Short Take: Slander and False Accusatoion

Here is another short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton.

The left and the media quickly reached their conclusion that Donald Trump, quote, incited an insurrection and should immediately be impeached from office. And I want to read a few paragraphs from the Gospel of Luke just to show you how this false accusation against Christ led to his murder, his crucifixion. It says in Luke chapter 22, verse 66, it says, When it was day, the council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and these are Jewish leaders, religious leaders, they led Christ away to their council chamber saying, If you are the Christ or the Messiah, tell us. But Jesus said to them, If I tell you, you will not believe.

And if I ask a question, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And they all said, So you are the Son of God? And he said to them, You say correctly that I am, claiming to be the Son of God, unambiguous. And then they said, What further need do we have of testimony?

For we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth. Now we transfer then to Luke chapter 23, where it says, Then the entire assembly of them, same chief priests, religious leaders of the day, set out and brought him before Pilate, who was the Roman governor of the area. And they began to bring charges against Christ, saying, We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. There's the accusations, the false accusations. Now Pilate asked him saying, So you are the king of the Jews?

And he answered him and said, It is as you say. But Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no grounds for charges in the case of this man. But they kept on insisting, saying, He is stirring up the people teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, as far as this place. In other words, taking what Christ was doing and twisting it to make false and slanderous accusations against him.

Chapter six. Now, when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Jesus to Herod, since he also was in Jerusalem at that same time. Now, Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus, for he would wanted to see him for a long time, because he had been hearing about him, was hoping to see some sign performed by him. And he questioned him at some length, but he offered him no answer at all. Now, the chief priests and the scribes stood there vehemently charging him.

Again, more slander, more false accusation. Verse 13, Luke chapter 23. Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the rulers, and the people. And he said to them, You brought this man to me in the ground that he is inciting, whoa, there's that word in the Bible, inciting the people to revolt. And behold, after examining him before you, I have found no basis at all in the case of this man, for the charge is what you are bringing against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us. And behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him and release him." Here, Pilate, having some degree of honesty, saying, you're just making false accusations against Jesus.

I'm going to punish him and release him. Now, he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner. Verse 18. But they cried out altogether. Now, their false accusations are not being believed by Pilate and so forth.

Now they're going to ramp it up and just scream louder. But they cried out altogether, saying, Away with this man and release to us Barabbas. He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city and for murder.

That's Barabbas. But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on crying out, saying, just in unison, just to outcry, crucify him, crucify him. And he said to them a third time, Why? What has this man done wrong?

I have found in his case no grounds for a sentence of death. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. But they were insistent, with loud voices demanding that he be crucified. And their voices begin to prevail.

Verse 24. And so Pilate decided to have their demand carrying out. He gave in, gave up.

Their voices prevailed. The false accusations were swept aside and he gave in. And he released the man for whom they were asking Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will. Again, that's from Luke chapter 23.

And you can see in this account, right before, and you know what happens next. They hauled him off, Christ off, the Son of God, the sinless one, the one who had created them. They hauled him off to crucify him. Their false accusations had their way, their hatred, their jealousy, their envy, their resentment. The false accusations, the slander they made against Christ, led to even the sinless Son of God being crucified. I just want you to keep that in mind as I make a comparison. And the comparison is not going to be between Jesus Christ and Donald Trump as people, because there's no comparison there. But the comparison is how the wickedness of slander and false accusation, which the left is using right now, and even some Christians are joining in to ruin Donald Trump and his supporters, how there's a comparison between how slander and false accusation was used back then against Christ, how it's just as slanderous and wicked and ruinous as it is we're seeing in our political world today. This has been a short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. To find out more about The Christian Worldview, order resources, make a donation, become a monthly partner or contact us, visit thechristianworldview.org. You can also call us at toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331.