Luke 23-7.9.21

SCRIPTURE

Luke 23:13-14   

Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him.

OBSERVATION-What does it say? 

As Luke begins to close out the story of Jesus’ life, we enter the earthly side of the climax of His triumph over sin.  Somewhat like the final battle scene in a movie, Jesus faces the earthly opposition to his battle over our sin.  We see him facing trumped up charges, including tax evasion and leading a type of coup against the Roman government.  The greatest charge against him was that of blasphemy, which was a capital crime in the Jewish law.  But, as he stood trial, there was no fault found in the charges against him.  He became, as John later wrote, the propitiation and the physical atonement for our sins and he did it willingly.

UNDERSTANDING-What does it mean? 

Recently my friend told me a story about a crash he had on his dirt bike, while he was riding with a friend who struggles with his faith in Jesus.  While they were riding on a little used road, with a lot of wash crossings, my friend lost control in the sand of one of the washes and fell off the bike.  When he came to, his friend was helping him get up, but he was struggling with his memory and cognitive functions.  As they were trying to figure out how to get my friend and his motorcycle back to the van they arrived in, a Ranger from the Bureau of Land Management pulled up alongside them.  She was patrolling one small area of her nearly three million acres of land.  When my friend’s friend asked why she was there, she told them she woke up and felt something urge her to go to that area.  My friend, who is an above average rider, still doesn’t know why he crashed.  He only suspects that God was using him to reach his friend.

In a much more important way, Jesus was used by God, even though he was innocent.  He was used to bring us to a relationship with God, a little like my friend was used to make God’s miraculous attributes apparent to someone who needed to see them.  God often uses incidents and people that seem to be a mistake to make the biggest impact.  As we learned in Psalm 118:22, Jesus was the stone that was rejected by the builders, but he is the stone that our faith was founded on.

LIFE APPLICATION

Jesus, help me to accept the times I feel like I have been wronged, knowing that it might be you using me to reach someone for you. Help me to accept the pain I feel here on earth, knowing you are always after my good in the end.

-Tyler Galloway