By Abdu Rafiu
The humiliation and shocking gruesome murder to which the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, was subjected will continue to revibrate in our souls as human beings throughout the universe, and gnaw at our conscience, especially on the occasion of the anniversary of the dastardly event that will be marked this time next week in Christendom and in circles which have pre-occupied themselves with the Life and Times of the Son of God. Palm Sunday is in two days.
Mankind did not rise to protect their Lord and up till today, an average Christian would say that the Lord came to die and he died for the sins of humanity when it should be He died because of our sins, because men walled themselves in, and failed to recognize their Lord and as the Messiah sent by God Almighty. They dared to lay their hands on Him, treating Him worse than a common criminal.
The political and priestly establishments of the time found the Teachings of the Lord irksome and a threat to their influence, earthly hold and power on the generality of the people of Israel among whom He lived. The priests had taught wrongly in the temples and synagogues. But coming as He did from the Highest Luminous Heights of Eternal Truth, the Son of God sought through His Teachings to draw the attention of human beings to their wrong ways of living and to show them the only way leading upwards, to salvation.
His every word exposed the emptiness of the doctrines spread by the priests and the arrogance of their claim to leadership. He rejected with sharp words the sham religion that was all formalities and creeds. He was unrelenting in branding hypocrisy and errors for what they were. With the power of the establishments threatened and seething with hatred, the political and priestly leaderships schemed to get rid of Him. They incited the people to also rise against the Lord.
Today, I yield space for an exhaustive exposition of the Lord’s tragic walk to Golgotha by a guest contributor, Dr. Seye Aluko, who is both an engineer and music maestro. He reminds us of the tribulations the Lord suffered in the hands of man. On receiving the copy, I asked myself: Does Dr. Seye Aluko want to take after his father, the illustrious Lagos City Engineer of old and renowned novelist, T.M. Aluko? So, I grabbed the piece with both hands!
And here Seye Aluko goes:
Pilate took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it.” Then answered all the people, “his blood be upon us and on our children.”
(Matt. 27:24).
__________________________________________________________ The sentences in these writings are profusely extracted from a set of books titled:” “THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST AND BIBLICAL REVELATIONS,” Volume 4, (TAN books and publishers), Charlotte, North Carolina U.S.A. The pictures illustrated in the books were as seen in the visions of ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH, a German nun, and stigmatic, and transcribed by Clemens Bretano, arranged and edited by the Very Reverend Carl E. Schmmoger, and translated into English by an American nun.
PILATE WASHED HIS HANDS BEFORE THE MULTITUDE _
Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Israel at the time of Christ, never wished to have Jesus crucified, but every time he felt inwardly urged to get Him released.
When one meditates on the cruel actions perpetrated on Jesus Christ by the hostile Jewish mob that surrounded Him, one would wonder at the bestiality of human beings! How could an act of such criminality such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ be justified?
It was the desire of the thousands of enemies of Christ to have Him killed, because they were agitated by the massive influence He wielded over the people. That was the reason that they wanted Jesus crucified. But a sentence of death (by crucifixion), in the land of Israel at that time, could not be effected unless it was sanctioned by the Roman Governor over Israel at that time. That governor was Pontius Pilate. It was only because of this hatred that the blood-crazed mob were in such a hurry to have Christ interrogated by Pilate, so that their longed-for crucifixion could take place. So, after Jesus’ arrest, they took Him, so badly bruised and wickedly tormented, to the palace of Pilate, so that they would persuade the governor to approve and facilitate His crucifixion.
But Pilate was an experienced and meticulous governor, who was not willing to condemn a man without proper trial. And Jesus was innocent, after all, of all the accusations that the howling mob had levelled against Him. So, on seeing seriously maltreated Jesus presented before him and the howling mob that surrounded Him all baying for His blood, Pilate developed a great loathing of the Jews, because of their wickedness. Pilate was in a dilemma as to how to react and proceed with the situation, because he had sensed that Christ was no ordinary person, He was the Son of God, and He was very famous in Israel and beyond. The dramatic high profile of Christ aroused the anger and enmity of so many of the Jews.
