Reflective Bible Study

During Jesus’ final hours before His crucifixion, all the gospels seem to slow down and focus in on the last hours of Jesus’ life. However, only Luke shares Jesus spending time with a second Roman leader.

While Pilate was the ultimate judge who authorized Jesus’ crucifixion, Luke describes how Pilate sent Jesus to another governor who just “happened” to be in Jerusalem at that time. Part of me wonders if this was because of how Luke describes Jesus’ response when a group of Pharisees bring the message that Herod wants to kill Him. In Luke 13:32, Jesus begins His response to Herod by saying, “Go tell that fox, …” and this makes me wonder if Herod had made the trip to Jerusalem in case an opportunity arose to see Jesus.

But the phrase that really stands out in my mind in Luke’s version of Jesus’ trial before Pilate and Herod doesn’t come from either trial, but from the footnote that Luke includes about what happened afterwards. “That day [the day they both met Jesus in person] Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.” (v. 12)

This stands out in my mind because it brings out a huge truth about human nature that each one of us can apply: Shared experiences can break down the barriers to friendship. This truth can work both favorably, such as shared positive experiences like a group outing or sharing how one has faced a trial that another is going through. But this truth can also work negatively, if the shared experience is destructive or harmful.

In a strange way, Jesus became the reason for Herod and Pilate’s friendship. Differences of belief often separate people, but when two people who see the world differently can agree on the foundation of belief in Jesus, a friendship can begin to form. Friendships don’t seek to change the other person, but instead friendships seek to share life together.

Our passage in this post discusses how Jesus separates humanity into the two groups at the judgment. As I read this passage and what Jesus shares, the big idea for this entry is that the key distinction between these two groups is clearly defined.

The key distinction, and really the way we are able to show love to God is by showing love and compassion towards people who are unable to help us in return. Helping others who cannot help us in return is like us helping God.

The fascinating thing about this is that it is so simple. Helping a beggar or homeless person at the intersection, volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, and/or sponsoring a child in a third-world country are all ways that we are able to “help God”.

Typical “religion” never seems to make things this simple – but Jesus does. It’s also so attainable, because wherever we are in life, we can find people who we can help who cannot help us in return. It just takes open eyes and a willing spirit.

The skeptical part of me wants to push back on help because I may be “enabling” the individual I am “helping” to not better themselves. If they conclude that it is easier to simply live off of the generosity of others instead of bouncing back into productive members of society, I have actually hurt them instead of helped them.

The big problem with the skeptic part of me is that it shifts the focus off of me. Instead of asking “What can I do to help?” I am really asking “What are the reasons I shouldn’t help?”

Jesus doesn’t call us to selectively help; He calls us to help because it’s what He would do. Jesus doesn’t call us to “size up” someone who appears to need help; He calls us to help because it’s what He did. Jesus came and helped us when we were in open rebellion towards Him – while we were still sinners – and it didn’t matter to Him whether we would accept or abuse His gift. Is my focus on being like Jesus, or on making excuses to not be like Jesus?

Sometimes I wonder if there was anything Jesus did that did not fulfill an Old Testament prophecy in some way. Scattered throughout Matthew’s gospel are dozens of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled and one of the most Messianic prophecies for Jesus to fulfill comes about one week before His crucifixion.

Matthew draws our attention to the importance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt by connecting this event with one of Zechariah’s prophecies which says,

“Tell the people of Jerusalem,
    ‘Your king is coming to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey,
    on the colt of a donkey.’” (v. 5 [Zechariah 9:9])

Of all the prophecies included in the Old Testament, this one is among the most connected to the Messiah, and the significance of it would have been clear to almost everyone present. It probably was also noticed by the religious leaders, who may have taken it to mean that Jesus wanted to claim the role of Messiah even if they didn’t believe Him to be worthy of the title.

But if we look at this prophecy a little more closely, it perfectly describes Jesus. This prophecy says that Jesus is a king who is gentle. In that culture, and really in most cultures throughout history, the role of king has not been connected or associated with the characteristic of gentleness. Typically when we think of king, we think bold, dominant, formal, official, and perhaps even unapproachable.

But Jesus, while representing God, chose to come onto the scene in a way that was not bold, not dominant, not formal or official, and in about the most approachable way possible. Jesus came to demonstrate what the King of the universe truly is like and specifically that He is a different sort of King than what we might expect.

For those of us who have ever wanted a concise list of the Holy Spirit’s job description, Jesus shares some things that John records for us in several verses during a conversation Jesus has with the disciples on the night He was arrested. In this list, Jesus describes several things that the Holy Spirit will do when He comes, and some of these things may surprise you.

Jesus first gives a brief three part overview of the Holy Spirit’s role. Jesus describes what the Holy Spirit does by saying, “he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment.” (v. 8)

However, before allowing us to be confused about any of these three tasks, Jesus explains each task briefly by saying, “He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.” (v. 9-11)

Each of these three descriptions is startling when we think about it. Not believing in Jesus is sin. I wonder if this may be connected with the infamous “unpardonable sin”. I don’t mean to say that unbelief at any point in our life causes us to miss out on salvation, but if we don’t believe at the point our life ends, then we ultimately end up dying in our sin. This makes unbelief the most serious sin that one could ever commit.

Jesus also describes the Holy Spirit proving to us that the only way we can be right with God is through Jesus returning to God. Other parts of the Bible describe Jesus as our “Intercessor” or our representative. Jesus is like a lawyer who is working on our behalf in the courtroom of Heaven. If He were not there, we would be defenseless against the accusations Satan would bring before God.

The third thing Jesus emphasizes about the Holy Spirit is that He will prove to God’s people that the judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged. Jesus says this in the past tense, and this is prior to the cross. This means that either Jesus is speaking about the past from a future perspective (a little tricky to prove or wrap our minds around), or Jesus is saying that Satan was judged at some point in the past. If we are looking at history before the cross for a point when Satan could have been judged, we could see that it might be either when he was kicked out of heaven, or when God cursed him (the serpent) following the fall of humanity.

Regardless of when that judgment happened, Satan has been judged and found guilty. But before God executes Satan’s punishment, history and sin must play out to determine who else is found guilty of death. This includes everyone, but Jesus opened the way to be saved through His sacrifice, through His work as our representative in heaven, and through our accepting His gift by believing and trusting in Him.