Saturday, September 5, 2015

Where are you from?

  It's interesting to hear someone speaking with an accent and then try to guess where they are from...whether it's a part of our country or someplace abroad.  I don't know if Jesus spoke with an accent but when Pilate was interrogating him the question was posed to Jesus, "Where are you from?" (John 19:9).   Pilate had already questioned Jesus and come to the conclusion that he wasn't guilty of anything.  But the priests insisted that Jesus be crucified for claiming he was the Son of God.  So Pilate actually started becoming a little anxious.  Apparently he'd never run into a scenario quite like this.  He was used to clear cut loyalties...in today's terms everyone was either a Democrat or Republican...or in those days a Jew or a Roman...but Pilate couldn't place just where Jesus fit in.  Jesus didn't seem to be associated with the familiar political bodies.  I believe that when Pilate asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" he was trying to get a read on where Jesus' loyalties were and generally they were associated with where you were from.
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It occurs to me that "where we are from" says a lot about "what we are for".  Are we following a large crowd or are we walking in the shadow of Jesus?  Do the actions of our lives and the accent of our speech reflect the reality of his presence?  When it comes to hard choices and ultimate loyalties...what are our choices and where are our loyalties?  If we were interrogated by Pilate would he wonder where we were from as well?
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blessings,
Rob Smith

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