{"id":4523,"date":"2018-03-28T08:36:31","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T14:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=4523"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:22:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:22:24","slug":"for-this-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"For This Cause"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is he a king or not?<\/span><\/i> Pilate wanted to know, but Jesus hadn\u2019t really given him a straight answer.<\/span> If he is a king, even a wannabe king, one of those messiahs the Jewish rabble is always talking about, he\u2019s unlike any I\u2019ve ever seen. And I\u2018ve seen a few! \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world.\u201d Is there any other kind?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 Last Supper has ended, His prayer in the garden. Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied; the rest scattered as the chief priests held their kangaroo court. Now he stands before Pilate, the most powerful man in the land and the one with the authority to set him free, or crucify him, as they did pretender kings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you a king then?\u201d Pilate asked again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus replied, \u201cYou say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice\u201d (John 18:37, cf. vv. 33-36).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCause\u201d. What cause? \u201cTruth\u201d. What truth? <\/span><\/i>Pilate was confused.<\/span> His cause is to become a king? Well if it is, he didn\u2019t get so far. Surely, he doesn\u2019t mean <\/span><\/i>this<\/span> is his cause, this moment now, and a cross? A king on a cross? That is a hysterical thought, makes no sense. That is no cause at all. Who is this Jesus of Nazareth, born to this cause, here in my court, here in my Jerusalem? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That<\/span><\/i> birth years before was in a humble stable, but an angel announced that this baby was, despite all appearances, the Messiah, and much more, Savior and Lord. Few knew, and as great kings go, his entrance into this world was as inauspicious as his exit. Wooden manger, splintered cross; birth tethered to death. From the womb, his <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i> was the death he would die. Pilate could not guess the truth of this babe or his destiny reaching its climax that day in his court. But his mother Mary knew well and kept these things in her heart (Luke 2:6-19).<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in little Bethlehem, according to Micah the prophet, Jesus\u2019 first trip to Jerusalem was only days later. It portended his final trip there. Circumcised on the eighth day, presented at the temple after Mary\u2019s days of purification, and with the necessary sacrifices made – two doves – the Holy Spirit moved. Old, blind Simeon led to the temple to see the \u201csalvation of God\u201d before his death and to tell a mother the <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i> for which her infant Savior was born: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBehold, this\u00a0Child\u00a0is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed\u201d (v. 25-35).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another pilgrimage to the temple twelve years later would be just one more sign pointing toward the <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i> for which he had entered the world. Passover lambs ready for slaughter all around Him, Jesus was about Father\u2019s business. Mary was there, she kept all this in her heart too (vv. 41-52). Remembering Gabriel\u2019s promise before Jesus was conceived, \u201cHe will be called the Son of the Highest \u2026 and of his kingdom there shall be no end\u201d, did Mary wonder why her baby boy, her Lord, must die? (Luke 1:32, 33)?<\/span><\/p>\n

What an inexplicable <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i>. What an unconventional King. Birth and death all bound up together in unrecognition, in rejection by his own. No inn here, no room for the King, for the Savior, in this world. And yet, that was how it was meant to be from the foundation of the world: the lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. What an inexplicable cause! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI find no fault in him\u201d, Pilate announced to the mob after his odd interview of this unlikely king Jesus, <\/span>quite the opposite of my master, Caesar.<\/span><\/i> \u201cCrucify him, crucify him\u201d, was the only reply. Pilate negotiated his death, a criminal for the Son of the Highest, and sent him to Golgotha bearing a cross. Always the pragmatist and thinking little of it, forgetting soon enough, Pilate fulfilled the cause for which He had been born. Yes, he was a king, <\/span>The King<\/span><\/i>, but one come not to be served but to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). <\/span><\/p>\n

We can\u2019t forget. At Lord\u2019s Supper we remember together. We celebrate His <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i> to die for the world, the <\/span>truth<\/span><\/i> he was born to fulfill. We drink the wine he gave, <\/span>His blood<\/span><\/i>, and we eat the bread he shared, <\/span>His body<\/span><\/i>, and His divine <\/span>cause<\/span><\/i> is not only evoked and remembered, it becomes our own.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jason Overman\u00a0is Editor of the Bible Advocate and pastors the Jasper, Arkansas COG7 with his wife Stephanie and two children Tabitha and Isaac.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is he a king or not? Pilate wanted to know, but Jesus hadn\u2019t really given him a straight answer. If he is a king, even a wannabe king, one of those messiahs the Jewish rabble is always talking about, he\u2019s unlike any I\u2019ve ever seen. And I\u2018ve seen a few! \u201cMy kingdom is not of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42,37,39,44],"tags":[780],"yoast_head":"\nFor This Cause - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For This Cause - Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is he a king or not? Pilate wanted to know, but Jesus hadn\u2019t really given him a straight answer. If he is a king, even a wannabe king, one of those messiahs the Jewish rabble is always talking about, he\u2019s unlike any I\u2019ve ever seen. And I\u2018ve seen a few! \u201cMy kingdom is not of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"794\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bibleadvocate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bibleadvocate\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"bibleadvocate\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/31edca1450471cc1eebd9b83bfabcd30\"},\"headline\":\"For This Cause\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\"},\"wordCount\":825,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Lord's Supper\"],\"articleSection\":[\"2018\",\"BA\",\"Lord's Supper\",\"Online Extras\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\",\"name\":\"For This Cause - Bible Advocate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png\",\"width\":794,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For This Cause\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"description\":\"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":80,\"caption\":\"Bible Advocate\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/31edca1450471cc1eebd9b83bfabcd30\",\"name\":\"bibleadvocate\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a7529ddeb6868e59154ff2fcfd60252?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a7529ddeb6868e59154ff2fcfd60252?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bibleadvocate\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/bibleadvocate\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For This Cause - Bible Advocate","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For This Cause - Bible Advocate","og_description":"Is he a king or not? Pilate wanted to know, but Jesus hadn\u2019t really given him a straight answer. If he is a king, even a wannabe king, one of those messiahs the Jewish rabble is always talking about, he\u2019s unlike any I\u2019ve ever seen. And I\u2018ve seen a few! \u201cMy kingdom is not of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/","og_site_name":"Bible Advocate","article_published_time":"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":794,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"bibleadvocate","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bibleadvocate","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/"},"author":{"name":"bibleadvocate","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/31edca1450471cc1eebd9b83bfabcd30"},"headline":"For This Cause","datePublished":"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/"},"wordCount":825,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png","keywords":["Lord's Supper"],"articleSection":["2018","BA","Lord's Supper","Online Extras"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/","name":"For This Cause - Bible Advocate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png","datePublished":"2018-03-28T14:36:31+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:22:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/03\/LS2018.png","width":794,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/for-this-cause\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For This Cause"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","name":"Bible Advocate","description":"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization","name":"Bible Advocate","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","width":380,"height":80,"caption":"Bible Advocate"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/31edca1450471cc1eebd9b83bfabcd30","name":"bibleadvocate","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a7529ddeb6868e59154ff2fcfd60252?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a7529ddeb6868e59154ff2fcfd60252?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bibleadvocate"},"url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/bibleadvocate\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22330,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523\/revisions\/22330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}