What Shall I Do With Jesus?

Pontius Pilate was in a fix. As a Roman governor, he had witnessed many struggles; he had organized many battles. But the struggle and the battle in which Pilate was engaged that day when the Lord Jesus Christ was brought for trial were the most momentous and difficult of all.

The battleground was Pilate's own heart and conscience. He felt himself being pushed into a corner, forced to take a decision which he would rather have shirked. Thus it was from the depths of a very anguished heart that he cried, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22).

That is a great question, for it crystallizes not merely the dilemma of Pilate, but the dilemma of every sinner.

An Analysis of the Question

It is an individual question.

"What shall I do with Jesus?" It is personal. "Everyone of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).

It is an important question.

"What shall I do then with Jesus?" You are not considering what you will do with the church or with some preacher, or with some person you may look upon as a hypocrite. You are dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. The question of what you will do with Jesus is important because of who He is.

• He is your Creator. "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3).

• He is your Sustainer. "By Him all things consist [hang together]" (Colossians 1:17). He is "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).

• He is the only One who can save sinners. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). God has "appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world by that Man [Jesus]" (Acts 17:31).

Since the Lord Jesus Christ is your Creator and Sustainer, the very Son of God, who alone can save your soul? You will one day soon face Him as your Judge; the question of what you do with Him is of vital importance.

It is an inescapable question.

You cannot avoid the question. It demands action. It demands decision. It demands a choice to be made. For Pilate, that choice was the crowd or Christ; his job or Christ (he imagined he would come under Caesar's disfavor if he came down on the side of Christ). For the crowd of Jews at Pilate's judgment hall, the choice was between Barabbas--a thief, a murderer, and a leader of sedition--and Christ. Those choices never really alter with the passage of time. It is still the same for you. If you go the way of the crowd; if you are governed by the favor of the ungodly, you will reject Christ. But if you are wise, you will at once decide the issue in favor of the Lord Jesus. "What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?"

An Answer to the Question

• You must be for Christ or against Him (Matthew 12:30).

• You must love Him or hate Him (Matthew 6:24).

• You must receive Him or reject Him (John 1:11,12).

• You must crown Him or crucify Him afresh (Hebrews 6:4-6)

• You must confess Him or deny Him.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32, 33). In other words, what do you do with Jesus now, He will do with you on the judgment day.

Face the question, "What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?" Be sure to answer it by turning right now to receive Christ as your Savior and your Lord.

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Taken from "What Shall I Do With Jesus?", published by Let the Bible Speak.