As has been said earlier, Pilate had no intention of crucifying Christ without a just cause, so he went through the process of cross-examining Him, to examine His guilt or innocence. He asked the mob: “What accusation do you bring against this man?” And the mob replied: “If we did not know him to be a malefactor we would not have delivered Him to you.”
They then went on to list a litany of accusations against Christ, such as His healing the sick on the Sabbath day; that He was a seducer of the people and a disturber of the peace. That was not all, He was an offender against Caesar, the emperor of the Roman empire, in the belief that Pilate would not wish to incur the wrath of the emperor of whose representative he was in Israel.
They said that the officials of the different religious persuasions were exasperated by the complete hold that Christ had over the people, which influence set at nought their own authority. They brought forth paid false-witnesses, accusers, and bribed informants. This rabble trans- formed into a most fearful and furious crowd. They beat, spat at, grilled, scourged and mocked Christ in a most cruel manner. Therefore, after His arrest, He was tugged by a rope to the houses of the Israeli highest authorities, the High-priests Annas and Caiaphas. Before and after a preliminary cross-examination of Christ by these two high-priests, He was also accused of blasphemy which was again another cause of the unconscionable maltreatment. They spat in His face, they buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands, saying, prophesy unto us thou Christ, who is he that smote Thee?”
(Matt. 26: 67 & 68).
After His grilling before Annas and Ciaiaphas, they marched Christ to the palace of Pontius Pilate. At the palace, on Pilate seeing how Jesus had been so cruelly mal-handled, his loathing of the Jews increased immensely. He could not but marvel at the regal poise and demeanour of Christ despite what He had gone through in the hands of the raging rabble. And Pilate addressed the crowd asking “What accusation brings thou forth against this man?” The people answered: “If we did not know Him to be a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him to you. They then proceeded to reel out the litany of charges they held against Christ. They claimed that He called Himself the “Son of God,” that He was from an obscure lineage and yet called Himself a king. That he healed people on the Sabbath day, that He was posed to plan an insurrection against the Emperor of Rome and that He had claimed He could destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and restore it in three days among the charges they drew up against the Lord.
Pilate, at hearing Christ being described as a king by the Jews, he was stunned and worried. He summoned Him to an inner chamber of his palace, and he asked Him: “Are You a king?” “Where is Your kingdom,” and “what have You done to incur such wrath from the Jews?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not from hence. I was born and I came into this world to bear witness to the truth. Who is of the truth hearest my voice.”
Pilate then cast a glance at Christ, and rising, queried: “Truth, what is Truth?”
(John 19: 28).
The question “What is Truth,” highlights the attitude and demeanour of many statesmen, politicians, and administrators who are in positions of rulership; they resort to cunning to safeguard their interests. To them the concept of “Truth” is fluid and flexible. It is variable, dependent and changeable. They are as multi-coloured as the chameleon, that is in the manner of their proceedings, and the handling of their affairs. Pilate, too, had to take chameleonic decisions in treating the matter of Jesus Christ! He had to please the people! Yes, the conception of truth to a politician is exemplified by the notion of: “whatever is convenient, trending and favourable, at that particular time.”
Pilate could not comprehend Christ’s concept of “Truth.”
He descended again from the lofty terrace of his splendid palace and addressed the people, saying “I find no fault in this man.” Following this statement of Pilate the mob became the more enraged and uncontrollable. They hastily proceeded to level a further litany of false accusations against Christ.
The Bible states: “Then said Pilate unto Jesus: ‘Hearest thou not the many things they witness against thee?’ And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly.
(Matt. 27 :13&14).
And again, the mob began to accuse Christ saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked Him saying: “Art Thou the king of the Jews?” And Jesus answered Pilate stating “thou sayest it.”
Then again Pilate said to the chief priests and the people: “I find no fault in this man.”
The crowd answered Pilate: “What, does thou findest no guilt in him? Is it no crime to stir up the people? He hath spread His doctrine throughout the whole country, from Galilee up to these parts.”
