John 18:28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be able to celebrate the Passover.
Do not miss the hypocrisy of this act. Here you have religious leaders setting up an innocent Man to be tortured and ultimately crucified – the most painful, humiliating form of death ever invented. They were murderers. They were liars. They were prideful, hateful, spiteful men setting up an innocent Man for death because they feared Him. Yet, they would not enter the Roman governor’s headquarters because it would “defile them”. Do you see how it is? Do you see the blindness you are capable of? Your hearts and souls are defiled – black as night. Yet you are blind to it and continue to go about your religious practices as if you were walking in My light. Search your own hearts and souls before condemning others. Be sure you are not defiled before calling out others. Are you truly walking with Me? Are you aligning your lives with My Word? Or do you “go to church”, read the Word with some regularity, even go into deeper “study” – and thus fool yourself as to how pure and righteous you really are? What are the motives of your heart? What are your desires and do they align with Mine? What are your plans? Do you seek My input for them? On what basis do you call out the behaviors of others? On the basis of your perfection? There are two directions in which you should focus your sight, your attention: inward and upward. Look to your own heart and check it always. And look to Me for direction, wisdom, guidance. Looking around only distracts and allows you to become other-focused, leading to judgment and a lack of attention to your own actions/motives. That is a disaster in the making. That is the quickest way to walk apart from Me. And once you stray even a bit, the distance between us can quickly become a chasm.
Amanuensis 