Daily Devotional for Monday, May 18

Jesus Stands Before Pilate and Herod

“Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed,” Luke 23:20-23.

It is ironic that Pilate and Herod both came to the conclusion that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death while Israel’s chief priests, Jewish rulers and the people still demanded that He be crucified (verse 21). The Jews were the weak and oppressed and, yet, it was the powerful oppressors who judged the situation more clearly. It is true that the Jewish chief priests stirred the people on but it did not take much. The people had suffered unmet expectations, long-term discrimination and hurtful injustices. This left them with clouded judgment and easy prey for their own priests and rulers to turn them into useful pawns in their game of thrones. They were so blinded by their feelings that they demanded a murderous criminal who was dangerous to society be released and the innocent Jesus be crucified.

So often, we too can suffer clouded judgment because of injustices, discrimination and hurt that we have experienced or those that we love have endured. When we allow these lived experiences to drive our moral compass, we can be blinded by unforgiveness, revenge and hate. This leads to sinful actions in the name of justice. Pilate and Herod gave in to the people’s desire for injustice and hate because they feared the mob.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Make sure that your judgement is not clouded by a wrong that has been done to you. Do not be the fulfillment of the saying, “Hurt people hurt people.” Ask God to help you see clearly and to judge righteously in all your doings.

Jonathon D. Smith