Waiting and the Way of Light

Mark 15:42-47

And when evening had already come, because it was Preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent Council member, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus… [Pilate] granted the body to Joseph. And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Mark goes to some length to describe the situation after Jesus’ death.

The Romans usually left a body to decay on the cross after crucifixion as a gruesome warning to those who would defy imperial authority. However, John records that the Jewish leaders asked that the bodies not be left on the cross on that Sabbath because of Passover. So, the executioners hastened the death of the two men crucified with Jesus. As Jesus had already died, there was no need for Him to suffer additional torture and indignity (John 19:31-37). 

Pilate summoned the Centurion who supervised the execution for confirmation, as it didn’t seem to him that Jesus could have died after only six hours. To be a centurion, the Roman soldier had to have been older than 30, literate and had a track record of leading others in battle. The man was familiar with death. 

Pilate was satisfied. Jesus was dead. 

In unusual cases, the bodies of individuals of higher social standing could be claimed by their families for burial. Joseph of Arimathea overcame his fear of being ostracized by the Jewish Ruling Council of which he was a member and the risk of being identified as a follower of Jesus by the Roman ruler. He asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus’ body. Pilate, who might have still felt regret for the moral compromised of his decision, granted the request. 

Those who had the terrible task of burial preparation worked quickly but didn’t finish because of the Sabbath sunset and fading light. According to John’s gospel, a group that included Joseph and Nicodemus managed to bind Jesus’ body in linen wrappings with about 75 lbs. of myrrh and aloes before laying Him in a tomb near the place where Jesus was crucified (John 19:39-42). They planned to return and complete their work after the Sabbath ended at dawn on Sunday morning.

The others of His followers who were not at the tomb shared grief beyond imagination. They had lost the One they had come to know and in whom they had hoped. Their grief was all they could see. 

We know that we’d feel the same way.

As they waited and mourned that Saturday, how could they have known that the way of the cross was not the end for Jesus? Within a day it became clear. 

“Via crucis via lucis” “The Way of the Cross is the Way of Light.”

In the gathering light of the next day’s dawn, it began to become clear.

The light is gathering still. 

And so we walk, we wait, and we believe.

Behold Man & King

John 19:5

“Behold the Man!” 

John 19:14

“Behold your King!” 

Jesus’ Roman interrogation by Pilate the Roman Prefect took place Good Friday morning. Even though Jesus admitted to Pilate that He was a king, the Roman ruler didn’t think Jesus was much of a threat. He directed his soldiers to scourge Jesus, torture him physically and shame Him mercilessly. They then dragged Jesus out and Pilate declared to the crowd, “Behold the Man!” He was no danger to public order or the Roman Empire. “I find no guilt in Him,” Pilate concluded (John 19:6).

After additional questioning and torture of Jesus, Pilate returned to the pavement in front of the Governor’s place and displayed Jesus again, wearing a purple robe, a crown of thorns and a mantle of His own blood shed through the beatings and scourging. Pilate was making the clear point to the people of what happens to people who make a claim of authority outside of the Roman sphere of influence, while simultaneously insulting the Jewish people: “Behold your King.”

Pilate was right both times.

Jesus was fully a human, just as we are. But He was also King and represented another realm. “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The Roman Ruler could not have people wandering around claiming to be king apart from Rome. I think that he probably thought that the beatings were enough to dissuade Jesus of His royal claims. But the Good Friday crowd, whipped into a frenzy by religious leaders who told them what they would lose from following Jesus’ subversive teaching, were afraid. And so, they cried for Jesus’ death. And Pilate acquiesced “Wishing to satisfy the multitude” (Mark 15:15).

We too are just people. We are no real threat to any earthly power so long as we go with the flow, acknowledge Caesar, and kiss the cultural ring. But we are at the same time citizens of heaven where we “eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20, with “Savior” and “Lord” being titles typically attributed to the Roman Emperor). And so, we operate – or should operate – by different rules.

