On Being Brave During Difficult Time (John 18:28-19:5)

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are indeed no stranger to this one animal, the turtle. In addition to having a unique shape, the turtle has one interesting trait: when a turtle senses a danger that threatens her life, the turtle will enter her shell. However, if the situation feels safe (no more threat), then the turtle will come out of its shell. It is the nature of a turtle to look for a safe place when facing a dangerous situation; the same character can also be found in human beings, as we can see in the part of the Bible that just read.

  

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

John 18: 28-19: 5 tells the story about the Jews (along with the Roman army) who brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate to face a trial. It was still morning when Jesus was taken to the courthouse for the examination, but the Jews did not want to go inside because they were about to celebrate the Passover. Passover is a celebration to commemorate the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt. The Jews did not want to defile themselves by entering the courthouse.

You may wonder: Why did the Jews bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate? Why can’t they set a trial for Jesus according to their own law? We know from the Bible that even Pontius Pilate asked for Jesus to be judged according to Jews law (Verse 31). The Jews refuse to set their own trial for Jesus as requested by the Pilate because they want to protect themselves from trouble; hence they sought for a "safe" position by handing Jesus’ trial to Pontius Pilate. The Jews accused Jesus of being a "criminal," but they did not dare to put Him on trial by themselves, let alone kill him because they were afraid of the followers of Jesus. The Jews were always looking for the right time to arrest Jesus (Matthew 21:46; John 7:30). So it is clear that even though the Jews hated Jesus very much, but they did not dare to put Him on trial themselves.

Pontius Pilate - who was a Roman Governor at that time with the authorization from the Roman Emperor to lead in Judea and its surroundings - even though he knew that the accusations that the Jews were making about Jesus were not true (verse 38b); even though he knew that Jesus was not a criminal, he did not have the courage to decide how to deal with the matter. The Pilate's attitude, in looking for a "safe" position can be seen through:

First, He refuses to handle the case (verse 31). Although he was the governor at that time with the power to control the situation, he did not want to be involved with the problems among the Jews. Therefore, he preferred to bestow the trial of the Jews.

Second, when he finally took the case, he did not find any mistakes that the Jews accused Jesus of doing (verse 38); hence he tried to release Jesus by: "Reminding the Jews of their habit of freeing a criminal at the time of Passover (verse 39). However, Pilate's attempt failed because the Jews preferred to release a man named Barabbas, a criminal, instead of releasing  Jesus (verse 40). In here, we can see that Jesus is not a criminal; he does not fit the criteria of a criminal; he is not a thief, not a robber, not a killer. The real motive on why the Jews at that time wanted Jesus to be arrested was because they thought Jesus was a blasphemer of God. For the Jews, a blasphemer is far more dangerous than a criminal. That is their real reason when they arrested Jesus.

Third, the next thing that the Pilate did was to compromise with the Jews by telling his soldiers to flog Jesus. Putting a crown made of tree thorns and purple robes (symbol of suffering) on Jesus and gave Him. By doing this, the Pilate thought that the Jews would be satisfied and change their mind about the case. Unfortunately, the Jews did not want to let Jesus go. They then requested that the Pilate must put Jesus on the cross because He has considered Himself, the Son of God (Chapter 19 Verse 7).

We see that Pilate was facing a difficult situation. On the one hand, he wanted to free Jesus; on the  other hand, he was afraid of the people who wanted Jesus to be arrested. Pilate was not brave enough to stand on his own judgment in facing the dilemma of Jesus’ case. Even though he knew that Jesus was innocent, but because he was afraid of the Jews, he finally fulfilled the demands of the Jews to crucify Jesus.

 

How did Jesus react to the situation that was threatening His life? One thing for sure, He was not afraid. Jesus' attitude was just the opposite. He stands firm amid a problematic and challenging situation that he was facing. He did not show any fear, both before the Jews and the Pilate. We can see this when the Jews came to arrest Jesus. He did not run away, even though He knew that the time had come. In front of the Pilate, when Pilate asked whether Jesus was the king of the Jews, Jesus even dared to tell the truth that He was the King of the Jews and He came to testify of that truth (See verse 33-37).

 

      Brothers and sisters in Christ,

From the part of the Bible that we read today, we can see that, when humans were forced to face a difficult or dangerous situation, they preferred to be in a "safe zone" rather than choosing to face that difficulty, as the Jews and the Pilate did. However, as the children of God, Jesus has shown us an example of "courage" in facing difficulties in life.

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Every one of us must have experienced difficult times, or maybe we are currently experiencing it: it can be an economic difficulty, problems at work, unharmonious household life, church life, and even in our lives as citizens of the nation, especially while preparing for the election on April 17th, 2019. During a difficult situation, what should we do? Are we going to choose to stay in a "safe position" by running away or avoiding our problems, even when we know that it is wrong to do so, or are we going to be brave and strong and decided to face our difficult situations by sticking to the truth of God's Words? This is a call for all of us, including me, let us imitate Jesus who dares to be "brave" in dealing with various difficult situations because He knows that he is right. Jesus blesses us all, amen.

 

By Rev. Iston Umbu Kura Lena, S.Si-Teol

(Sunday Service, at GKPB Dhayana Pura

Sunday, April 7^th, 2019)