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| <~~~ BACK Are you obedient to God? Do you read his word frequently? Do you love and fully give yourself over to (agape) him? Do you love (agape) your fellow human beings? These little children also couldn't possibly know how much they needed Jesus grace. And so it is with us. If we're Christians, we (hopefully) have some small understanding of our need for God, but I doubt we really know all there is to know about-well, anything. Least of all just how much we need Jesus Christ. This week's recommendation is a look at Campus Crusades' highly successful, brief, and to-the-point reasoning on why we need Christ: "Four Spiritual Laws." It's an excellent refresher for all of us, and a powerful witnessing tool. You'll find it at: http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm You can find it in languages other than English at: http://www.campuscrusade.com/four_laws_online.htm Special thanks to my dad-in-law for introducing me to "Four Spiritual Laws." Questions Q: "I don't understand why Pilate would cow-tow to the Jews and crucify Jesus. To me, the fact that a Roman is shown giving in to the Jews is strong evidence that the crucifixion story is fiction." A: The Roman government was set up so that the provinces that were more turbulent (like Palestine at the time of Christ), were under the authority of the emperor, who usually made sure he had armies ready to contain the peoples. Such providences were governed by prefects, procurators, or proprietors who were appointed by the emperor. Palestine's procurator at the time of Jesus' crucifixion was Pontius Pilate. His office was "renewed" each year, so he had a great deal of interest in keeping things relatively calm and peaceful if he wished to remain in that office. The Romans made it a general rule to not interfere with the religion of any group of people in these providences. They only stepped in when Jews (or other groups) tried to uprise against or tear down the current government, or when Roman laws were clearly being broken. By Roman law, Jesus had done nothing wrong. But the Jews insisted he had blasphemed (by claiming to be the son of God). That was his only "crime," and clearly it was a religious one. Pilate had no interest in meddling with the Jews' religious affairs, so he simply shrugged his shoulders. Denying a crowd of angry people this small thing (crucifixions were pretty common, after all) could easily have lead to uprisings, violent mobs, and great blood shed. Wanting to keep as much peace as possible, he allowed the Jews to do as their religion insisted. Interestingly, in one of Pilate's very first moves in office, he offended the Jews deeply by insisting banners with images of the emperor should be carried by the troops. The result was great violence, and Pilate yielded to the Jews fairly quickly, trying to avoid as much blood shed as possible. So, you see, even very early in his term, Pilate "cow-towed" to the Jews. GOT A QUESTION? I invite you to ask it. What stumps you? I'll do my best to find an answer! To ask a question, email me at [email protected]. (c) 2003 by Kristina Seleshanko |
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