Tag: judgment

  • Kings, Governors, Politicians & Priests 2– Pontius Pilate

    Kings, Governors, Politicians & Priests 2– Pontius Pilate

    Τίνα κατηγορίαν φέρετε κατὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου

    “Tis katēgoria pherō kata ho anthrōpos hoytos?

    John 18:29 – question of Pilate to the Jews who brought Jesus before him

    What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

    Pilate’s question to those who brought Jesus before him is most appropriate for any judge of a man brought to law before the court.

    Previously we discussed in Kings, Governors, Politicians & Priests – Power in the Palaces of Justice the political nature of the accusations of Jerusalem’s religious officials. We also addressed why the Jewish prosecutors brought their Messiah to the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate.

    Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

    John 18:28 NIV

    John 18:

    29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

    30 They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.”

    Did these Jewish religious prosecutors answer Pilate’s question – what charge against this man?

    The Jewish officials make no specific charge before the judge of this court, the Governor Pilate. They indict Jesus as ‘an evildoer.’

    31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.”

    In effect, the Roman Governor of all the province of Judea acting as High Court Judge of Jerusalem tells them, ‘Case dismissed.’

    Politics & Religion

    If you read too quickly through the trial transcript (as we often do Scripture) you may miss more of the motivation and underpinnings of politics and religion in Jerusalem.

    • Pilate (Governor and Judge) dismisses the case of the Jews against Jesus.
    • The Prosecutors (Jewish officials) appeal his judgment immediately.
    We'll return to the Praetorium of Pilate,
    but first the questions of politics.

    Who is Pontius Pilate?

    Pontius Pilate (Latin: Pontius Pīlātus [ˈpɔntɪ.ʊs piːˈlaːtʊs]; Ancient Greek: Πόντιος Πιλάτος, Póntios Pilátos) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD.

    Source: Wikipedia
    • First, Pilate is Roman in every context of culture.

    • Second, Pilate is a politician.

    He was appointed by Roman leaders as Prefect for this challenging eastern extreme of the Empire. His ten year appointment means that Pilate has full understanding of Jerusalem’s politics of religion prior to the Jews bringing Jesus to trial.

    It may be helpful to think of the Roman Prefect Pilate, governing from Herod’s elegant palace during every large Jewish festival, as a governor replacing the former kings – a sort of remote emperor of Rome.

    He commands nearly 3000 troops, which Pilate can order at will to control Jerusalem’s crowds and zealous pilgrims. Jesus’ trial for Pilate falls only in the jurisdiction of keeping the pax Romana peace for Rome in Jerusalem.

    To understand Pilate, Rome’s Governor, you first must understand the politics & religion of Rome.

    anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means “in the year of the Lord”

    Rome – 1st c. Anno Domini

    We know the connection of Caesar Augustus to the birth {in approximately 6-4 BC} of Jesus Christ.

    In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

    Luke 2:1 NIV

    But understand the politics of Caesar throughout the Empire over time and gain insight into Pilate’s politics in this trial of Jesus {in approximately AD 30-33} far-removed from Rome in distant Judea.

    Coin of Caesar Augustus

    Caesar

    Καῖσαρ, Καίσαρος , Caesar (properly, the surname of Julius Caesar, which being adopted by Octavianus Augustus and his successors afterward became an appellative, and was appropriated by the Roman emperors as a part of their title)

    • Tiberius Caesar Augustus was the second Roman emperor, reigning from AD 14 to 37 (during the time of Jesus’ trial). He succeeded his stepfather, the Roman emperor Augustus. – source: Wikipedia
    • Tiberius’s father, also named Tiberius Claudius Nero, a high priest and magistrate, was a former fleet captain for Julius Caesar. – source: Britannica.com
      • Don’t miss this: he was a Roman soldier commanding a fleet AND a judge AND a high priest; that is military, governing and religious authority
    • Emperor (Tiberius Caesar Augustus), ‘one of the greatest Roman generals’ appointed Pontius Pīlātus [ˈpɔntɪ.ʊs piːˈlaːtʊs] governor of the Roman province of Judea in AD 26/27 {a few years prior to Jesus’ trial for which he is best known}.
    More about the politics & religions of Rome to come…
    Page TWO - Please click Page 2 below for the questions.

    We’ll return to the Pilate’s trial of Jesus Christ, but I would like to provide a few more resources about the politics and religions of the Roman Empire before we do.

    To be continued...

    Pages: 1 2

  • 70 Years (or so)?

    70 Years (or so)?

    70 years (or so)…

    In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

    Till you return to the ground,

    For out of it you were taken;

    For dust you are,

    And to dust you shall return.”

    Genesis 3:19 NKJV

    Remember… you are dust

    We’ve all heard it:

    “Remember, you are dust” or some graveside equivalent from the Law of Moses or another ‘humble thyself before the Lord thy God’ quote from the Bible.

