Luke 23:6-12 Political Ping Pong
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: December 14, 2018 Luke 23:6-12
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.
(Understanding the Text) Pilate thought that he had a way out of this sticky situation when he heard the Jews say that Jesus had stirred up trouble in Galilee. Who but a Galilean would go to Galilee, and that was outside of Pilate’s jurisdiction. Upon learning that Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate sent Him over to Herod. Herod counted this as a gesture of good will from Pilate. Pilate was treating Herod as an equal and recognizing his authority. Unlike Pilate, Herod was not too worried about keeping the peace or following the rules. His cruel attitude was that it would be entertaining to see this miracle worker do his stuff like a court magician. Herod had had a chance to turn to God through John the Baptist. In the end, Herod had resisted the urgings of God to the point where Herod could no longer think of anything besides his own desires and urges. God had left John the Baptist with Herod a long time to give him a chance to stop his downward spiral. Probably God had inspired John the Baptist to speak of Herod’s sin with his brother’s wife simply to catch Herod’s attention and bring Gods message to him, but Herod had let that opportunity pass him by. Now, the one whose sandal strap John was unworthy to tie stood before Herod and all he could think of was being entertained by a magic trick. His heart had utterly closed to God.
(Revelation of God) Jesus remained silent before Herod. This is a sign that there was nothing more that could be done for Herod. He had made his choices and solidified his selfishness so that nothing could reach him. It is interesting that on this night of chaos and humiliation, Jesus only spoke to Caiaphas and to Pilate. His words to Caiaphas were because He had been ordered in the name of His Father to tell of His mission. He responded with the words that would condemn His own high priest on the day of judgment. His words to Pilate were words of mercy. There was still a chance for Pilate to avoid the guilt of condemning an innocent man. Jesus wanted to give Pilate the opportunity to choose righteousness. However, Herod had already been given numerous chances to avoid the downward spiral into condemnation, and he had rejected those offerings of mercy. There were no words that could reach him now, so Jesus remained quiet.
(Understanding the Text) Since Jesus did not provide entertainment Himself, Herod decided to make his own entertainment. He dressed Jesus in beautiful clothes and made a mockery of the claim of kingship. (I think that Herod must have loved beautiful clothes. There is a story about his death which was preceded by people saying that he looked so beautiful, partly because of his clothes, that he must be a god.) Herod was not just mocking Jesus for no reason; he was using his mockery of Jesus to show contempt for the Sanhedrin who were accusing Jesus in front of him, as well. He was showing them that their power did not affect him, and their concerns were silly as far as he was concerned. However, Herod refused to go against the Jewish leaders since it was in his own self interest to keep them from troubling him too much, so he sent Jesus back to Pilate still dressed in the beautiful clothes. His message to the Jewish leaders was that he would not openly fight them at this point, but that they had no power over him.
Pilate may not have wanted the problem of Jesus to return back into his lap, but he appreciated the gesture that Herod was giving. In passing Jesus back and forth between them like a political ping pong ball, they were essentially saying, “You first.” “No, no, I couldn’t” “Oh, thank you.” In times past, they had attempted to one-up each other, but through this little bit of politics, they formed a spirit of understanding and cooperation where they stayed out of each other’s spheres of influence and maintained a mutual dislike of the problems given to them by the Jewish leaders and the other Jews they ruled.
(Application) How often do I see people nowadays justifying political decisions because they have a better outcome in the long-run while the people ignore the fact that those decisions are hurting innocent people in the short run. Jesus identifies Himself so closely to us that He said in Matthew “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’” (Matthew 25:45). Thus, when we ignore the pain inflicted on the innocent because of political advantage, we are the same as Herod and Pilate mocking, whipping, and ultimately killing Jesus. We are treating our Savior with contempt when we justify the mistreatment of His creations because of political gain.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that there are the politics of this world and there is the greater war that is going on beyond our little parochial concerns. The world will make its alliances and political moves, which in the long run are irrelevant to reality. The world’s politics and maneuverings are empty and doomed to obsolescence. Today’s crucial issue becomes a memory in just a short time. There is no reason to give allegiance to any political party or politician because they are all banal and capricious and unthinkingly cruel. They claim to have heart while underneath, they simply do not care who gets hurt if that person stands in the way of their grasping for power. God loves the individual leaders and tries to reach them, but the system of power itself is only temporary and irrelevant to the reality of the two opposing forces facing off on this world. In fact, the power system is a front for Satan’s activities. I need to align myself totally and unreservedly to Jesus and not to anyone or any other power in this world because they all ultimately either go directly back to Satan or are partly corrupted by him. The restraining hands of God are the only reason that evil’s true colors have not shown more clearly before now. I’m going to see a lot more evil showing its face, and many times, the only answer is the silence of Jesus. Give me the wisdom and restraint to know when to speak for You and when to hold my peace. I pray to understand my importance in Your eyes and my place in Your battle. I am usually so confused that I do not know what I am doing, and I am totally inept at doing anything of worth. I pray not to get in Your way but to reflect Your radiance out to the world.