Increasingly the times require us to make hard choices.

After His resurrection, Jesus our King told His disciples “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). The Via Crucis, the way of the cross is not an option. It is the path that Jesus walked. But it was not the way of fear. To those of us attempting to follow Him today He says as He did to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36).

May we remember this Good Friday the King who gave Himself wholly for us and for His Kingdom.

He bids us walk the Way with Him.

Remember Me

Luke 22:19
Do this in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 5:7
For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed.

During Holy week we typically celebrate Jesus’ last supper on Thursday. That is the chronology suggested by Mark’s gospel and accepted throughout church history. Jesus instructed His disciples to make arrangements for them to share the meal together “…on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover Lamb was being sacrificed” (Mark 14:12). The historical symbolism of the Passover meal punctuated His evening with His disciples and the church’s remembrance of the Eucharist meal since.

“Remember Me.”

 
The bread that He broke was unleavened, the “bread of affliction,” because it was made in haste as the Jewish people prepared to leave their enslavement in Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:18). Leaven symbolized sin and a departure from the ways of God in both Old and New Testaments. Jesus, who was without sin, was broken for us. Brokenness for His sake is the way of the cross.

“Remember Me.”

The blood of the Passover lamb was placed on the two doorposts and the lintel of the ancient Israelites' homes as a symbol of obedience and commitment to Yahweh. The plague of the death of the firstborn would pass-over those whose doorway was marked with blood (Exodus 20:7,13). “This is My blood poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). It was a new promise, a new covenant by His blood. As His people, His followers, we are marked as sojourners: “And thus you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is Yahweh’s Passover” (Exodus 12:11).
“Remember Me.”

It’s not just in the elements of the Lord’s supper – the bread and the wine – where He calls us to remember Him. He spoke the words over the Passover meal, but He had a much greater hope for us. The first three gospels recount the details of that Last Supper. But John’s gospel focuses on Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, on service and the new commandment He gave to them: “Love one another that all men might know that you are my disciples” (John 13:1-11, 34,35).

Through good times and bad, we are to love. This is the blood-mark on our doorposts. It is bread without leaven. It is how we must be known.
“Remember Me.”

It is not always easy. It is mostly not easy.
He often calls us to love people who are at times tough to love.

But it is the Via Crucis – the way of the cross.
Jesus said to follow Him.

Let us gird up our loins and go.

The Problem with just being “Religious”

Matthew 23:1,2 (Mark 12:38-44)

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. All that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

As Holy Week progressed, Jesus continued to shame and embarrass the religious leaders. And they became angrier and more determined to dishonor Him in return. It almost seems as though Jesus had reached the limits of His tolerance as He repeatedly railed against the religious system. While Luke and Mark both quote similar condemnations, it is of note that Matthew – a Jewish disciple of Jesus himself – provides a record of Jesus longest dialogue.

He said that Pharisees:

- Burdened others without assisting in relieving the burden (23:4).

- Did deeds to be noticed by men (23:5-7).

- Loved places and titles of honor (23:6-10).

- Shut off the kingdom of heaven from men (23:13).

- Defrauded and took advantage of widows (23:14).

- Proselytized merely to replicate themselves (23:15).

- Wrangled with words and swore by details but missed the general point (23:16-22).

- Practiced detailed tithing but missed the principles of justice, mercy and faithfulness (23:23).

- Cleansed the outside and paid attention to the external, but ignored the internal (23:25-27).

- Honored the prophets but would have conspired with their murderers (23:29-31).

It is easy to condemn.

But we are not so far removed from them in Christianity today. The Pharisees were trying to follow what they believed God asked of them. They went to the Temple. They prayed. They read the Scriptures. They tithed. They were respected religious and community leaders. 

“All that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

Jesus’ blunt critique of their hypocrisy exposes our own. We are known for what we’re against and less by what we are for. We embrace battles for “causes” that only touch us indirectly, while we ignore ones that directly do. We sidestep justice, mercy and faithfulness in our relationships and instead chase after prosperity, tranquility, and comfort, sometimes at others’ expense.

