“Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”” (John 19:14–15, NASB95)
Consider the insanity of rejecting Jesus as Lord. The nation of Israel was an occupied nation and oppressed by a foreign government. Rome ruled with an iron fist that overtaxed the people of Israel and dominated their life. Historically, Israel had been looking for a messiah to come and deliver them from their enemies and the oppression of the world governments. Their hope was that the Messiah would bring peace to the land through the Messianic Kingdom. These religious leaders were given prophetic descriptions of the Messiah. Yet, they interpreted these scriptures through a biased lens creating a distorted view of the Messiah, thus missing the true Messiah Jesus when He arrived. I can’t help but reflect on what kind of biased lens I perceive Jesus through?
It is disastrous to reject Jesus because He doesn’t fit the image that we have created in our mind. Rejecting Jesus and His authority will take you down a path of rebellion that leads to insanity. Consider the action of the Jewish leadership. They rejected the Son of God and declared allegiance to Caesar, a man who thought himself to be a god. This is a clear violation of the first command of the law. When Pilate introduced Jesus as King of the Jews, the religious leaders became insane with anger and declared that Jesus was not their king and they had no king but Caesar. This is spiritual insanity! Rejecting the authority of Jesus and pledging alliance with the ungodly will lead you down a road of doing things that you never thought you would do and say things you never thought you would say. What is the correct response to “Behold your king?” The correct response is to bow a knee and confess to all, “Yes, Jesus is my King.“
Pastor Cary