Paul continues to defend his apostolic ministry. He declares that his ministry is not about him, but about Christ. He is a servant of Christ and of the people in Corinth.
We have hope, for the Spirit lives within us. The veil that used to separate us from seeing God’s glory has been removed from our eyes. When believers turn to God, we see the true glory of the Lord. We are in the process of transforming into the image of Christ.
The ministry of the Spirit, the new covenant, will reveal the true glory of God. We will move from the glory of the Law to the glory of the Spirit.
Paul’s confidence is in God through Christ. Any adequacy he may have is from God. He introduces the new covenant of the Spirit, who gives life.
Paul notes that he does not need letters of recommendation from anyone to validate his ministry. The Corinthian believers are themselves living letters that show that Christ has worked in their lives through the Spirit, whom Paul first preached to them about. Believers have the Spirit living within them.
Matthew records how the Roman soldiers physically abused and cruelly mocked Jesus during His civil trial. After they scourged Him, the soldiers dress Him up as a ridiculous king, complete with a robe, a crown of thorns, and reed for a scepter. They act out a charade of paying homage to “the King of the Jews” and beat Him with the “scepter” and spit on Him.
Matthew summarizes the three main outcomes of Jesus’s civil trial. They are: Barabbas was released; Jesus was scourged; and Jesus was handed over to the crowd’s demands that He be crucified.
Pilate comes to the conclusion that he cannot win and that a riot is about to break out. But he is very troubled about crucifying Jesus, whom he firmly believes to be an innocent Man. He tries to publicly absolve himself of any wrong doing by washing his hands in water and declaring himself to be innocent.
As the crowd was shouting “Crucify Him!” Pilate asks them two questions to recall them from their frenzied obsession with killing Jesus. Pilate asks them: “Why He should be crucified? What evil has He done deserving of such a punishment?” The crowds ignore his questions and keep shouting all the more—“Crucify Him!”
The crowd responds to Pilate’s offer to use the governor’s “Passover Pardon” on Jesus by shouting at Him to give them Barabbas instead. Barabbas had been imprisoned for insurrection and murder. Pilate wanted to release Jesus and tries to persuade the crowd again, but they kept on calling out—“Crucify, crucify Him!”