Are others drawn to Jesus by watching and listening to us? Do we “Magnify the Lord” (make Him easier to see, Psalm 34:3?) or do we obscure the view of others?

With these words, Jesus is also talking to us.

Holy Week is a good time for personal reflection and repentance.

Miserere Domine. Have mercy Lord.  

Discerning What Matters to God

Mark 12:28-31

And when one of the scribes… asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, our God is One Lord. And you shall love the You’re your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Holy Week is a series of “honor/shame challenge/riposte” verbal exchanges between Jesus and the authorities in Jerusalem, first the religious authorities and ultimately Pilate. Their goal was to publicly humiliate and thus discredit Jesus. In addition to the inherent truths in each of the teachings, the exchanges were recorded by the gospel writers to demonstrate the religious leaders’ failure to catch and embarrass Jesus. 

 
The week began with the humble parody of Jesus’ Palm Sunday parade through the east gate into Jerusalem, mocking Pilate’s triumphant show of power as the governor rode into the city most likely on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The people proclaimed Jesus “Son of David” and cried “Hosanna” or “Yahweh save us,” both Messianic acclamations (Ps 118:25,26).

This raised the ire of Pharisees and Sadducees who commanded Jesus to silence His followers. Jesus instead insulted them with a quote from the prophet Habakkuk declaring that the house they had built was one of injustice and violence and that the stones of the house would cry out in protest (Habakkuk 2:9-14, Luke 19:40).

Jesus’ position was an open threat to the delicate relationship the religious authorities had struck with the Roman government. And so, the Torah expert’s question in today’s passage was a trap to discredit Jesus: Which of the commandments would Jesus forget to mention? Or in the subsequent arguments, how could the interrogator trap Jesus with His own words and humiliate Him?

 
In the public “honor/shame challenge/riposte” game, Jesus turned the tables on the Pharisees who had gathered by asking a question about the Messiah:

“What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”
He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet?’  Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” (Mark 12:35-37, Psalm 110:1).

 
“And no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.” It was the ultimate humiliating end to an honor/shame exchange. Jesus had the last word.

Instead of the trap, as we enter Holy Week, Jesus has made it clear how we can best devote ourselves to God our Father: Love God. Follow Jesus (to best know how to love God and others). Care for others. Do good work well.

It is not easy. We too easily get caught up in the maelstrom and menace of our times. He will call us to love people who are at times difficult to like, let alone love.

But it is the via crucis, the way of the cross.

And He bids us follow.

Turning Tables During Holy Week

Mark 11:15-17

Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He was not permitting anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a robber’s den.”

This is Holy Week, too.

In writing his gospel, Mark very intentionally describes day by day events of Holy week. According to Mark, this happened on Monday. 

It is one of those events we have all heard about because a variation of this episode (or episodes if Jesus did it more than once) occurs in all four Gospels. In the first three gospels Jesus’ casting out of traders from the Temple occurs close in time to His arrival in Jerusalem in the last week of His life.

 
The money changers were in the Temple to serve foreigners who wanted to worship Yahweh but whose foreign money was not accepted in the Temple. They had a reputation for cheating those who came to worship, charging variably exorbitant fees to exchange the currency. In some cases, dishonest money changers would shave metal off the coins and render them less valuable.

All three Synoptic gospels also mention that Jesus specifically targeted those selling doves. The dove-sellers were in the Temple courtyards because the Torah allowed provisions for those who could not afford to purchase a lamb: “Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering” (Leviticus 5:7). And presumably among the dove-sellers were those providing substandard products at increased prices, as demand would expect to drive quality and price during the busy Passover season.  

Jesus quoted the Scripture “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” but the context is critical and would have been clear to those who witnessed what He did in the Temple:

“Also, the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh,
To be His slaves, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath
And takes hold of My covenant,
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them glad in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar,
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples” (Isaiah 56:6,7).

