Small Group 10/1/20
Costly Carelessness
In May of 1999 the United States Postal Service printed one hundred million stamps with a picture of the Grand Canyon and the words “Grand Canyon—Colorado” marked on the stamp. A slight error, just another little blip in the federal budget—this one costing about $500,000. Somebody figured if the Colorado River runs through the Grand Canyon, it must be in Colorado! Throughout John 18 and 19 we see a careless handling of justice. Sloppy religious leadership by Annas and Caiaphas was followed by sloppy political leadership by Pilate. Legal authorities have pointed out how many laws were broken during these proceedings. Yet through it all, God worked to provide the ultimate and only sacrifice for our salvation. His exactness magnified the carelessness of the human agents involved.
But we dare never be careless about the cross. Sometimes this violent and dreadful form of Roman execution is celebrated by Christians in light-hearted ways that minimize its terror. Certainly it is no sin to wear a variety of jewelry and other knick knacks that remind us Jesus died for us, but we dare not let any of that detract from the horror of Calvary.
Typical of Biblical compatablism, even the worst evil cannot escape the outer boundaries of God’s sovereignty—yet God’s sovereignty never mitigates the responsibility and guilt of moral agents who operate under divine sovereignty, while their voluntary decisions and their evil rebellion never render God utterly contingent (e.g., Gen. 19:20; Isa. 5:10ff.; Acts 4:27–28). Especially in writing of events that lead up to the cross, New Testament writers are bound to see the hand of God bringing all things to their dramatic purpose … no matter how vile the secondary causalities may be; for the alternatives are unthinkable. If God merely outwits his enemies, if evil sets both the agenda and the pace, then the mission of the Son to die for fallen sinners is reduced to a mere after-thought; if God’s sovereignty capsizes all human responsibility, then it is hard to see why the mission of the Son should be undertaken at all, since in that case there are no sins for the Lamb of God to take away (Carson, pp. 600–01).
The phrase “a friend of Caesar” was more than a casual allusion to Roman patriotism. It usually denoted a supporter or associate of the emperor, a member of the important inner circle. The cry was a veiled threat: if Pilate exonerated Jesus, the high priest would report to Rome that Pilate had refused to bring a rival pretender to justice and was perhaps plotting to establish a new political alliance of his own. Tiberias, the reigning emperor, was notoriously bitter and suspicious of rivals. If such a report were sent to him, he would instantly end Pilate’s political career and probably his life, too (Tenney, EBC, p. 178).
