, so that, Josephus says, it extinguished things that were burning in the city. Thousands were crucified suffering the same punishment that they had inflicted on the Messiah.
“SO GREAT WAS THE NUMBER THOSE WHO WERE CRUCIFIED, that, Josephus says, they were obliged to cease from it, “room being wanted for the crosses, and crosses for the men.” … To this day, also, the curse has remained. They have been a nation scattered and peeled; persecuted almost everywhere, and a hissing and a byword among people.
NO SINGLE NATION, PROBABLY, HAS SUFFERED SO MUCH; and yet they have been preserved. All classes of people, all the governments of the earth, have conspired to overwhelm them with calamity, and yet they still live as monuments of the justice of God, and as proofs, going down from age to age, that the Christian religion is true - standing demonstrations of the crime of their fathers in putting the Messiah to death, and in calling down vengeance on their heads.” (Albert Barnes)
I HAVE ENCOUNTERED MANY WHO SAY IF THEY ONLY HAD MORE KNOWLEDGE, more evidence about God, they would do better in following Him. Truth is, people work hard at destroying knowledge offered them because they do not want to change their thinking or their behavior. They said that in Christ’s day: “Come down from the cross and we will believe you.” But we read that some wanted to put Lazarus to death after Jesus raised him from the dead; just to get rid of him.
THEY HATED JESUS SO BADLY. Are things any better today? Do you think the masses of people are looking for truth? Hardly; the masses of people hate anything standing in their way of doing their own thing and behaving like barnyard animals. Isaiah said:
“They have turned ever one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6).
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)
AFTER ALL THE WICKEDNESS OF PEOPLE, GOD STILL SAYS: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 19, 2019 – FRIDAY
A.M. 1 Samuel 27-29 P.M. Luke 17:1-19
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
Songs for Today:
Were You There (2:52) (Eddie Ingram. Acapella)
https://www.facebook.com/100009410046480/videos/2519485848375059/
No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus (2:52) (Laura Francis – Piano Solo) https://www.facebook.com/100009410046480/videos/2501014676888843/ You may need to adjust your volume control
Health Tip:
Detoxification. Dentist, Hal Huggins became famous for sounding the alarm against amalgam mercury fillings in teeth. Follow the link above to learn more. He earned a master’s degree in immunology after several years of dental practice. He passed on what he had learned at a state university, that our immune system sets the body up for 2-3 days of detoxification every 28 days. I was severely toxic and after detoxifying for three months, found that my body goes into a detox state for three days, every 28 days, more pronounced than for most people.
On the first day, food doesn’t taste good. On the second day, there’s hardly any appetite and I may need to do a deep sleep. After the third day, (on the fourth day) everything returns to normal and I can eat the bark off a tree. This happens to a lot of people who don’t know why they have 2-3 days when their appetite diminishes and the gut may growl, warning them: “don’t send any stuff down here today.” Not a fairy story. It’s been going on with me, ready or not for about 35 years, now. Read the link above and if you can find a used copy of his book at Amazon, you may learn some things you never heard of. Ω
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