Get Real November 23 Devotional
November 23, 2024
LUKE 23:1-2 | 1Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”
When Jesus asked His Father to forgive those responsible for His unjust death, it meant forgiving those who had acted out of misunderstanding and those who had been motivated by pride and jealousy. It also included those who had forgotten that “good ends” do not justify unjust means. Seeing Jesus as a threat to Judaism and a deluded Messiah, but forbidden to execute criminals by their Roman overlords, they were willing to lie about Jesus to engineer His crucifixion. Before Pilate they accuse Jesus of sedition and claim He forbade tax paying (see their attempt to get Him to say this in Matthew 22:21). Yet it was Jesus’ refusal to be seditious that angered zealots and nationalists, and He authorized tax paying without giving Caesar unlimited authority.
It is very tempting to lie, deceive, manipulate, or blacken someone’s name if we feel the result will serve a greater good.
Jesus asked God to forgive the times when we use bad means for ends we deem good. When did you last do this?
