(Matthew 27:11-14)
After his betrayal, the chief priests sent Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. In this section we see Jesus before Pilate as his accusers testified against him. But throughout these proceedings Jesus stood silent, not answering a word to a single accusation made. This section of scripture is more a recounting of historical events, but there are some things we can take from it and learn.
The brining of Jesus before Pilate was done to fulfil prophecy. Isaiah spoke of these things saying, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) Jesus gave no defence against the accusations made. The accusations were lies and he knew it. He had also previously said that had he wanted he could have called upon the Father to send great armies of angels to fight on his behalf, but then how would the prophecies be fulfilled? How would the New Covenant have been brought into effect and how would we have received redemption and salvation?
It was necessary that these things occur and as I have said in prior posts, these things were done to fulfil prophecy, which did two things. First it proved the accuracy, validity and performance of the prophecies thus showing that the words of God can be trusted. Second it showed proof that Jesus was the Son of God and the Christ or Messiah sent to save mankind from sin.
We can trust in Jesus and in God to bring about all of the prophecies in due course. The plan of God and the words of the Father stand firm and will not be changed. Many other things may change, but the course that God has set is steadfast and sure and all of the things prophesied in the Bible will come to pass.
And this provides us with comfort. For knowing this to be true we can watch the events of the world around us and understand these things in the light of the truth. We can look at things like climate change, earthquakes and tsunamis, wars and all the things the people of the world fear, knowing that these things must take place. The Bible tells us of all these things and many more that will occur. So rather than fear these things as the people of the world do, let us instead recognise that this is part of the predefined plan of God and know that the time of Jesus return is drawing near.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
