The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 19:14-15, “Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover;

it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’

15 They therefore cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’

Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered,

‘We have no king but Caesar.’”

Mob rule is nothing new. A police officer in St. Louis shot and killed a

man. A judge found the officer innocent and released him. Crowds

gathered in the street and began to demonstrate against the officer

and the judge who released him. The mob’s “evidence” was that the

officer was white and the man he killed was black. Justice was not

the crowd’s concern; getting their way is what it’s all about.

The mob in Jesus’ day was stirred up by the Jews, who wanted Jesus

dead. Simon Peter tells us that Pilate “had decided to release Him”

(Acts 3:13), but the crowd was determined to “put to death the

Prince of life…” (3:15). “Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the

Jews cried out… ‘If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar…’”

(Jn. 19:12). It was all a matter of authority. Pilate was correct in his

determination, but the people’s mention of Caesar turned everything

in their favor. Jesus had earlier said to Pilate, “…he who delivered Me

up to you has the greater sin.” Although all of this was within the LORD’s

plan leading to the Cross and the redemption of those who would

believe on Jesus, it nevertheless bodes ill for the crowd, who wanted

death instead of justice. Opposition to injustice is not wrong; but

yelling and screaming in the streets is not the proper method for

opposing it. An out-of-control crowd is a self-authoritative exercise.

We love your each and every one,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”