It Is Not Lawful For Us

Today's reading: 1 Chronicles 14-15; John 18:19-40

John 18:31 Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law." Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,"

They had just put Jesus through an illegal arrest and trial, paid a man to betray Him and now they suddenly can't bring themselves to break the law?  They had just broken Old Testament law at least three times and now they don't want to break a law of the hated Romans even though they had permission from Pilate? It's an amazingly brilliant display of hypocrisy.

They were more than willing to go along with the law when it was convenient for them or when they could use to control other people but when it came right down to it they only cared about one thing-themselves. We have to guard against the same thing. It probably won't be as horrific as what the Jewish religious leaders did but we can make some pretty awful choices when doing the right thing isn't convenient and we do some fairly hurtful things when we try to use the 'Bible' as a means to control people and get them to toe an arbitrary line that we've drawn. What the Law of Christ demands is that we love God and love others as we love ourselves and if we really obey that law we'll live as God intends.