Dear Lighthouse,

            This week I want to take a departure from the normal devotional-style e-mail that I usually send in order to field some questions that I’ve been getting as a result of the movie The Passion.  I thought this would be a good forum to do a Q/A session with you all.  Unfortunately, I’m limited to asking the questions myself in the e-mail and then responding.  But, if any of you would ever like a topic discussed in the weekly e-mail just give me the question and allow for 10-12 weeks of research and then you’ll get an answer! :)  Anyway, I hope these questions and answers are interesting to you and help you better understand the wisdom and compassion of our Lord.

1)  What was the deal with Herod and Pilate in the movie?  Who were they?

Herod the Great ruled over the territory of modern day Israel during the birth of Jesus roughly 4BC.  This is the Herod that is spoken of early in the book of Matthew - the one who sought to find the baby Jesus and kill him (see Matt. 1&2).  Herod the Great died around 4AD and his kingdom was divided into various provinces or tetrarchies.  Interestingly, Herod was a non-Jew.  He was an Edomite.  This meant his family hailed from the nation of Edom to the east of Israel.  Edomites were the descendants of Esau.  Now if you remember, Esau was the first born of Isaac (Abraham’s son).  Esau’s brother was Jacob who later became the father of all of Israel.  Jacob received the blessing from Isaac and Esau gave his up (see Gen. 25-36).  Ironically though, Esau’s descendants became the rulers over Jacob’s when Herod came to power.  

If you take a look at a map of Israel about that time you can locate several different areas by which the land was divided.  To simplify it down there were four major provinces that were ruled by various elements of the Roman government (who was the occupying Empire) at that time. The four areas were:

Galilee - Northwest - ruled by Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great)

Traconitis - Northeast - ruled by Herod Philip II (son of Herod the Great)

Samaria - Middle - ruled by Archaeleus (son of Herod the Great)

Judea - South - ruled by the Roman governor (or prefect) Pilate

Now, Rome liked to use local officials as much as possible provided they were loyal to Caesar.  Herod’s descendants for the most part were loyal in order to keep their power.  Jesus was born Bethlehem which was in Judea south of Jerusalem.  However, recall that his family fled south to Egypt because of Herod the Great.  Later they returned and relocated in Galilee in Nazareth to avoid Archaeleus in Samaria and then Judea.  This is most likely where the Magi (wise men) came to see Jesus - in Nazareth, not Bethlehem (remember my pet peeve?).  Later when Jesus begins His ministry He moves again and operates out of Capernaum which is a border town between Galilee and Traconitis. 

With this stage set, recall that Jesus comes into Jerusalem for the Passover.  He is therefore in Judea.  All the other officials and such come to Jerusalem too.  So, Herod is in town.  Therefore, when Jesus is arrested and brought by the Jewish leaders to be charged with crimes against Rome, they take Him to Pilate.  Pilate tries to put the responsibility back onto Herod Antipas when he learns that Jesus is a Galilean.  It doesn’t work.  Herod sends Him back.  Therefore, since Jesus was arrested under Judean jurisdiction Pilate was compelled to act. 

As the movie brought out, there was a lot of political maneuvering and injustice done in the mockery of a trial the Jesus received.  But hopefully this will  give some more insight into the situation as you read it in the Gospels and see the movie.

2)  Why did Jesus have to suffer and die?

            This all goes back to Genesis 1.  God takes sin seriously.  Sin is rebellion against God and affectively separates Man from God.  There are consequences to sin as well.  Recall the first sin - Eve’s, disobedience in the Garden of Eden, followed by Adam’s.  What was the consequence?  Separation from God.  The curse of toil for the man and childbearing pain for the woman, among other things, were passed onto Man (see Gen 1-3).  Creation itself was cursed because from the dust Man was made and Man had now sinned.  These were direct results of the sin and rebellion.  God then supplies the two with garments made of skin (Gen. 3:21).  In my opinion, these were the first animal sacrifices to cover sin and the shame of it.  Those skin garments came from God Himself and I believe they came from animals that lost their lives because of Man’s sin. 

