March 14 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 19:1–9

Devotional

Pilate encountered in his court a case for which the judicial system of the Roman Empire made no provisions. The question was the following: Is it permitted for a man to declare himself to be equal to God? According to the legal justice system, Pilate could not find a lawful reason to condemn Jesus. He had to declare twice, “I find no fault in this man.”

But “we have a law,” said the Jews, “and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” It is true, according to the Jewish law, that whoever claimed to be equal to God was punishable by death. Christ clearly made an oath before Caiaphas that He was the Son of God. According to Jewish law this was sufficient for the high priest to call out, “What need have we of any further witness?”

The Jews were, strictly speaking, right. The person who was guilty of blasphemy had to die. We know that Jewish laws were not based on human insight as those of the Romans, for God gave His laws to Jacob. Looking at the heart of the issue, these laws were given to the first man in Paradise. If Adam disobeyed God’s probationary commandment, he no longer acknowledged being subject to the law of God. He would make himself equal to God by rejecting His laws. Adam did eat from the forbidden tree to liken himself to God. According to God’s holy law, he had to die. Desiring equality with God leads to death. Yes, the Jews were in the right from a formal point of view. They only maintained that which the Creator had already instituted in Paradise. The tragedy, however, was that they were only knowledgeable about the letter of the law. They changed the living law of God into a dead formality. Being strictly orthodox, they appealed before Pilate to the law of God, but it was a strict, coldhearted, and dead orthodoxy.

The Jewish leaders placed their finger on the original sin of the first Adam. But they neglected to realize that they themselves, in Adam, were also transgressors of this great commandment. Caiaphas tore his garment in outrage because, in his pious attitude, he was offended that Christ would make an oath claiming to be the Son of God. Yet he never tore his garment in sorrow for his sins. If the accusers of Christ had understood the law of God, they would have allotted the punishment of death to themselves instead of to Christ. They did not understand the curse of the law anymore and, therefore, neither did they understand the gospel when it appeared among them. They rendered Jesus an ordinary man who wanted to be God. However, the reality was the opposite: among them was God, who wanted to be man.

If the Jews had only seen Jesus for who He was, they would have torn their garments in sorrow and repentance. They themselves were deserving of death. Have you seen your own guilt before God? Humble yourself before Him.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.