It Is As You Say
“Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” John 18:37b
Jesus had been arrested. Peter had denied Him three times. The disciples scattered as darkness fell—the Savior’s hour had come, just as He had said.
Led by the religious leaders, Jesus was brought before Pilate, but they would not enter the judgement hall for fear that they would be defiled before the Passover (John 18:28). They demanded Pilate sentence Jesus in the Roman courts, because it was not lawful for them to put anyone to death (John 18:31). When Pilate protested, they cried “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” (John 19:7).
In the middle of committing the most heinous crime in history, sending Christ to be crucified on the cross, the religious leaders were most concerned about keeping the finer points of the law, given to them by God Himself. They had Jesus right in front of them, fulfilling all prophecy interwoven between the words of Scripture that they knew so well, but they refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah—using God’s own word as a weapon against His Son.
Even Pilate, a Roman unfamiliar with the Scriptures, knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong. But the religious leaders preferred the law over the Truth. Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), but truth is not a concept. Truth is a person—Jesus Christ, our King of Kings.
The law is a measuring stick that we cannot measure up to. That is why Jesus came to provide a sacrifice for our sins, to create a new covenant with us, and to give us grace forever and beyond measure for anything we have ever done or will do.
As a working parent with a hectic schedule, there are many times I take my children with me to meetings after school. I want them to sit quietly so as not to create a distraction, and I often promise them that if they do, I will give them a gift like a toy or piece of candy. Maybe you can relate.
These promises entice my children to do the right thing for a moment, but it doesn’t last. Soon the toy is lost, the candy is gone, and I hold out something new in hopes that they will do what I have asked. It doesn’t change their desire to misbehave. It just changes their behavior for a very short time.
We are so used to making these kinds of agreements with others that we can start to think that Jesus relates to us in this way—that if we keep His law, we will receive His reward. But Jesus came to fulfill the law Himself, paying the price for our sins on the cross, knowing that we could never be good enough. When we accept Jesus to be our Savior, He transforms our hearts and we desire to be more like Him, keeping His commandments from an overflow of His love.
In Matthew 27:11, Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”. Jesus responded, “It is as you say.” (NKJV).
Oh friend, who do you say Jesus is? Have you surrendered your life to Christ, walking freely in His lavish mercy? Or are you trusting in doing all the right things and missing Him in the process? Let’s determine today to surrender completely to God’s grace that He provided through Jesus’ death on the cross and trust Him with the rest. He will be faithful to help us keep His word when we make Him the King of our hearts.