John 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. I. A DIFFICULTY REMOVED DESTINED TO APPEAR IN MORE TERRIBLE FORMS "Then delivered he," &c. In this no doubt Pilate felt that he had got rid of a difficulty. How to meet the claims of his imperial master, maintain his popularity with the Jews, and save his conscience, constituted a difficulty that had distracted him beyond measure. Now handing Christ over to the Jews he would breathe more freely. Alas! the difficulty is merely temporarily shifted and pushed for a moment out of sight, but otherwise becoming, more huge and revolting. No difficulty can be removed by outraging or ignoring rectitude. 1. One man has a financial difficulty: accumulated debts drag him down, and he knows not how to deliver himself. He makes himself bankrupt, or forges a bill and fancies the difficulty removed. Not so. 2. Another has a social difficulty. By amorous impulses and reckless vows, he has committed himself to some one whom he comes to loathe as an intolerable infliction. In an evil moment he uses a razor or administers a poison, foolishly supposing that the difficulty is got rid of. But the old tormentor, though buried in the earth, is alive in memory to haunt it for ever. 3. Another has a moral difficulty; his conscience is oppressed with a sense of guilt, and he seeks to remove the difficulty by resorting to drink and revelry. But the sleeping conscience soon awakes. II. A CONQUEST ACHIEVED WHICH MUST OVERWHELM THE VICTORS IN ULTIMATE RUIN. "And they took Jesus and led Him away." The Jews were now triumphant: but of what worth was their victory? Even in this life they felt the rebound. A few years on, and the king they chose ravaged their country, destroyed their Temple, extinguished their national life, and scattered them throughout the earth. Truly the "triumphing of the wicked is short." History abounds in instances of conquests reversed and victors vanquished. "Whoso taketh the sword shall perish by the sword." The slaveholders martyred John Brown, and thought they had killed the anti-slavery movement; hut in the course of a few years the cause of slavery was ruined. The principle is this — what is wrongfully achieved must lead to ruin. A man struggles for a fortune. He achieves it, but how? He struggles for senatorial honours, but how? The how is the question. All the produce of human labour, however valuable, if unrighteously obtained, the justice of the universe turns into stone that will grind the possessors to powder. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.WEB: So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. |
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