“Foreigners welcome.”

How quickly we “Christians” become focused on who is in “the club” and who isn’t; creating bounded sets where the Good News seems to encourage us that the kingdom of heaven is a “centered” set of lovers of God and followers who are (hopefully!) over the course of a lifetime coming closer and closer to Jesus, the center of all.

Jesus turned over the money changers' tables.

Let us turn and repent…

   lest He overturn ours.

The Veil was Torn...

Mark 15:38
And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention this event without comment. They expected their audience would understand the significance.
But its meaning may be lost on us.

 
The Scriptures do not provide specific details about the Second Temple, so what we know about this veil comes largely from Rabbinic literature. From these sources, the Temple veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was “60 feet long, and 30 feet wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand.” The veil was said to be so heavy that in the exaggerated language of the time, “It needed 300 priests to manipulate it.”

 
Only the priests could enter the Holy Place. Only the High Priest could enter through the veil from the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies. He made that journey once a year, on Yom Kippur to offer atonement and sacrifice for the collective sins of the people of Israel. He could not enter at any other time for any other reason under penalty of death (Leviticus 16:2).

 
With the death of Jesus, the Temple veil was rent (schizō, torn, cleaved, split) from the top to the bottom. Since the veil was not seen by anyone but the priests, we know that this event happened likely because early in the history of the church “A great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7).

 
In the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s first Temple, the presence of God was visible as the Shekinah glory: fire, light and smoke (Exodus 40:34-38, 2 Chronicles 7:1). Rabbinic literature suggests that while the Second Temple was a house of worship for the people of Israel, “The Shekinah did not rest on the Second Temple."  The Ark of the Covenant was lost during the Babylonian conquest. And so, the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jesus’ day was an empty room.

When Jesus died, the veil obscuring the Holy of Holies was torn in two making it obvious to all the priests who dared look that the room was empty; that not only the ark, but also the visible glory of the presence of the Lord was absent.

 
God’s glory was instead a half a mile away at Golgotha. It was on a cross, the last place anyone expected to find it.

God had become man. He had become the curse for us and had died for the sins of the whole world, to bring an end to the power of sin and death (1 John 2:2). As Jesus died, and the veil was rent (schizō) the gospels record that the Roman Centurion supervising His execution declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). He was the first person in Mark’s gospel to acknowledge Jesus' divinity.

 
At the beginning of His ministry when Jesus was baptized and came up out of the water, the heavens were rent (schizō). A voice declared from the heavens, “Thou are My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). The heavens were torn open, and heaven came down.

It is the only other time in Mark’s account that he uses this word (schizō), “to rend.”

A tearing or rending begins and ends Jesus’ ministry. The place of men was torn open and God’s presence came down. The veil of the Holy of Holies was torn open, and there was nothing there. We have a new High Priest in Jesus the Messiah, sacrificed once for all (Hebrews 10:10). God now dwells among us so that the glory and presence of God now rests upon His people, the followers of Jesus who are sealed with His Holy Spirit.

 
“We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and confirmed and one which enters within the veil" (Hebrews 6:19).

 
May our lives reflect the glory of God made manifest to us through the death and resurrection of our Lord.

 
Have a blessed last Sunday of Lent. 

Jesus cried out in a loud voice...

Mark 15:33,34
And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

As Jesus sensed that the moment of His death was approaching, His mind was focused on Scripture, specifically the twenty-second Psalm: “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken Me? Far from my salvation are my words of groaning! O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night but I have no rest” (22:1,2).

Both Matthew and Mark gospels include Jesus’ quote from Psalm 22 in Aramaic, Jesus’ native language. There are minor variations between the two versions that have created controversy for some (e.g. “Eloi” vs “Eli” for “God”). The explanation is likely a matter of the process of transliteration, going from Aramaic to Greek. It is how two Americans with different dialects might phonetically spell “Gawd” vs “Goud” depending on how they heard and remembered it said.

