(3) Coronation Day
They brought Him to judgment. `What accusation bring ye against this man?' They answered, `If He were not a malefactor we would not have
delivered Him up unto thee'. H'm so that was the case for the prosecution. What a terrible crime! What a malevolent criminal!
`Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' Anyhow, they declared Him innocent. Of course they did. They could not do anything else. Pilate said, `I am
innocent of the blood of this just man'. His wife declared Him innocent, she sent a message: `Have thou nothing to do with this just man'. The
centurion declared Him innocent, he said `Truly this was the Son of God'. The malefactor who was crucified with Him declared Him innocent.
He said, `This man hath done nothing amiss'. So as He was innocent they spat upon Him! They bound Him! Beat Him! Cursed Him! Mocked
Him! Crowned and crucified Him!
`Is there diadem as monarch that His brow adorns?
Yea a Crown in very surety, but of thorns'.
Pilate wrote His accusation and he wouldn't alter it. `What I have written I have written!'
`This is the King of the Jews'.
And thus `He bore our sins in His own body on the tree'. Don't blame the Jews. The Gentiles lent a hand. We were all in it.
That happened at Calvary. For you - for me.
(4) Pentecost
Did you say that Pentecost was the beginning of the Church as we know it today? Nonsense! Oh! but all the denominations say it was. Sorry,
but they were all Jews at Pentecost. No Gentiles converted there. `Ye men of Israel', said Peter. Yes, but what about all those Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia, Egypt, part of Libya, about Cyrene, strangers of Rome, etc.? Yes, but don't stop there, it says `Jews and
proselytes'. Jews or naturalized Jews. Besides, Peter did not say it was the beginning of the Church, he said, `This is that'. He couldn't speak
much plainer. Oh! but Peter could not be speaking to Israel, not after the Crucifixion surely! Ah! but he was though! It was just God's boundless
mercy, God's forgiving grace. Give them another chance perhaps this time. `Repent', said Peter, `and Jesus Christ will come again' (Acts 3:20).
Again there are signs of the Kingdom at hand. The lame walk, prison doors are opened, the sick are healed. The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
Things which were to happen in the last days - according to Joel's prophecy - were taking place around them. `Repent' said Peter. Many did
repent - maybe 10,000 ... but the Sanhedrin, No! The Pharisees, No! The Elders, No! The Nation, No! Not at Pentecost.
(5) Cornelius
Still God is loath to give them up. He loved them and His purpose was to use them. He would have used the Jew as a means of bringing the
Godless Gentiles to a knowledge of the One True God. The Children of Israel had a knowledge of God already. They should evangelize the
world. They should be a nation of `Kings and Priests' unto Him. But how can they be persuaded to repent without compulsion? Perhaps if they
see the Gentiles seeking and finding Him without their aid. Perhaps that will move them. Maybe they will see their folly. Perhaps they will be
moved to emulation.