Pastor Ben’s Ponderings

“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.”     (Luke 23:11)

The phrase in that verse, “treated Him with contempt” literally means to make Him seem as if He were nothing; thus Herod unwittingly taught us a great lesson. Our attitudes toward others determine whether they appear to be something, or whether they appear to be nothing.

Parents can make a child that is really something appear to be practically nothing. Christians can hold an attitude toward other Christians that make them appear as nothing. Husbands and wives can cancel out each other’s positive potentials and traits.

Someone has said, “Act as if ______ and you will become.” That certainly seems to be true. Whatever we act as if the people around us are, that is what they tend to become. So, it behooves us to set about acting as if those closest to us are valuable people — unique, special somebodies. Likewise, we can see our fellow Christians as true, special souls of this world — called of and accepted by God.

Most of all, we need to view Jesus as Jesus, the Christ — the One who is all, the beginning and the end. May nothing in our attitude toward Him ever be guilty of making Him seem as if He were nothing.