Psalm 22 was written by David in ancient Hebrew (~1000 BC), translated into the Greek Septuagint version (200-300 BC), memorized by first century Judean men who heard in both Hebrew and Greek, and subsequently spoken and quoted in their native Aramaic tongue.

It was translated back into Greek in the first century, into English fifteen centuries later and subsequently into a proliferation of different contemporary versions. It is not at all remarkable that we should find minor variations between versions. What’s remarkable is that we find so few. God meant that we should know Him in each generation, and He has provided His word as a lamp unto our feet (Psalm 119:105).

 
He has also provided it for comfort and encouragement in our moments of trial and travail.

 
It's not a pleasant thing to think about. But every one of us will ultimately have last thoughts before we transition from this life into the next. How wonderful it would be to have our very last thoughts profoundly grounded on the truth of God’s Word, His story, His character revealed through Christ, manifested in the lives of our brothers and sisters (compassion, graciousness, patience, lovingkindness and faithfulness, Exodus 34:6); to focus on His abundant blessings and His presence in our lives.

We cannot predict the moment. We all know too many people for whom it came suddenly and without warning. Would that our last thoughts might be of Him because that was where our minds were trained to go amid the hectic pace of life. Would that we had learned in the moments when the clouds of earthly busyness parted, to look for the light of heaven and His truth to shine even briefly through.

It comes from practice. And such practice can begin today.

So, between spreadsheets and bedsheets, between studying and scrolling, commuting and communicating, labor and life, may our hearts and souls be found in Him.

 
"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).

“You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
In You our fathers trusted. They trusted, and You rescued them” (Psalm 22:3,4).

Rebuilding the Temple in 3 Days

Mark 15:29
And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”

Golgotha, (Latin calvariae locus, “Place of the Skull") was most likely located outside the old city walls, near a major road or intersection. Some have speculated that it might have been just to the west of the city, near the major road that led to Damascus, some 150 miles or two weeks’ walk to the north. The Romans often crucified criminals where they would be visible to those passing by to heighten the victim’s humiliation and to present a visible warning to others.

The insult about the temple was based on something Jesus had said, perhaps more than once during His ministry: “Destroy this temple-sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews had challenged Him, “It took forty-six years to build this temple-sanctuary, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple-sanctuary of His body (John 2:19).

In the Greek language, the temple precinct (hieron) included the sanctuary, courts, and the other buildings, on the temple mount, covering as space of about 30 football fields. The word was used elsewhere in the New Testament for temples to other gods or goddesses (Acts 19:27).

 
In these passages, that was not the word Jesus used in referring to Himself.
Neither was it the word used by those insulting Him.

 
The sacred edifice (or sanctuary) of the temple consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies was referred to as the “naos.”  In classical Greek, it was used specifically to refer to the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of the god was placed. In Ephesus, a man named Demetrius had a lucrative business making little silver “shrines” (naos) of Artemis for sale to pilgrims visiting the city (Acts 19:24). That was the word Jesus used metaphorically to refer to Himself. It was the most prominent building of the temple precinct and the one those insulting Him remembered.

It was where the image of the god was placed.

The very last place that the ancients would have thought to encounter a god was hanging from a wooden pole, bleeding, naked and humiliated. For the Jews the very idea was abhorrent: “Cursed is he who hangs on a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:23).

 
And yet the writer of Hebrews states that this Jesus, who willingly submitted to the shame of false accusations, who was cheated, tortured, humiliated and insulted, is “The radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:2). He is the one upon whom we should “fix our eyes” as we run the race of faith (Hebrews 12:1,2). His mindset of emptying and humbling Himself is the attitude we should embrace for ourselves as His followers (Philippians 2:5-8).

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the place where the image of God has been placed (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
Let us therefore glorify Him with our bodies and our lives.

