Christian Reflection and Prayer

By Rev. Wayne Palmer

 

Lenten Devotion

 

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that
very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each
other (Luke 23:12).

 

Read Luke 23:12.

 

Jesus came to be the great Reconciler. In His death He
restores the relationship between God and sinner. But His
sacrifice also works to bring human enemies together. We
see this in the case of Pilate and Herod, whose enmity
toward each other ended with Jesus' trials.

 

Before this time they hated each another. For Herod it was
probably nothing personal. He wanted the territory that Pilate
ruled, seeking to add that jurisdiction to his own. But an
incident Luke relates in 13:1 might have had some bearing
on it. The verse references something that took place at an
earlier event. "There were some present at that very time who
told Him (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices." Some Galileans evidently
started an insurrection that Pilate had efficiently put down
with force and bloodshed. Since these were Herod's subjects,
he could have seen it as a grievous offense.

 

On Pilate's side, his hatred for Herod may well have stemmed
from Herod's plotting and scheming to drive him out and take
his jurisdiction. But in Jesus the two rulers find common
ground. Herod buries the hatchet with Pilate because Pilate
grants his wish to see Jesus. And Pilate is reconciled because
Herod did him the honor of returning the case to Pilate's court.
It was no small thing for a ruler to entrust the fate of one of his
subjects into someone else's hands.

 

Pilate was probably not happy to see the return of Jesus and
His accusers, but at least Herod would no longer be a nuisance
and a threat.

 

THE PRAYER:

 

Lord Jesus, in Your suffering and death You reunited us with
Your Heavenly Father. Unite us to one another through
forgiveness, peace and love. Amen.

 

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)