Contemplative Bible Reading

John 19:13-15 (New Living Translation)

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Here is an exchange between Pilate, a political leader, and the chief priests, some religious leaders. Caught up in the excitement of the exchange or trying to make a point or something, note what the religious leaders proclaim:

Caesar is our king

Yikes.

Sometimes we have to pause and consider the words we use. In retrospect, our words can be damning. Some might say, “but that is just a figure of speech,” or “you know what I meant” or “don’t be so literal!” Perhaps I am too literal with this and with many of the things I hear people say, but the words come from somewhere.