John 18:28-32
My 10-year-old son doesn’t have a poker face. Fortunately for him, we’re non-gambling Baptists! When he was younger, this helped us know when he lied or even when he did something bad that we didn’t yet know about. By the look on his face, I knew to start asking questions and keep pressing because he would eventually confess.
This also helped us defend him when falsely accused. Once when a TV remote disappeared at a family member’s house, they believed he hid it as a game. So, I quizzed him about it. His face clearly told me the truth of his words. He knew nothing. For days we were asked to check with him again, but I knew he told the truth. Eventually it surfaced in a place where another family member had dropped it.
I’d love to see the faces of those who brought Jesus to Pilate. Had they learned to hide their lies and evil plans? Even without seeing them, the words in the text reveal their evasiveness and doublespeak.
They want to turn Jesus in but won’t even enter Pilate’s headquarters since such defilement would disqualify them from the Passover feast. They don’t seem to see the defilement they already brought upon themselves just by showing up with their false accusations.
When Pilate asks about the charges against Jesus, they merely claim they wouldn’t bring Jesus there if he weren’t a criminal. That doesn’t answer the question. Do their faces look as guilty as their words sound?
Like Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes, those who bring Jesus seem to confess their own naked intentions. When we look in the mirror, do we ever see ourselves doing the same?
Consider
When have you continued doing something you knew you shouldn’t, but just kept hoping others wouldn’t notice? How can you break out of the cycle of deception in those times?
Pray
God, you see me when I try to lie to or hurt others. Help me to honestly see myself in those moments, and then move out of such deceit. Amen.