A while back I asked a police officer who fellowships at our church what has been the craziest thing someone said when he pulled them over for speeding. A woman with a Chihuahua told him, “Sorry, officer, my dog ate chocolate, and I’m rushing him to the hospital.”
Police officers have heard it all.
Pontius Pilate had heard it all, too—every lie, every excuse. But he didn’t hear any of that from Jesus because He was innocent. In fact, when Jesus was brought before him, Pilate was unnerved at His calmness in the face of his own death. And Jesus talked about truth to a man who didn’t believe in truth.
Jesus said,
“I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true” (John 18:37 NLT).
Pilate callously responded, “What is truth?” (verse 38 NLT). He was like a lot of people today—a moral relativist. Because he was a pagan Roman, he probably didn’t believe in absolute truth. Yet truth incarnate was standing before him. All he wanted to do, however, was get out of the situation.
He didn’t want to enter into that conversation. Pilate wasn’t going to deal with the issue, and he ended up sharing responsibility in the worst crime in human history.
Effectively, Pilate’s political career was more important than Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. In the same way, there are people today who choose their careers over Jesus. Others choose things over Christ. And still, others choose people rather than Him.
But don’t let anything or anyone become more important to you than God. It’s better to succeed in God’s eyes and fail in the world’s eyes. Nothing is more important than pleasing the Lord. Make that number one in your life.
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