SCRIPTURE:
“It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. ‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’ ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered. Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.’”
John 18:11
OBSERVATION:
It is so insightful that on the day of Preparation of the Passover, which is the day that the Hebrews would prepare to celebrate their liberation from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” or sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites; that Jesus, the son of God would be condemned to die by crucifixion. The irony is that as the Jews prepared to celebrate their freedom and the sparing of their firstborn; that they would sentence God’s first and only born to die, for unbeknownst to them, their eternal freedom and freedom for the world. But isn’t that our amazing God … that He would turn a misguided act of murder into a sacrifice of His only son for the benefit of the perpetrators and mankind?
Furthermore, that Pilate having found no basis for a charge against Jesus, was afraid of what was to transpire and therefore tried to set Jesus free; but was persuaded and pressured into allowing Jesus to be crucified. It could only be the will of God that would allow this to take place, that His only begotten son would be sacrificed for the benefit of mankind.
APPLICATION:
On December 8, 1941, in a speech to Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would describe the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as “a date which will live in infamy.” Infamy is the state being well known for a bad deed or supreme disgrace or evil. The word infamy sure describes the intent, motive, and actions of Jesus’ crucifixion – that it was indeed a bad deed, evil and a supreme disgrace. Yet, God allowed an incident of infamy to become an opportunity for eternity, for ALL of mankind. This epitomizes the nature of God that He has, He can, and He will turn bad, evil, disgrace, and sin into a loving eternity with Him when we repent and turn to Him. That God would love the world so much, that He would provide an opportunity to those who killed His Son, the ability to live with Him eternally is mind-boggling, until we realize how much God loves us.
Getting back to Pearl Harbor, the fact that the Japanese were in peace negotiations with the U.S. when they attacked Pearl Harbor is a caution to us about how the devil can try to make things seem so good as he deceitfully tries to steal, kill, and destroy.
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, may I learn and be mindful that the devil will try to make us believe what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right, like the Jews got people to believe that Jesus needed to be crucified. People will try to sway us to support, take positions, and protest causes that don’t align with the Word and will of God. Some leaders will also try to sway us in thinking that our best interest is to believe the best in their causes, like the Japanese misled the U.S. leaders to believe just prior to their attack that it was a time of peace.
