Being Falsely Accused, Mocked, Ridiculed and Seen as Evil
“Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king." So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
“But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.”
“When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.”
“Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
“With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
“For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
“But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.”
Jesus was falsely accused of actions He never did; worst, the people and religious authorities accused Him by twisting His words.
He was mocked and ridiculed as if He were a fool for claiming that He is the King of the Jews. Herod and his soldiers probably thought He was stupid.
He was also belittled by Herod with his numerous questions. The latter was ‘happy’ to finally meet Him, not for Who He is because he was too blind to see Who was in front of him, but because he certainly thought that Jesus was some freak and he wanted a freak show. “…he hoped to see him perform some miracle.”
Herod was very cruel to Jesus but nevertheless, he didn’t find anything wrong with Him; neither did Pilate by the way. Pilate pleaded with the religious authorities and the people because he didn’t want to release Jesus to them to be crucified, however they didn’t want to hear anything; in their eyes Jesus was evil and a dangerous rebel and had to be done away with! Therefore, Pilate gave in and because of this, Jesus was treated like a criminal!
Like Jesus, there are times when we will be accused of wrongdoing when we didn’t do anything wrong and of being evil when all we were doing all along were good actions. Our words will also be twisted and used against us in certain circumstances.
Other times, people will mock and ridicule us for being a Christian; they will even think we’re stupid for believing in such things. We’ll be thought of as being completely weird because of our faith. Some non-believers will even assist at Christian services in order to have a ‘good show’, especially if the gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifested… Christianity is seen by many as ‘a good joke’.
People who have a certain power to protect us against evil will sometimes abandon us and let us into the hands of the enemy because they prefer their popularity to our security.
Unfortunately, all this evil can happen to us outside of the Church as well as inside the Church.
Friendly People Who are Blind to the Truth
On a positive note, there are some people who will examine us and discover that we’re all right. They won’t mind us being Christians; after all we’re not doing anything wrong. As a matter of fact, some may think that we’re good people. After all, we’re entitled to our own beliefs and opinions. These people might go as far as defending us if we’re being unjustly insulted and attacked.
What hurts is that even if they accept us, these same people don’t recognize who we really are as Christians. They know we have certain beliefs and live a certain lifestyle; they actually see us as pious, religious people who do good to those who surround us but they can’t perceive the dept of who we are. They are blind to the personal relationship we have with God and to the complete transformation that the Lord has done in our lives. They don’t realize that they can also have what we have. As Christians we certainly appreciate their friendship and respect but we so long for them to meet the same Lord that we have; that they may see that His goodness is for them as well as for us. Sadly, many of these wonderful and friendly people will never see Christ for Who He is and that is a Cross for us to carry.
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