October 13: John 14-21

"Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman
governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the
Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover."
~John 18:28

Isn't it ironic that the Jews did not want to defile themselves by entering a Gentile dwelling (even a palace) because they had already "cleansed" themselves for the Passover feast? The cleansing process could last a long time, up to a week, depending on the defilement, and they didn't want to rish the hassle of going through the ceremonial cleansing again. Some Jewish historians think the part of Passover they were keeping themselves "clean" for was the Chagigah, which was a fellowship offering as defined in Leviticus 3:1-5 and 7:29-34. A fellowship offering's purpose was a voluntary act of worship; thanksgiving and fellowship and included a communal meal.


So, they were very concerned with following the Law of Moses which disallowed them from participating in the Passover feast if they were found unclean (Numbers 9:6), but were not that concerned about following the Laws that Moses gave them from God (The 10 Commandments). Violations of "Thou shalt not murder" and "Thou shalt not bear false witness"come to mind, although the argument could be made that they were also "misusing the Lord's name" by denying Him his rightful title, and also "putting other gods (false gods instead of the true God) before [God]".


They were also prepared to worship God with the coming fellowship offering, but at the same time, preparing to kill God's Son. They were prepared to give thanks to God for delivering their people from Egypt, but were killing the One who could (and would) deliver them from their sins.


It seems so silly, even laughable, at how concerned they were with keeping up the appearance of following God's Laws while plotting to kill His only Son. How often do we strive to keep up outward appearances, making ourselves seem to be "good" and "perfect" followers of the Law, while in secret our hearts and minds are filled with all kinds of sin--hatred, greed, lust, pride, and plots to do evil. We are no better than the Jews who plotted to kill Christ...we are also sinners in need of mercy and grace which only God provides.