The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-11-18

anu LUKE Ieil us OIL flIdI66 QueSIlOu,
Art thou the king Of the Jews?' and
of the answer Of Christ claiming that
he a Matthew records the, silence
Of Jesus to the accusations of the
chief priests and to Plate at that
time. Luke gives US the account of
Pilates perplexity, how4 Jesus was
sent to Herod and Of Pilates second
report to the Jews. Matthew tells OF
the offer Plate made to release Barab-
bas or Jesus and Of the message from
Pilates wife.
Trial a Moekery.
The trial before Annas and Caiaphas
was a hollow mockery. The Sanhedrin
was fierce In its d~enunciation and to
add disgrace and to impress PLATE
that Jesus was dangerous, they led
him into his presence. Plate soon
saw the emptiness Of their charges,
and as we have suggested, dismissed
all save that OF "perverting the ma
ton" The Roman government keenly
watched for incipient rebellions. After
examination he declares, II find no
fault in this man." He did not, how
ever, dare incur the hatred and VIC
lence of a Jerusalem mob, and so he
t%emporizes. The fercest light Of crit
icism declares Jesus to be ~impeccable,
yet men temporize. After the dis
graceful and degrading treatment
Jesus received before Herod, he again
stands before Plate, and this time he
Is again declared to be Innocent Of the
charges preferred against him. This
Is the turning point of this worlds
greatest tragedy. Plate should have
let him 60, and would have had he
not been a venal judge. HE who hest
tates is lost" is amply exemplifed In
this case. PLATE was In q worse case
and one where it became less easy
to, do right, whatever his inclinations
(Acts 1919 may have been, by not
acting resolutely at this point. It was
easy for this weak-willed man then to
yield to the determined wills Of the
enemies Of Jesus, v. "a r. v. Plate
found no fault In Jesus, neither did
Herod ". 15), yet Plate compromis-
ingly says, nothing worthy Of death"
hence the suggestion that he be chas-
tised and released. This is typical ofthe
temporizing, compromising, tickle poll
~ticians, These words at once sug-
gested to the Jews a custom Of hay-
ing released unto them one whom they
chose at this period Of the year, and
they cried out, away with this man;
release unto us Barabbas" It was
thus that these, his accusers, repre-
senting the nation, denied the holy
and just, and desirable a murderer
Acts 3:14.
plate Tried to Save Christ.
II. Jesus and Barabbas, w. POPS.
Matthew adds to that awful cry, when
PLATE has washed his hands in token
of innocency, His blood be upon US"
(Matt. 27:25). The other writer's
give us some suggestions as to who
Barabbas was, and makes this choice
more appalling by way Of contrast.
Looking back it seems like a strange
choice, yet the same fatal mistake Is
being made today. Young and old,
cultured and ignorant, are refusing the
Prince Of Life" (Acts 3:15), and
choosing him who was a murderer
from the beginning" John S:44.
Thus these men were deceived, and
the natural man showed its [enmity
against God, Jer. 1873; Rom. 81. Pr
late is not yet convinced but that he
can placate the mob and save Jesus,
and puts a pertinent question to
them, What evil hath he done?" In
stead Of calmly answering his query
they clamor the more loudly. Noise is
never argument. Still In this case
their voices prevailed" for Plate de-
sired to content the multitude"
'Vox populi, vox Del" is by no means
a truism. It Is easy to drum up a
mob who one day cry "Hosanna" and
the next cruelty him."
Ill. The Teaching. This lesson is
intended to center itself about PLATE.
In it we see the struggle between con-
science and personal ambition. Pr
late was impressed, by the words OF
Christ. He told the priests and the
multitude that he found no fault In
him. 1t appears that up to a certain
point he tried to save Christ, and GER
tainly to the end he strove to avoid
the responsibility for his death. Sore
ly pressed he temporized and the
conversation recorded In John 1S:33.3S
shows how profoundly interested he
was in this prisoner before him.
PLATE knew whom he was dealing
with as a politician, but did not know
this man of Galilee." He chose rath-
er to be Caesars friend" than to per-
form a righteous act according to the
dictates Of his conscience. Pressed
by the clamor of those whom he de-
spised, he sacrificed his conscience
rather than incur their anger.
Tradition tells US that soon after
this he did lose his position and pow.
er, vas bauished and ultimately died