"Then herod, with his men of war, treated him with contempt and mocked him, arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him back to pilate. that very day pilate and herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other."
luke 23:11-12
February 14, 2012
I am brought to a stopping after reading these verses. That last part, "that very day pilate and herod became friends with each other..." before this time, we are told that they had been at "enmity" with one another. A word that takes me back to its origin within scriptures, back to the garden of eden. When satan tempted eve and man fell into sin, the curse from god, as consequence, was stated,
"i will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).
It was long foretold that such a scene would take place, that enmity would be apart of the consequences of sin, and here we see that where enmity had been between two before, at the price of christ, it ceased. When two men came together in unity accusing jesus of his claim to be the son of god, we see the consequences of enmity highlighted, the effects of sin clearly portrayed. unified sin, revealed. two men who had been at opposites, joined together with commonality at the sight of christ. however, not the kind of change that comes from surrender before christ when a heart is soft, but the scene of a hard heart---by accusing christ, by mocking him, by dis-regarding his words, they found unity. they were unified in the sin of rejecting jesus. they were unified in the sin of disregarding his word. they were unified in compromising the fear of the lord for the approval of man.
the disciple james wrote to us, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with god? whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of god" (James 4:4). when we be-friend the world, we put ourself at enmity with god. jesus came to conquer the enmity that had come into the world through man's sin in the garden. however, he overcame this enmity by purity--by separation from the lusts and temptations of this world; being not of this world. his followers must like-wise separate themselves and live not unto this world nor follow the lusts of it any longer. god expects his people to walk and live in purity, cleansed from the surrounding temptations of the stains of enmity. be-friending the world by compromise to the word or respect of god, brands the mark of enmity in our lives. when herod and pilate both unified with the world by rejecting the christ, enmity's mark was seen, and friendship with one another established.
we cannot be both, friends of god and friends of this world. the decision must be made continually in our lives. temptation to unify with the world will constantly call out to us, the people cried out, "Crucify him!" and these two leaders gave into their cries. these distant cries continually echo, temptations to "crucify" our lord by setting aside his commands, rejecting his voice, becoming comfortable within the seats of the enemy. When we join into a conversation not pleasing to christ, when we complain about a leader in authority over us, when we grumble with one another instead of being thankful. and it goes beyond to when we remain silent when we ought to speak; when we allow others around us to mock our savior and remain silent. times of silence can be times of be-friending the world.
notice also that these men along with herod and pilate were men of war. men with the potential of victory. they were warriors with the choice to fight for good or evil. light or darkness. just as you and i, the battle is constantly before us, what side are we fighting on? friendship was found between these two men when they be-friended the world together, what came next? a crucified savior, and a world of men convicted by what they had done, realizing that he truly was the son of god.
this same jesus is still brought before us daily, what will we do with him? array him in the robe he deserves, crowning him as our master and king, obeying his voice? or mocking him and be-friending the world through unified sin? lord jesus, train us to be your people of godly warfare, not entangling ourselves in battles we need not undertake or that will distract us from our purpose on earth, we are to bear witness for you. cleanse us from the stains of enmity that we have undertaken by compromise to purity.
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