Don't Miss It!

John 18 finishes out with the final verses in 28 - 40. It's Jesus before Pilate. Pilate is the appointed governor from Rome. He's the guy desperately trying to hold onto his position and job. If he can't keep Israel calm, Rome will remove him and put someone else in his spot. (This actually happens later after Jesus is gone.)

What kills me about this is that the Jewish leaders come to Pilate's house, and bring Jesus to the ruler. They won't enter the house. Why? Because if they go in a Gentile's house, they will be "unclean". If they are "unclean", then they have to go through elaborate ceremonies to become spiritually clean again. There isn't time to do that and to kill Jesus before Passover begins.

But what is Passover? It is where the Jews celebrate God saving their first born sons when they were in Egypt. The Egyptians had a plague put on them where the first born boys in each family were killed. But the Jews put the blood of a lamb on the doorposts, and God saved their sons. Passover is a huge celebration where they remember God doing that, and they celebrate being saved, once, long ago. A big part of Passover is looking forward to the Messiah coming again.

So, we have very educated Jewish priests wanting to stay pure so that they can celebrate God saving them and the Messiah coming. They want to kill Jesus quickly, and won't even go into the courtroom to have Him tried due to their desire to be "pure". They are killing the Messiah, the one son sent to save them, and are worried about being pure. The upside down irony is so thick that it's suffocating.

How could they be so stupid? How could they miss it? How could they be so worried about their religion that they miss the whole thing they are looking for? It's ridiculous!

And it is. It still is every time I do it. Every time I judge someone from my basis of how right I am, and how wrong they are, I miss the Messiah. Every time I ignore someone's needs while I am SO blessed with money, health, time, education, and ability, I miss the Messiah. Every time God asks me to do something, and I pretend not to hear, or not to be sure that it is Him asking, I miss the Messiah. It is stupid and ridiculous. It still is today.

Where are you missing the Messiah today?