    In the days of his trouble Job pleads to the LORD:

    Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
    And will You turn me into dust again?

    Job 10:9 NKJV

    Lord HELP ME,’ some of us have prayed;

    ‘God help me,’ ‘Help me Jesus!

    And we hear the executioner proclaim to the condemned man and all witnesses: “May God have mercy on your soul.”

    You and I know deep down and ALL flesh knows in our heart of hearts — our days will end!

    But the LORD abides forever;
    He has established His throne for judgment,

    And He will judge the world in righteousness;
    He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.

    Psalm 9:7-8

    Why all this talk about the judgment?

    … it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…

    Hebrews 9:27b NASB

    NOTE: Roger turned 70

    Although my thoughts now gather more urgency, they tend to come to the page just a bit slower.

    Change ahead in my Christian Social Witness to you and the world.

    Yet as always, my thoughts will remain well-considered in light of scripture before you read it here. (Bear with me and help me by your comments, please.)

    I do have a reflection or two on my three score and ten, which I will share with you more gradually than before.

    Roger Harned – reflection on continued writing at 70 years old

    How many score remain?

    Those accustomed to the language of King James Bible may take account of their days by the same measure of years used by Lincoln.

    Lincoln and Gettysburg Address

    “For score and seven years ago,” Lincoln began on November 19, 1863. He looked back to the year of our Lord 1776 (as they used to say) just 87 years before.

    You may also recall from Lincoln’s memorial to those killed:

    … that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

    Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln could not have known then that an assassin’s bullet would soon end his own life five years short of just three score years, at age 54.

    All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

    Job 34:18

    Abraham Lincoln and Job were both highly successful men of integrity in life who encountered tragedy. Lincoln no doubt had read in his own King James Bible of Job’s struggles.

    If you’re keeping score

    Only a few of you will know what I once chose as a ‘life verse’ and that it comes from Job.

    {IF you want to know my life verse, just click the link to it above and it will open in a new tab or window.} It may help you to understand more about my purpose and gifts.

    It just so happens that in this year of our Lord {Anno Domini} A.D. 2020, I have, by God’s grace, lived three score and ten years.

    a bit of biography

    • My mother, Marie Hall Harned, lived more than four score years, though her father lived only to three score and five and her mother, Vera Tyler Hall not even to three score.
    • My father William E. Harned, his siblings and father William Alba all lived past four score years.

    Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

    I praise God for good health of this aging flesh and might easily boast (and speculate) of more years to come.

    Yet I remember well so many struggles of the lives of loved ones, their end which came upon us sooner or suddenly.

    Therefore like Job I consider that my end will be dust and strive to live for the life of my saved soul — in worship and love of Christ Jesus, One with God our Father.

    Take to heart your own possible suffering to come from Psalm 22. It precedes one we know so well about ‘the valley of the shadow of death‘:

    Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help…

    … you lay me in the dust of death.

    But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

    excerpt Psalm 22 ESV listen
    a picture of heaven

    Psalm 22 was part of our celebration of the wife of my youth, Becky Rice Harned. We considered our end — knowing how she had suffered to survive just her fiftieth birthday.

    She went to the Lord in spirit in that same year of our Lord, 1999, on the 10th of February, her disintegrating frame now returned to dust.

    Other beloved ones suffer in the flesh even now. Some endure pain known to us, while others, like Becky, suffer in silence.

    This frail frame will fail. So will yours, yet be encouraged in the Lord.

    Though our aging flesh contains the image and essence of our Holy God, our dust is not our living soul.

    A few family and long-time friends know a partial history of my life in this world. And I suspect a handful know yours as well.

    Most of you know my own failures and disappointments, as we all have in varying degrees at different times. Yet I do not expect to receive Job’s double blessing before I draw my last breath.

    Job suffered much, as some we know — even as Jesus Christ suffered severely for our sins.

    I am no righteous man – only in Christ’s righteousness – but like Job I have sought to live my life in integrity. I could not have lived through it all without the encouragement of the Holy Spirit through Christ Jesus, when finally I relented from my sins and sought the Lord for help for this helpless flesh.

    Looking back & ahead

    Reflecting back on my three-score and ten, as well as looking forward into the light of life given to my own spirit of hope, I continue in God’s grace.

    I continue in purpose, perhaps more directed toward that which lives within reach of my limited mortal touch.

    Leaving behind each dream and soul beyond my reach, I press on to preach to Gospel exclusively to those whom the Lord has chosen. (You may not be one of these.)

    Those not saved by the grace of God have most likely scrolled past the Light of their salvation already.

