This morning during my quiet time with the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises I was reflecting on Jesus before Pilate. Jesus had just been brought back after having been whipped and mocked by Roman soldiers.
Pilate seemed to have a desire to release Jesus. He exclaimed, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him” (Jn 19:4).
The Leaders would have nothing of that.
“Crucify him, crucify him!” they yelled.
“Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked.
As I considered this, an image formed in my mind.
I saw Pilate with Jesus, beaten almost beyond recognition, standing next to him. There was a bust of trump behind him. It had a laurel wreathe on its head.
I saw the crowd, Al Mohler, Franklin Graham, Mike Pence, Tony Perkins, Robert Jeffress, and others standing there yelling, “We have no king but Caesar.”
It’s sad that American Evangelicalism can elicit such an image. Sad, but true.
Be First to Comment