"Then Pilate asked him, 'Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?' But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor." (Matthew 27:12-13)
"He (Herod) plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer." (Luke 23:9)
Many of us are caught up in the throes of Presidential politics. With this in mind, idle moments reflect upon what the New Testament says about Civil Government. It says not much. Keeping the peace is about all. (I Timothy 2:2). Life without civil authority is unthinkable. Chaos is always the result. It is to be understood that governments, at any level, will be led by men not of the Faith. On the other hand, I've never seen an elder or minister for whom I'd vote for President. Different qualities.
Regarding Pilate, we've taken a political decision that he made (sending Jesus to the cross) and concluded he was without merit. Pilate was an excellent Administrator. His past record says so and the fact he was posted as Governor of Judea says so. Judea was a political powder keg. It's true he had slaughtered about 7,000 citizens but I can point to much larger numbers by modern day National Leaders. Nothing exceptional there.
Then, there's Herod. The Temple was the center piece of Jewish religion, the very symbol of National life. The Herods gave the Temple to the people.
We are a Republic. We use the vote to choose our civil leaders. This being true, can someone explain to me how our congress in Washington can have an approval rating of 12% and an incumbant Senator has a 97% chance of re-election? Joe Kennedy, father of President John Kennedy, was right when he said, "Impression is everything."
The politics of Pilate and Herod was---what you saw was what you got. No disguise.
Charles Jackson
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