English Standard Version
Do you ever find yourself making decisions that you're unqualified to make? This is Pilate's world that he's suddenly living in -- the Jews aren't able to put Jesus to death, but they're desperate to get rid of him, so they're using Pilate as a partner in their scheme. Pilate wants to get to the bottom of this, but he's not able to get Jesus to give him a straight answer. Jesus knows that death is the path that leads to life, not just for him but for all of humanity, and so he won't speak the words that would allow him to go free -- that freedom would be momentary, and wouldn't offer the forgiveness that he came to extend to all humankind.
I'd love to know so much more about the conversations between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate must have been on the edge of his seat, wanting to know so much, but he was in a rush to keep the Jews happy, and so he allowed them to use the Roman army to keep the peace. He obviously didn't realize the impact his decisions would have on human history, or else he probably would have asked a lot more questions.
I hope we all have the intellectual curiosity to pursue Christianity and the truth of it. There's a lot of great books that have been written by a lot of great minds about whether it is true or not. It's worth investing our time in, and I believe Christianity stands up to intellectual scrutiny. So many tough questions have been asked of the faith over the years. May we ask our tough questions and see where the paths lead.
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