Monday, August 27, 2007

Responsibility

But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

—Luke 11:28

When Peter and John came before the priests, elders, and scribes to answer for their preaching the gospel, who was there? Acts 4:6 says that Annas, the high priest Caiaphas, and others were gathered together in Jerusalem.

Annas and Caiaphas were the very men who were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Caiaphas was the ruling high priest, and Annas was his father-in-law, the former high priest. In those times, judicial and religious responsibilities were intertwined. Caiaphas had great authority as both a religious figure and a legal figure. This was a man who should have known better. This was a man who had dedicated his life to the study of Scripture. This was a man who had dedicated his life to the pursuit of God. Yet this was the man who was responsible for the persecution and death of Jesus.

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, is the one who actually sent Christ to His death. Pilate is the one who commanded the soldiers who pounded the spikes into the hands of Jesus Christ. Pilate is the one who ordered the whipping of Jesus. Yet Jesus said to him, “The one who delivered Me to you is guilty of a greater sin” (John 18:11). How can that be? Pilate was an ignorant nonbeliever. He didn’t know any better. But Caiaphas was a man who knew the Scriptures.

Knowledge brings responsibility. If you have heard the truth of God, if you have been exposed to the gospel message, then God will hold you accountable for what you know. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it (see Luke 11:28)! 


For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to  www.harvest.org.

 

Copyright © 2007 by Harvest Ministries.  All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.  Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.