The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 445

community pondcl'I! RD evil deed, he hRs to ponder alf!O all the possible result&. He cannot g<'t pllst the risk of punishment. II. Jmme A?-."D TIIE ORIGIN OF AUTHORITY. Pilate WM not a man caring to seek n.nd think under the surface of things, or he would have a.sked himself the question "Why are these f!Oldiers so ready to obey me? Why is it that I, one man, have ~11 these dwellen! in JernFalem under my control?" Man recognizes the need of authority, JesUE did not mean to dispute t,be right of Pilate to do what he liked with him. Pilnte would have trnoed the origin of his authority to Rome, hut thitt only threw the question a little' further back. When we get to the very highest seen thing, we feel that, as it were, nn invisihle hand is stretching down and making it what it is. Jusus wanted to make Pi late feel th>tt, whatever power he had, ho would he called to acoount for the use· of it. Judas had the greater blame, but Pilatc could not escape.-Y. Ver. 15.-1'7,e king acknow7er1ged 'by t'he high prie.,ts. I. TIIE STOOPING OF MEN WHEN THEY HAVF. AN E?-."D TO GAIN, "W(J have no king but Cresar." Assuredly tho high priests wonld never have said anything like this except in the way they actuilUy Mid it. They had no love to Rome and Rome's ruler, and Pilate knew it, and mus~. ha'l"e despised them as they professed to be influenced by loyalty fo Crosar in all their enmity to Jesus. They were ready to say anything and do anything, however incon- ~istent, however mendacious, if only it helped them to their end. 'l'hus we have clear evidence from their own conduct of what barl men they were. We cannot give them the credit of being mista.ken patriots. Real lovers of their country, however exaspe- rated, however dri,·en into a comer, would never have made a lying confession of' allegiance to the hated foreigner. • • : ll. EVEN IF THE STATEMENT llAD JIEEN TRUE, THE ACTION .BELIED THE WORD; Ruppose there had been a real fidelity to Cmsar, rejection of Jesus was the very way to. injure Cesa.r's government. The more subjects of Jesus there arc in any kingdom, th~ better for that kingdom. Christians can struggle bravely against all that is tyranni:ms· and overbearing without forgetting that human authority of some sort. is an ordinance: of Heaven, and must be mainta.ined and honoured. .All opposition to Christianity tend~ toward anarchy, and none the less so because the tendency may be denied.7"'.'.Y, , T'er. 18.-" Jesus in the midst." It can hardly have been by chance that Jesus was placed in the midst. If three men were crucified together, surely he who was reckon~d the chief offender would be put in the central position. The details of punishment would be left to the subordinates charged with carrying it out, and perhaps the feellng on the part of the soldiers we.s that one who claimed to be a King should have some'. sort of honour on the cross. But whoever ordered the position, and from whatever· motive, we cannot butreel that the position was the right one. If intended as.an insult,' it has turned into an honour. The soldiers put Jesus just in the proper place. It was his place hefore, and has been his place since. It was right that, if others were to suffe1· with Jesus, he who suffered for all mankind should be able to look on a sufferer on either J,and. L SoMETHING IN HA.BlldO~'Y WITH THE POSITION JESUS NATURALLY TAKES. Jesus'. never put himself officiously in a position of eminence. He never needed to say, "Leave the central place for me." Wherever he sat naturally became the central place.· We cannot he! p putting Jesus in the midst. He acted in such a way that he could not help being the central character in every assembly. .And this is the glorious thing about J esU£ that, being the first, he has never lost bis position in the midst. He i8 not so much above men as among them. Wberesoever two or three are gathered together he desireii to be in their midst. Jesus, we may be sure, is interested in everything that ought to interest mankind. .And in the same way we ought not to be interested in anything unless we can have Jesus in the enterpiise. • JI. .AJi EXillPLE FOB us. There is not anything else in which we should follow the example of these soldiers, but we may well do it by always putting Jesus in the midst. .And especially when we have to deal with sufferers of any sort, we should try to miike them feel, by a remembrance of his position on the cross, that Jesus himself as a Sufferer was in the very midst of sufferers. .And may it not be hoped that all evil-doers, all law-brtakers, o.11 suffering punishment for crime, will be particularly susceptible to the cm. x1x. 1-42.J THF, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 459