Posted on by Abe Austin

Loving Your Enemy vs Renouncing Evil- Deferring to the Mob

John 19:8-11:

8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;

9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

We see in the final days of Jesus’s life how he submitted himself to the power of strange leaders and violent mobs. When Pilate gave Jesus an opportunity defend himself from false accusations, Jesus gave no reply, permitting the lies of his accusers to stand alone.

However, when Pilate asserted his power over Jesus, Jesus was quick to shoot that down, pointedly reminding Pilate of the transience of his station, while Christ stood on much surer ground. Jesus had averred just a few days ago that he could command legions of angels to save him, but he chose not to, instead allowing the campaign of evil to achieve its ends.

But it wasn’t always so. The example of Jesus is not strictly one of deference to the mob. There was a time before when an angry horde sought to throw him off a cliff, but he calmly suppressed their efforts. Luke 4:28-30:

28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way.

Christ rebuked this mob’s designs because it wasn’t yet his time. Later he did not resist because it was his time. So, are we, as Christians, required to patiently suffer injustices and abuse from others? Yes, absolutely. But are we required to do so in each and every situation? Absolutely not!

Like our leader, Christ, we are to be ready to endure all things, but also to be ready to rebuke all things. We are to meekly suffer, but also to boldly defy. We are to resist, and also to acquiesce. And all of this, not according to our own will and judgment, but God’s. It is His place, not ours, to decide when it is time for which response. If we depend only upon our own views, we can be both wrongly meek and wrongly bold. It is too simple to say that we should just be humble or should just be defiant, we must be rightly both.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Way That Things Are- John 18:37-38, Doctrine and Covenants 93:24, 30

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

COMMENTARY

For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?
During the trial of Jesus he had philosophical discussions with Pilate, in which he testified of his role as the bearer of truth. Pilate’s response shows a cynical mindset, one that questions what truth even is. Thus we see that a “meh” attitude towards the eternal verities is not a modern invention at all, it has been around for millennia!
For as far back as philosophy extends, the question of absolute truth has been debated. Are there things that are eternal and constant, or is everything shifting and impermanent? And if everything on earth is shifting and impermanent, can there still exist a higher realm where things are eternal and constant?

Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come
All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it
I once heard a brother compare truth to a tool lost in the yard. If a family cannot find the tool, they might have all manner of opinions as to what became of it. The father doesn’t recall that the tool was ever actually owned. The mother knows that the tool was owned, she was the one who bought it for a specific project. The son who used the tool last knows that he must have been the one to lose it, and claims total ignorance of anything to do with the tool whatsoever! The sister hears all of these conflicting opinions and decides that there is just no definitive truth related to the tool.
But there is a truth. It is still sitting under the bush in the backyard, whether anyone knows that it is there or not. Because truth is not based upon opinion. It is simply “things as they are.” And so truth is independent, it does not have to be known or even accepted to exist. It just is.
Pilate didn’t know what the truth was. Not because the truth didn’t exist, but because he did not receive it. He delivered it up to the crucifixion instead. But even though he was ignorant, Jesus still was who he was, and the truth is what it is.