When Pilate learnt that Jesus was from Galilee, he was glad and relieved. So, Pilate, to the great annoyance of the Jews, had Jesus sent to Herod, the bloated and effeminate ruler of Galilee, presuming that He would be handled by Herod to their hearts’ content, judged in accordance to Jewish law.
Yes, Herod was exceedingly glad to have Jesus sent to him, because for a long time he had been desirous of meeting Him. He had hoped to see some miracle done by Him. But he was very disturbed to see the pitiable disheveled state in which Jesus was, that He had suffered very badly in the hands of the mob. He offered Him a goblet of wine to assuage His thirst. But this was an offer that Jesus declined. Herod then ordered some among the crowd to take Him to a room to clean Him up. After that, Jesus was again brought before Herod, and again Herod interrogated Him about his doctrine. “But Jesus answered him not.”
(Luke 23: 9).
Herod then addressed a torrent of questions to Jesus. He said: “I am so sorry to see you so gravely accused. I have heard many things. Thou hath now been delivered to me by the Roman Governor that I may judge Thee. What sayest Thou to all these charges?”
But to Herod, Jesus again answered not a word.
“Thou art silent,” Herod queried? “They have often told me of your great wisdom in speaking and teaching. I would like to hear Thee refute Thy accusers. Is it true that Thou art King of the Jews? Art Thou the Son of God? Who art Thou? I have heard of Thy many miracles. Prove it to me by giving me some sign. It belongs to me to release Thee. Is it true that Thou hast given sight to men born blind? Did Thou raise Lazarus from the dead? Why dost Thou not answer?”
However, Herod did not wish to condemn Jesus, partly because of his fear of Him, and because he had been feeling remorse for his previous heinous act of beheading John the Baptist. He did not want the guilt to assail him again by killing another of the Saints and prophets of God. It was for this reason Herod refrained for harming Christ. But the more plausible reason that Herod did not condemn Christ, according to some school of thought, was because he did not want to kill someone who Pilate had declared to be without guilt. Herod, therefore, had Jesus sent back to the judgment halls of Pilate.
Back in the palace of Pilate, Pilate in the meantime had endearing discussions with his wife Claudia Procla, who prevailed on him to release Christ, as she had seen many disturbing things concerning Him in her dreams. Pilate gave her a solemn assurance that he would not condemn Him for he found not the least cause of death for Him. Why, “for what evil had he done?”
In the end, however, Pilate realized that he could not save Jesus.
The Bible states: “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water AND WASHED HIS HANDS BEFORE THE MULTITUDE, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it.”
(Matt. 27:24).
Now, the reader of this piece may wish to realise that there now exists on the face of this earth a monumental revelation of TRUTH titled “In the Light of Truth, The Grail Message.” The author of this treasure work was a German, a writer, author and playwright, named Oscar Ernst Bernhardt. In his early adult life, Bernhardt was a businessman who travelled around the globe, and who wrote stories, plays and travel tales. It was at this stage the bandage dropped from his eyes and he realised his mission on earth, which was to write down a Message of instruction for men who would thereby be lifted out of the swamp and quagmire of their false ways of living. It was then that he adopted a pen name “Abd-ru-shin,” an Arabic word which translated, means “Son of the Light,” or “Son of the Holy Spirit.”
Because of his origin and linkages Abd-ru-shin had the matchless power to proclaim and explain the Laws of God to human beings. In his lucid and earth-shaking lectures, He lays bare at the feet of men, explanations of every facet of life and existence, and the “why,” “whither” and “wherefore,” of the human spirit. In this ground-breaking work he explains that in their blind rage, enmity and craze for persecution mankind had always meted out dastardly crimes, if not exactly the same fate, heinous all the same, to every Prophet, Forerunner, Harbinger, Light-Envoy, Disciple, Apostle and Truth-Bringer sent by Almighty God to erring mankind. These Servants of God were scorned, disturbed, mocked, railed against, imprisoned and in many cases even killed, in the course of the fulfillment of their lofty assignments.