    Roger Harned – reflection on why most will never talk of Jesus Christ

    Social Media is not the world

    Based on technical data, talkofJesus.com has reached readers in many countries on at least four continents so far. My Christian Social Witness may yet by God’s grace reach some soul who has doubted the only Son of God as the Way and Truth of Scripture.

    So often Jesus taught His followers, that is, believers who loved the Lord God and one another, and also preached to multitudes which included many who failed to have ears to hear or eyes to see.

    Though in Christ, I am certainly not Christ Jesus. I can no longer preach the Gospel to those who refuse the Good News of Christ Jesus. They have no interest in a relationship with the God of love and life!

    Therefore, Christ’s purpose for my witness of the Gospel to a 21st century church, wrought with ‘christians‘ who witness something other than Christ, pales by comparison. Never-the-less:

    No soul has more need for the true Gospel of Christ Jesus than the 21st century christian.

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

    Although we will soon return to my 2020 series on the Gospel of John, you, beloved reader, will be in for a new and more pointed relational look at scripture as we speak exclusively to the church.

    To be continued... Lord willing... 
  • From This World to the Next – Truth

    From This World to the Next – Truth

    Jesus continues to pray for those the Father has given Him:

    And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

    John 17:19 KJV

    What is truth?

    ‘What is truth?’ Pilate will soon ask the Creator of all things who came to this world of His creation.

    Yet prior to the tragic truth of the trial of His righteousness sacrificed for us, Jesus prays for those given to Him:

    “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.[CSB]

    Christ Jesus, sanctified for us, prayed about truth. So just as we previously defined sanctification [in our last post linked above] let’s define truth as used in scripture.

    ἀλήθεια – truth

    1. objectively
      1. what is true in any matter under consideration
        1. truly, in truth, according to truth
        2. of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly
      2. what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
        1. in the greatest latitude
        2. the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
      3. the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians
    2. subjectively
      1. truth as a personal excellence
        1. that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit

    The Truth of Eternal Life

    All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

    Romans 3:23 CEV

    This includes you, fellow sinner.

    Eternal God and Mortal Man

    A reflection of Psalm 90:
    Before the mountains were born
[c]Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:2 picture of mountains in mist by lake

    3 You return mankind to the dust,
    saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

    7 For we are consumed by your anger;
    we are terrified by your wrath.
    8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
    9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;
    we end our years like a sigh.

    But what next?

    ‘The days of our years are threescore years and ten… OR perhaps eighty, the Psalm reminds us… (OR perhaps a score more, but maybe just 50 years… or a death more sudden).

    ‘… Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
    For soon it is gone and we fly away.” – Psalm 90:10b NASB

    Returning to the night of Jesus’ betrayal

    The Messiah Jesus came to man — living among us and teaching God’s way.

    The Lord looks toward heaven on this night on which He was betrayed. From an upper room in Jerusalem Jesus prays to God our Father. This perfect High Priest stands before His own Altar of suffering and Sacrifice on behalf of those the LORD has chosen.

    For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

    John 17:19 NASB

    You will die and I will die.

    The Son of Man did die… for those whom He sacrificed for Himself.

    The witness of Scripture and the Gospel confirm what happened next to the Messiah of God. What will be next for you?

    Hebrews 9: excerpt:

    A New Covenant

    Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies… only the high priest enters…

    11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation..

    .. through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

    … sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh …

    … “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.” …

    For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us

    Hebrews 9:24

    … at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

    And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment

    Hebrews 9:27 NASB

    AND YES, fellow sinner, you know well from Scripture what is NEXT after DEATH.

    28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

    Do You await HIM?

    As Jesus our High Priest interceded for them, the Apostles only had hint of what would come next. Certain sacrifice of their Lord and ours! Probably persecution and death for each Disciple of Jesus, the only question being when.

    Yet by the Lord’s prayer of protection He sent disciples into a world which hates Jesus, the Christ of GOD; a world which hates the very GOD it denies.

    No question about it, ALL will die; but few await death with joyous expectation. Do you await the resurrection of our flesh and joining of your soul and the Spirit of the LORD GOD?

    NONE want to face the Judgment of sin – an evil nature woven into our being which cannot face the Very Light of the Lord GOD.

    Those who deny God or claim Christ falsely must, in time, face the judgment of having chosen darkness over the Light and Glory of God and of having refused God’s grace of a new choice to turn back to the path of righteousness which leads to life in paradise.

    What is True of Christ Jesus?

    The Good News of John about Jesus our Savior:

    Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

    Truth from the Gospel of John 14:6

    • The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
    • “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
      • “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil…
        • “But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
    • Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
    • “I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

    As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:19 KJV

    Do you hear your Savior’s voice and open the door to Him?

    Will you receive eternal life?

    He has sanctified those He calls to eternal life.

    How will you get to the paradise of God without the righteousness of Christ Jesus?

    ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – Revelation 3:22 KJV

    Amen.