I saw you guys calling him "30 Pence" and while I'm vaguely familiar with the story of how Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver I'm not a particularly studied Christian. The bright side about this is that I always feel like I learn something when I learn more about the Bible.
This Easter I watched Gospel of John. (It's great!!! It's long too so felt all right leaving it on TV while doing Easter activities.) What struck me about my understanding of the story this time, was how Jesus really didn't do anything wrong legally. Pilate repeatedly tells the Jews that he doesn't have anything to condemn Jesus for, but the people and the Rabbis insist Jesus is guilty and demand his crucifixion.
It got me thinking about how Pence said he didn't have the legal authority to do anything when it came to the fraud. Within the context of the system Pence would say he did the right thing, but within the context of the Roman Empire system Pilate did the right thing, too. What do you do when the system itself is corrupt? Do you still work inside the system?
Pilate could have released Jesus and Pence could have simply sent the votes back to the states. But both pursued the path of least resistance when it came to their perception of what the masses wanted. Was it the right thing to do? I don't think so.
And both wash their hands of the mess that's created after. If Pilate had let Jesus go the crowd around him would have been extremely angry, but Jesus (who was innocent) would have lived. If Pence had sent the votes back and pursued a fair investigation Democrats would have burned down cities, but maybe the fraud will be uncovered, the border would still be closed, ISIS wouldn't be back, our fellow supporters wouldn't be getting rounded up by the FBI, and all the other bad things happening now because of Obama's third term.
This time I saw the story of Jesus as someone who belonged to the people. And those in power who felt threatened by him, were willing to use the authority system to betray and persecute him. I think we can all (except Mike Pence I guess) see the parallels of how that continues against Christians today.
Pilate may have taken the path of least resistance, but Jesus had to die to atone for our sins.
If Jesus’ disciples could have stopped the crucifixion they would have, but Jesus had to die to fulfill Gods plan.
I don’t know what Gods plan is for this country, but I do know that we are just passing through.
I love this country and I love my countrymen, but I also remember that it is not my home.
Trump had to "lose" to open our eyes to the evil/corruption all around us.
I'm not a trust-the-planner, but God does work in mysterious ways.
And as God knew they would, the people favored Barabbas, who murdered a Roman guard, to be set free, and condemned Jesus to death for merely daring to insult the hypocritical religious authorities.