Jesus - Unique in Passing the Test

Continuing on with looking at Jesus' uniqueness in His way of dealing with His trial and crucifixion (see here), Albert Nolan says the following of the persons/groups that were tried and tested:

"Pilate, firstly, was tried and found wanting. Jesus' silence took him by surprise. He probably did hesitate for a moment...But because he was not, and had never been, concerned about the truth, he went on to do what political expediency seemed to demand...Pilate was guilty of a lack of interest in the truth (John 18:37,38).

"Caiaphas and his associates were still more guilty...even if Caiaphas had been open to the truth and had come to believe Jesus, what could he or should he have done in order to secure peace with the Romans? Perhaps, we can say, he should have risked his own life by resigning as high priest, joining Jesus in hiding and working with him to spread faith in the 'kingdom.' This is a tall order and one wonders how many men in his position would ever have been so concerned about truth and honesty...Caiaphas was not able to live up to the challenge with which Jesus presented him. Which one of us would want to throw the first stone at Caiaphas?

"The death of Jesus was also a judgment upon the scribes, Pharisees and others who knowingly rejected him. If they had accepted him and believed in the 'kingdom' of the poor, that 'kingdom' would have come instead of the catastrophe. They were not different from so many men and women today...

"Finally the disciples themselves were being put to the test. It was a severe test, a test of their willingness to die with him for the sake of humankind. But Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him and the rest fled.

"Jesus himself was also tried and tested. He sweated blood over it and told is disciples to pray that they would not have to be as severely tested as he was...Jesus did not want anyone to be put to the test. 

"But the crisis came and the test was severe. Jesus alone was able to accept the challenge of the hour. It set him above everyone else as the silent truth that judges every human being. Jesus died alone as the only person who had been able to survive the test. Everyone else failed and yet everyone else was given another chance. The history of Christianity is the history of those who came to  believe in Jesus and who were inspired to take up the challenge of his death - in one way or another."

Work in us, Spirit of God, to be able to recognize the daily opportunities to be loyal to Jesus to the point of 'death' in our personal lives, and work in us as a collective people to be loyal to Jesus in the face of religious and political pressure to do the expedient thing. Thank you that in Your endurance and passing the test, Jesus, You have given us a second chance...