Forty Ninth Page: Surely Jesus was not Dumb!

Jesus was no good

at arguing His own case. Why, He didn’t even open His mouth when He was being accused! Check out Matt.27:14: “And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.”

 

 

I asked ChatGPT about this. He/She/It replied:

“Jesus did not respond to his interrogators because he believed in fulfilling the prophecy written in Isaiah 53:7 which states that “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Additionally, Jesus wanted to fulfill the plan of God by sacrificing himself for the redemption of humanity.”

Not bad, eh?

Artificial Intelligence knows the Bible,  something you cannot say about many a natural intelligence!

Let us look at the background to this episode.

Reading Matthew chapter 27:

27 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. ² And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

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Jesus Faces Pilate

 

 

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.

¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴ But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

This is significant. When there is a question about His divinity or Kingship, Jesus is forthright in His response. But when it came to accusations, mum is the word.

Since Jesus was not obliging, what could Pilate do? Not having the benefit of ChatGPT, the least he could have done is to listen to his wife who comes out in this episode as having more intelligence and possessing greater  perspicuity than the Governor himself. Read Mattehw 27:19.

We all know Eve set a wrong example, but generally speaking wives give good advice. Husbands make a show of heeding the wives but more often than not their egos or superegos eventually get in the way (please consult Freud for more on this, and watch Pilate in action).

 

 

Pilate was torn asunder. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

So what does he do in the end?

24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”

(We can thank Pilate for one thing; for giving us the term “wishy-washy”)

I guess this was merely to gratify his wife that he indeed was having nothing to do with Jesus. Once that hypocritical show was over, our man bends backward to please his constitutents. Was he invertebrate? Well, what do we read?

After a mockery of an investigation “²⁶ he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.” (Matt.27)

What an inglorious caricature he made of himself !!

 

 

Somewhere along the way after the exchange with Pilate about His being the King of the Jews,….. no no wait a moment: I couldn’t suppress an impulse to check out our “intelligence come lately” on this important issue.

So, “Is Jesus the king of the Jews?” I asked.

ChatGPT was truthful and honest even while being somewhat guarded and a shade circumspect (full credit to the trainers!)

“Yes, according to the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Jesus is considered by Christians to be the King of the Jews. This title was given to him by Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, when he was crucified. However, the significance of this title in the Christian faith goes beyond just a political designation. For many Christians, Jesus’ kingship represents his status as the Messiah (or savior) and Lord, who came to bring salvation to humanity and establish God’s reign on earth.”

Roughly at this point, John records Jesus as saying that “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”(John18:37)”

38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” 

A good question.

But quite often than not (as usually credited to Mark Twain) “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”

Yes, our man asked the right question indeed: Quid est veritas?

But was in too much of a hurry to end this nuisance of a trial which was disturbing his siesta that he couldn’t give Jesus time to respond (as we pointed out earlier Jesus did not disregard questions that were significant).

What about you?

Maybe you are intelligent enough to ask the right, relevant question of eternal significance. But

have you TIME for Jesus?

If Pilate had waited but a moment, perhaps Jesus would have repeated for his benefit His revelatory statement that

“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)

 

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