            Move up to the Mosaic era.  God instituted formal animal sacrifices not to take away sin but to roll it back.  The blood of animals could not dismiss the sin that was steadily being racked up by Man.  No, it could only stay the wrath and judgment of God for a later time.  The Jews knew this.  In fact the High Priest had to annually make atonement sacrifices for the nation to roll back sins for the year.  They knew, just as God foreknew, as new and better sacrifice was needed (see Hebrews 5,7,8 and esp Ch. 9 goes into detail on this point).

            Now we come to Jesus.  What kind of sacrifice could be spotless and pure enough to actually take away the sins on Man?  Nothing from this cursed world would be or could be good enough.  So, God sent something from outside the curse - He sent His Son Jesus.  Jesus was to be the perfect Lamb that could be sacrificed for all the sin of the world.

            Now the sacrifices in the OT were gory.  There was blood and their was a death.  Symbolically the death brought life and the blood covered the sin from God’s Eyes.  Look at the practice of the Passover for instance.  The Passover comes from the time when the Israelites were leaving Egyptian captivity in the Exodus and the Death Angel was to move through the nation that night (see Exo. 12 or II Chron. 30 or 35).  God instructed His people to put blood on the doorframes so that when the Death Angel came it would pass over the houses of the Jews.  Isn’t it cool that when Jesus comes He attends the Passover Feast in Jerusalem and ends up being the fulfillment of the story that began thousands of years prior?

            Therefore Jesus had to spill His blood to make atonement for the sin of Man.  As a sacrifice Jesus had to also die.  As for the suffering part, I’m afraid that was not necessary for atonement.  The suffering, I believe, is a direct result of the sinful will and wanton acts of Man’s evil nature.  In other words the suffering is our fault - us who continue to sin and enjoy it heaped the abuse on the Son during His death.  Jesus suffered because He let Himself be at the mercy of Man.  Yet He did it and held to the end.  He died sinless. 

            Now since He was sinless at His death this broke sin’s hold on Man (see Rom. 5).  Let me explain.  The Law of God ultimately comes down to this:  If you sin you shall die (see Rom 6:23).  It’s the Law.  It’s an irrevocable fact.  An absolute.  Sin causes death - always.  It’s the only cause of death in fact.  So, when you look at Jesus you are faced with a conundrum.  Jesus did not sin, yet He died.  Hmmm.  Why?  Answer:  Because He died for our sin, not His own.  Our sin caused the death of Jesus, otherwise He would not have died.  That being said the death of Jesus was a tragedy but how does it save me?  Well, the saving part comes in the fact that Jesus isn’t still dead.  He’s alive.  Now, how can He be alive?  Because He, being sinless, should not have died.  So, He broke the Law of the Universe with an eternal snap.  When Jesus rose from the dead by His own authority and power (because He was God) He rewrote the rule that said if you sin you die.  He conquered death and nailed sin to the cross.  The new rule reads like this:  If you sin you die - unless you are in Christ, then you can live forever by His grace and power (see Rom. 1-8 -esp Ch. 5-7).

            Isn’t this amazing?  So, you and I now live under a new Law called Grace.  Grace gives us what we don’t deserve and does not give us what we do deserve.  And that is a good thing!  So, if it weren’t for Jesus blood and death and resurrection we would still be separated from God because of our sin.  As it is, we are not separated if we are in Christ.  Instead we are a new creation in Him and able to live in an intimate relationship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Praise God!

            Well, that went fast.  I guess I combined some answers and questions so it was just two.  Oh well, I hope you enjoyed the discussion.  Seriously, as you have questions feel free to ask me or someone else.  That’s the way we sharpen each other and strengthen each other as we see the Day of His return drawing closer.  I pray that each of you will reflect on our Savior this week in prayer and Scripture meditation - especially Wednesday. 

            Praise be to our God and to Him glory and honor and power and strength.  He is wonderful.  See you in prayer!

Serving Him with you,

Evan