So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” [Luke 22:70-71]
And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” [Luke 23:2-4]
With approximately the same non-denial testimony ("I refuse to testify against Myself, but you have your own testimony to go on."), the Pharisees and Pilate come to completely opposite conclusions.
Why?
Is there a difference in how Jesus presented Himself? No. The difference comes from the opening positions of the men deciding the answer. The Pharisees are already looking for reasons to consider Jesus a blaspheming heretic, and are desperate to refute the possibility that He might actually be Who He says He is. On the other hand, Pontius Pilate has a much more objective starting point, pushed even further towards recommending Jesus' innocence by his wife's dream [see Matthew 27:19] and his general disdain of the Jewish religious leaders. When he hears "You have said so", he hears it as a denial, not a confirmation. So (ironically) it confirms his own belief that this Man is not whatever the Pharisees claim He is, and declares Him innocent.
(However, since that doesn't fit in with God's Plan, God continues to take a stick to the hornets' nest of Pharisees and aides de camp, upsetting the apple cart until Pilate has to allow Jesus' crucifixion.)
We do the same thing, we human beings of the 21 century.
When the Gospel is presented to us, one of two things will happen. Either we will truly listen and be accepting of what is being shared, and the Holy Spirit begins (or completes, or is somewhere in the midst of) His Holy Work on your heart and soul and mind, leading you on the journey to the start line of your salvation; OR we shut down, hardening our heart and soul and mind to the message of the Gospel. Rather than trying to accept the free gift of salvation, we search for reasons to shoot it down. And since "the Word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing," ("but to us who are being saved it is the Power of God" - 1st Corinth 1:18), we will find PLENTY of reasons to shoot it down in our own minds, legitimate or not.
Does that mean we stop trying to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? "By No Means!", as Paul would say to the Romans. It frees us from pressure!
When a person is ready to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, all we have to do is make the move. We don't have to be eloquent, we don't have to have the background of a preacher, although being a Bible-reader will help you with the basic questions; we don't have to be perfect at all. We're just the ones who "pull the trigger". The Holy Spirit has already done all the prep work, and we're going to receive the reward from Him of being the person there to guide the new Believer "over the line" into Christianity!
And if the person is NOT ready to accept Christ? There is nothing you're going to be able to say or do that will bring them to Jesus that day. It is important to present the Gospel anyway - perhaps the Holy Spirit is using you as one of many straws on this particular camel's back. Or, maybe it's a waste of time. You don't know. So you share it anyway. There's no harm done.
Hey, at least you'll get some practice in!
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