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AN EASTER CHALLENGE FROM DON SUMMERS. WHY NOT COPY IT AND GIVE IT TO A FRIEND? He went to bed on that Thursday night oblivious to the fact that tomorrow he would face the most devastating decision he would ever have to face. A choice that would affect all of world history from that day forward. Life is like that. We can be quietly doing our own thing when suddenly a crisis erupts and we are in deep trouble. He was the Roman governor of the day and his name was Pontius Pilate. He wakes up on Friday morning to hear that there is a prisoner to be judged and that there is a mob outside being whipped into a frenzy by religious leaders he has come to hate. Adding to the confusion is another guilty man the mob wants set free in the new prisoneršs place. And to crown it all, Pilatešs wife is taking the prisoner's side. What a day for Pilate! The crowd demands to be heard, the religious mafia want their man and his wife is telling him "Don't do it!" You can feel his anguish when he cries out "What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?" For him it was a bad Friday, but today we call it Good Friday. And at this time of the year, millions around the world will be asking the same question: "What shall I do with this Jesus?" As we think of the message of a Christ who died on the Cross for our sins, and rose again from the dead, we have to ask ourselves "How does this affect me? What shall I do with Jesus?" It seems to me that you can only do one of two things. You can either accept Him and his offer of Salvation or reject Him. In fact Jesus said just that: "He that is not for me is against me." A fine musician once told me: "As far as Jesus is concerned, I will sit on the fence." I replied that once you are face to face with the total claims of Christ, you can no longer sit on the fence. There are not three options with Jesus. You can't accept Him, reject Him or think about Him. You are either for or against. On that first Good Friday, Pilate tried hard to dodge the question. He tried to make it another ruler's problem, then urged the crowd to make the choice for him. But in the end he is left with the personal decision of what to do with Jesus. And this is the choice we must all face. No one else can answer for you. Pilate had a wife who cared about him, but she couldn't make the choice for him. And neither can anyone choose for you. Your praying mother, husband or friend can pray and hope, but yours is the verdict. This Easter I beg of you to reverse the decision made on the first Good Friday. Tradition tells us that Pilate died a suicide. Whether that is true or not, we commit moral and spiritual suicide when we say "No" to Christ. Almost 2,000 years have gone by, but every week millions remind themselves through the Apostles' Creed that Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate" and his guilt lives on. What we do with Jesus affects the whole of our world and our eternal future. Make this a Good Easter by saying and meaning "I accept Christ and will live to bring Christ to this generation. I will reverse the call to crucify Him and in my own heart and life will crown him Lord of all." |