In Abd-ru-shin’s words: “Strangely enough wherever some messenger of the Light had to proclaim the Truth according to the Will of God, he was attacked, defiled, slandered and persecuted. This was done first and foremost by the representatives and servants of the prevailing religious dogmas who pretended to serve God, and by those who even had the effrontery to profess themselves as representatives of the Divine Will.
“This has always been the case from the most primitive medicine man and sorcerer up to the highest priests. Without exception they always felt themselves menaced by the Truth, and thus either carried on a veiled agitation or quite openly made mischief against every person who was ordained, mercifully granted or sent by God to bring Light to these earthmen.”
(From the Lecture “Shun the Pharisees,” pg. 836, The Grail Message of Abd-ru-shin).
Therefore, it is not surprising that the lives of all known Truth-Bringers such as Mohammed, Krishna, Lao-tse, Zoroaster, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and Abd-ru-shin were put at risk. They were all engaged in bitter struggles, laced with turmoil and hardship, because of the unwarranted hostility they had to endure in the pursuit of their respective high tasks.
Who is Abd-ru-shin, it may be asked? It is left for every person to come to his own recognition. None must be pushed; no one must be cajoled. In his Grail Message, which Message is his legacy of Truth, it can be seen that Abd-ru-shin is strict and severe, demanding the keenest observation and concentration by the readers and listeners of his Message. He writes in the German language, but the work has been faithfully translated into over 16 of the world’s living languages.
The Truth-Bringers sent to the world by Almighty God were all strong Personalities. There is the unfortunate fallacy, however, in Christendom that Jesus Christ was weak. They liken Him to a dumb lamb being led by shepherds to His slaughter. But this supposition of Christ’s weakness is false! Christendom posits that since Christ was to be crucified to “wash away the sins of the world,” He was a moron that was expected to experience every manner of insult and mockery on their behalf!” This characterization of Christ is wrong! Christ was strong! Very strong!
(Matt. 10: 34-35).
Christ also clarified His Mission by saying: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
(Matt.5:17).
In the same way but put in different words, Abd-ru-shin declares that his Message is not a vehicle to be used to destroy any prevailing or previous faiths. He states: “What is new is not always equivalent to a negation of what is past, but it can also swing in the old and lead onwards in the upbuilding, in such a manner as to unite the actual Message of Jesus with mine…
“With my words I lead to God and also to Jesus! However, in a more vital way than has been known in the past, and not as people have trimmed it through their propensity for spiritual comfort!
“Jesus shall not be given up as the Son of God through my Message. He “must now be recognized as such all the more, but not as the servant and slave of a decayed humanity in order to carry their burden of guilt, or to redeem it so that they may have it easier!”
He had said, “Many now think that life can continue in the old way, as it has done for thousands of years. Stretched out comfortably in their armchairs, they are awaiting a strong helper.
“But how do they depict this helper! It is really pathetic!…He will not budge an inch to make concessions to mankind and wherever he is expected to give he will demand!”
Yes, Abd-ru-shin, the acknowledged Truth-Bringer of this present age, in his dissertations to the human spirit, is severe! He had to write so forcibly because the spirit of man stands at the brink of an abyss. And he reveals: “The Cosmic Clock can be heard on earth as it now booms out the hour of twelve through the Universe! Frightened, Creation holds its breath, and every creature bows down in fear; for the Voice of God rings down and demands! Demands that you render account, you who have been permitted to live in this Creation!
.
And as he has warned: “It does not lie with mankind to elect the Bridegroom, (Son of Man), sent by God. But the Power of God will uplift Him at the hour when mankind in their helplessness are whining for deliverance! Then they will cease to revile, because horror will silence them, and they will willingly accept all the gifts the Creator offers His creatures through His Envoy! But he who will not accept them from Him shall be cast forth for all eternity!”
It is more than 2,000 years since the Lord Jesus left, the Lamb of God bearing the sins of mankind, that is bearing the wounds of His rejection by mankind, the world is in turmoil. In utter chaos as man is deeply entangled in spiritual indolence, and the Voice of God demands that he renders account—including for the burden of the murder of the Son of God!
By SEYE ALUKO, Lagos.
The Guardian
