Today’s Scripture
Reading (October 19, 2014): Mark 15
The request
for U.S. ground troops in Iraq first began to surface just over a week ago. The
requests were in no way official, but the fact that some high ranking strategists
are beginning the conversation is probably a good indicator about how fast the
situation is declining inside of Iraq. It didn’t seem too long ago that all
Iraq wanted was for the United States forces to leave their territory. But now
the situation has turned desperate – and some reports indicate that without
U.S. boots on the ground in Iraq, the nation will fall. Some analysts believe
that without U.S. boots on the ground, Iraqi forces will simply stop resisting.
For many Americans, the fact that Iraq is vulnerable is not something that they
will lose a lot of sleep over. But if the Islamic State could ever get control
of Iraq, Syria would also most likely fall. And the resultant Islamic State
would destabilize the entire region – and the destabilization of the Middle
East would quickly become a World Wide problem that no one will be able to
avoid. The U.S. boots on the ground are needed because it is becoming apparent that
only the U.S. has a chance to stem the tide of the Islamic State.
The crowd
wanted Jesus to be crucified. The reality was that, at least officially, the
Jews had no ability to accomplish the death of Jesus. The conviction of a
person of a capital crime was a process that Rome kept exclusively to herself.
The religious elite wanted Jesus dead, but that was something that they could
not do themselves.
So the Jews
request Pilate, the Roman Governor, for help. At first, Pilate resists. He can
find no basis for the charges that the Jews are bringing against this
small-time rabbi. But the reality that Pilate lived under was that it was his
responsibility to bring stability to Judah – his portion of the Middle East.
But Pilate did not have a great record of being able to do just that. While his
predecessors had removed all of the images and effigies when they entered the City
of Jerusalem in an attempt to honor Jewish Custom and placate the people,
Pilate had caused a disturbance by bringing the images into the city at night. Then
Pilate had ordered gold shields to be set up in Herod’s Temple. The shields
were said to honor the Emperor Tiberius, but Jewish philosopher Philo writes that the
shields were set up "not so much to honor Tiberius as to annoy the
multitude". The resultant outcry from the Jews caused the Emperor Tiberius
to criticize the leadership abilities of Pilate. It seems that even then, what
the world needed was a stable Middle East.
And it is all
of these considerations that are plaguing the mind of Pilate in this moment.
The last thing that he needs is another reprimand from the Emperor. But even
Pilate, who had never been accused of being fair, can find no reason to end the
life of this man. And in the end he flogged and killed Jesus for no other
reason than that his career required him to keep the peace. And it was becoming
apparent that the execution of the teacher would do just that – at least for a
little while.
I understand
the factions that do not want boots on the ground in Iraq. Iraq is beginning to
look like it might have the potential to become another Vietnam, which absolutely
no one wants. But the reality is that some move may be necessary if the Middle
East is to be stabilized. And I do not envy the people in power who have to
make that decision – just as I really don’t envy the choice that Pilate was
left with. If he had not already been chastised by Tiberius, if he had not
brought the images and effigies into the city and set the gold shields in the
Palace of Herod, things might have been different – and there may have been
other choices that the governor could have made. But in his reality, all he
could do was placate the people and hand Jesus over to be flogged – and to be crucified.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 23
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