When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,“Look, here is your king!”
“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back. (John 19:13-15)

Read: Daniel 9:1-11:1, 1 John 2:18-3:6, Psalm 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28

Relate: It does not matter what they do. It does not matter how effective they really are. It does not matter where on the political spectrum they fall. It does not even matter in what area of the world they rule. It is a universal truth of modern man that we will do everything possible to criticize in every way we can those we appoint to lead us.

It is also true that the more ignorant a person is about a certain issue, the more dogmatic they will tend to be. Most three year olds will whine and complain about how cruel and unfair their parents are for making them eat their veggies. Many people do not grow out of this tendency. They just become more sophisticated in their unhappy ignorance. We call these grown up babies talk radio hosts. 😛

What if I were to become president? It is very easy for me to think and even talk about how I would do so much better. Considering the current crop of candidates it is very easy. It is easy to point at some of the sitting president’s decisions and sit in judgment of them. It is easy because I have no idea what factors go in to those decisions. it is easy because I have no idea how this domestic policy bill will impact that foreign policy principle. I have no idea how many agreements and compromises must be made if this bill will have any chance to pass its way through an obstructionist congress. I have no idea of the surveys taken and intelligence gathered that made an impact on that decision. Therefore it is easy in my ignorance to to sit here in judgment.

React: Pilate walked into a place called Gabbatha where he sat down in the judges chair and made a verdict about Jesus. It doesn’t matter what his decision was, the very fact that he made one is incomprehensible. What he did through that action was the ultimate height of arrogance and/or ignorance. Pilate sat in judgment of God. How dare he?

What he did is far worse than a toddler judging his parents unfair or an average Joe whining about what a horrible job their president or prime minister is doing, but the same principle applies. He had no idea who Jesus really was. He had no idea of the impact Jesus’ actions on that day would have. Yet he had the audacity to sit down in the judge’s chair and say, “I have made a decision…”

When Christopher Hitchens writes a book titled God Is Not Great is he not doing the same thing? When my Muslim friend says, “God would never become a man. That is beneath him.” Is he not doing the same thing? When I am going through a rough patch and say, “God, how can you let this happen. It’s not fair.” Am I not also doing the same thing? Where do we get off sitting in judgment of God? We have no clue?

Respond: 

Dear God,
Forgive me for my pride and arrogance. Forgive me for making value judgments on what You have done or said when I truly have no idea. Help me to learn better to simply trust and obey? Help me to follow You even when I don’t fully understand the reason or know the destination.
Amen