7 When God approves of your life,
even your enemies will end up shaking your hand.
Today, let’s take a look at the life of Jesus. The greatest enemy of the day was the Roman Empire. In the region where Jesus was ministering, the representative of the Roman Government was a man by the name of Pontius Pilate. The Romans were the enemy of the Jews. Many times, the disciples assumed that Jesus was coming to overthrow the empire of the Romans. They believed that Jesus came to set up a new kingdom, the kingdom of the Jews. Without a doubt, I believe Pontius Pilate considered a person a threat that had the kind of influence, or reputation, that Jesus did. In a more modern term, Jesus would be considered an enemy of the state. It would leave you to understand, that if given the opportunity to eliminate such a threat, certainly Pilate would have taken the opportunity. However, at the time that Jesus was arrested and turned over to the Romans, Jesus stood trial before Pilate. His life was now in the hands of the enemy, the Jews. His future, all that people had said about Him and who he was, could be crushed by the enemy. Instead, after a trial, Pilate stated he found no fault in Jesus. Pilate could’ve eliminated the threat, and sentenced Jesus to jail. But Pilate found nothing on Jesus. He did send Jesus to Herod, “king of the Jews”, who ruled the Galilean province. Jesus faces another trial, and again, an enemy finds no fault in Him. Jesus is sent back to Pilate, and one more time there is nothing to be found to bring a charge against Jesus.
13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; 15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. 16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” 17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
The New King James Version. (1982). (Lk 23:13–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Three trials, yet Jesus’ enemies couldn’t find anything about, or on, Jesus. Now with His own people, that was a different story. We as Christians should live our lives to be pleasing to God. And in our efforts to be pleasing to God, God will cause our enemies to be at peace with us. Sadly, we often try to please people, instead of God. This leads to our enemies finding fault with our efforts. Just remind yourself that your duty is to love God and to serve God. That is what is pleasing to God.