Our Response to Christ’s Victory

The Lines Have Been Clearly Drawn

Satan’s hatred for humanity is profound and relentless. His goal is to drag as many souls as possible into eternal damnation. On the other hand, Christ’s victory on the cross is complete, offering us the choice to live in eternal communion with God. But we must choose.

Jesus’ Trial Before Pilate

Imagine the scene: early morning in Jerusalem, the air thick with tension. Jesus has been taken prisoner in the Garden of Gethsemane, His followers scattered in fear. He faces mock trials, first before Annas and then before Caiaphas the high priest. Both want Jesus dead, but neither wants to be responsible for killing Him so they send Him to Pilate, the Roman governor, hoping the Romans will do the dirty work.

Pilate, however, is hesitant. He questions Jesus, finds no guilt, and tries to wash his hands of the matter. He tells the high priests, “You see to it. You found Him guilty of crimes against your religious traditions. You execute Him.” Pilate doesn’t want to be held responsible for Jesus’ death. The high priests, unwilling to take responsibility, argue that they cannot execute someone, only the Romans can to that. They know this isn’t true—they’ve stoned people before, and the Romans have looked the other way—but they want Jesus dead without bearing the blame. They claim Jesus has made Himself a king, a direct challenge to Caesar, and the ball is back in Pilate’s court.

Pilate, still unwilling to make a decision, sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, as Jesus is a Galilean and falls under Herod’s jurisdiction. Herod is excited to meet Jesus, hoping to see a miracle, but in the end, he just mocks Him and sends Him back to Pilate, refusing to decide His fate.

Back in Pilate’s court, the crowd has grown restless. Pilate offers to release Jesus as part of the Passover tradition, but the crowd, incited by the high priests, demands Barabbas, a notorious criminal, be released instead. Pilate, still not willing to actually decide Jesus’ fate, attempts to satisfy the crowd by having Jesus scourged. He brings Jesus out, stands Him before the crowd, bloody and in agony, but this too fails. The crowd demands crucifixion.

Finally, Pilate, trapped between his own conscience and the crowd’s demands, washes his hands, symbolically still trying to absolve himself of Jesus’ blood, but he, like us, cannot escape the decision or the responsibility. The crowd shouts, “May His blood be on us and on our children,” words that ironically hold profound truth as Jesus’ blood is the only means by which we can be saved.

Each of us is like Pilate, faced with the decision to stand with Jesus, acknowledging our own guilt, or capitulating to the pressures of the world around us. We cannot avoid this decision. To not choose is to be in Satan’s camp.

The Decision We Must Make

The choice before us is clear: eternal communion with God through Jesus, admitting our guilt and accepting His sacrifice, or eternal damnation with Satan. Jesus’ sacrifice and victory over sin and death offer us a path to salvation, but we must acknowledge our need for a savior. This choice is the most monumental decision we will ever make, with eternal consequences.

Living In The Holy Land

I was blessed recently to go on a trip to the Holy Land. When we arrived, we got on a bus and started the tour immediately. The first day of the trip, I was absolutely amazed at the terrain of Israel. As our bus drove from the airport to the hotel, the land was full of hills, and these hills were covered with huge rocks, spindly little trees, and a few plots of green, but pretty barren. The temperature was over 100 degrees, and all the roads went up and down and around; nothing was straight. This was a very harsh place to live.

On the second day, I woke up for my morning prayers and went out by the pool where I could look out over the terrain, and I wrestled with God. “Lord, you loved this land. Father, this is where you chose to send your Son. You called it a land of milk and honey, and yet I look around and I see something very different. This is a very difficult and harsh place. It is hot and dry. There are no straight paths or roads. You can’t get anywhere quickly. Everything is up and down; it moves with great difficulty. There is little vegetation and many, many rocks. I can’t imagine walking across this land anywhere without a paved road. It would be so difficult.”

Somehow, God answered me in my heart, or perhaps I should say my soul. God whispered, “Yes, Dan, I love this land because it represents where I actually meet people. During the ups and downs of life, when things wind you around from here to there, and you feel like you’re getting nowhere, at least not fast. When the days are hot and the times scorch you and drain you of your energy, you need to slow down, accept the difficulties, and just try to move on. Disconnected from the world and quiet around you in this sparsity is where I meet you. That is where people find me. That is where my Son meets them. That is where they find salvation.”

Choosing Christ is choosing to live with great joy among the people who are traveling the roads leading them to Jesus and His salvation. I am not here to tell you this is easy because it is not, neither will it be quick. The world offers quick and easy. Jesus promises that His yoke is light, and it is, but when you choose Christ, you choose to take part in His grand design, to fulfill the Great Commission He gives all His disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 NASB).

Conclusion

Choosing to follow Christ is profoundly countercultural. And fulfilling the purpose God created us for we are doing our part to fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave his church. To do that we must recognize the noise, busyness and confusion of this world as Satan’s traps. When we break free from those traps we will live differently, filled with joy, peace and passion, which will draw others to Christ’s salvation.

You’re probably asking, “How exactly do I get free from Satan’s traps and actually live with passion, joy, and peace?” That’s what the next article is all about.