Hello everyone. I hope you are having a great day and wondering if everyone that I talk to thinks that every sin is the same. Of course every sin is the same in that it takes you away from God but other than that, it’s wrong. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s read a passage.
11 “You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11
Hcsb Bible.
For some context, Jesus is being questioned again by Pilate after being beaten and humiliated by the Roman Soldiers. Pilate is trying to find a way to release Jesus without causing a riot because he knows Jesus is innocent but is too scared of the mob and possibly getting executed the Caesar if he doesn’t do a good job as governor.
In this one verse are two HUGE truths but we will focus primarily on the second one. The reason being that if we do the first part of the verse, we would need several posts just to hit the top of the iceberg that is God ordaining government. Questions like when should we rebel, why is government good and ordained by God and when is against the Bible and many other questions.
So he says that the Jews that brought him to Pilate have the greater sin. Looking at it from a surface perspective at first doesn’t make sense. I mean, Pilate is actively allowing Jesus’ beating would be the final say in whether he got crucified or not. By his orders, he brings more pain upon Jesus than the Jews ever did. So one has to ask, why would his sin of more pain on Jesus be less than the Jewish religious leaders?
The reason being is that the Jewish people the religious leaders were exposed to the Gospel of Jesus as he was living and many more chances to accept Christ than Pilate ever had. I believe it is safe to assume that this was the first day Pilate had ever met and talked with Jesus. Since Jesus spent 3 years or so preaching to the Jewish people and to some gentiles, they all had plenty of opportunities to accept his message.
But they didn’t and that’s the key point here. Jesus even says in Luke 10:12 that it would be better for the people of Sodom and Gamorrah in hell than those that heard the message of Jesus and didn’t receive it. In both cases, the importance on acceptance when the opportunity gives itself is emphasized.
There is a reason why these two towns were incinerated. They were performing atrocities that would amaze and scare us even today. But Jesus said that they would suffer worse in hell than the ones that heard the saving news and rejected it for whatever and actively went against it.
So at the end of the day, don’t think that you have all the time in the world to hear the message and accept it. For you are not assured tomorrow. When you hear the Gospel, it is your chance to hear it, admit your a messed up individual and accept him as your Lord and Savior so that you can spend forever in heaven. Each of us has only two choices when confronted with Jesus’ message. To accept or to reject. What will yours be?
The Bible Life 