There was a sign on the cross

Mark 15:25
Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

John 19:20
Therefore, many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.

It is not at all surprising that there would be a sign on Jesus’ cross explaining why He was killed.

After all, there was some contention as to whether He had to die at all. The religious leaders insisted on it. Jesus had embarrassed them in front of the people, weakening their authority and dishonoring the cultural and societal roles they held.

But they also knew that Jesus was extremely popular with the people, and they could not afford to have been held directly guilty for His death. On the surface, this was a Roman decision. But they managed to couch their charges against Jesus in language that would paint Him as a threat to the Roman political machine. When Pilate waffled and tried to release Jesus, they threatened to report the Governor to Rome: “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). Pilate’s position and political career depended on his being “a friend of Caesar.”

 
And so, the sign on the cross represented different things to the many different people passing by. Perhaps this is why Pilate had the sign translated into Latin (the language of political power), Greek (the language of business and culture) and Hebrew (the language of the regional religion).

For the Romans, the sign was a political message. This is what happens to anyone who thinks of themselves as king. Caesar was their ultimate ruler. To the business community, it was a reassurance of business as usual, the end to those who threaten the status quo. To the religious leaders, it was a satirical affront, reminding them who was in charge.

 
To those who had followed Jesus and had hoped that He was the anointed one, the Messiah who was to lead them to victory over their Roman masters, the sign was a crushing disappointment. This was not how the story was supposed to end.

It took some time and the power of the Holy Spirit for them to begin to remember that this was what Jesus had been teaching them all along. The Kingdom He was bringing to earth was different than what they expected. “My Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

When we proclaim Jesus as our Lord we underscore the words of David, “The Kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:28). He is the King over our political machines, our business and markets, our religious systems, and even our expectations about what following Him means.

Are we prepared to surrender our expectations, our notions of safety and security, and follow where He leads?

“In Thee our fathers trusted, they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them” (Psalm 22:4).  

They crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves

Mark 15:24
And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what.
Psalm 22:18
They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

In the end, Jesus didn’t have much.

When Jesus was arrested, He was away from home on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Mark suggests that He did not stay in the city but departed each evening, possibly returning early in His last week to the home of His friends in Bethany, some two miles away (Mark 11:11).

 
On the evening of Holy Thursday He was likely wearing only the clothing He had brought with Him: an inner tunic (chiton), the garment worn next to the skin, an outer tunic of heavier material and similar construction, and then perhaps a cloak or robe like a folded blanket that assured additional warmth for a traveler who intended to spend the night outdoors.

 
After the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus, dragged him the half mile to Golgotha and then completed the horrific torture of crucifixion, they bartered and gambled over His clothing, an episode documented in all four gospels (Matthew 27:35, Luke 23:34, John 19:24).

John was a witness to Jesus’ crucifixion and perhaps lamented that He or Jesus’ mother Mary were denied Jesus’ last belongings. Perhaps the disciple watched with dismay as the legionnaires divided His outer tunic into four pieces then rolled dice for His inner tunic. Even though blood-stained, the tunic could be laundered and would be valuable because it was “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23,24).

All four gospel writers recognized this episode as a fulfillment of Psalm 22, David’s song of anguish. Quoting from the Septuagint Greek Old Testament, they each used the same word to describe the division of Jesus’ mantle or outer tunic, “diamerizō” or to “divide/distribute among” (Psalm 22:18).  

Luke used the term to describe the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost a month or so after the Resurrection: “And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves (diamerizō), and they rested on each one of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:3,4). And when Luke described how the early church manifested the power of the Holy Spirit through their love for one another he used the same word again: “And they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all, (diamerizō), as anyone might have need” (Acts 2:45).

His followers may have grieved the loss of Jesus’ clothing and the cruelty of the soldiers who not only tortured their Lord but also heartlessly denied them His possessions.

But the Lord left us with an even greater possession in the gift of the Holy Spirit, His own presence which empowers us to follow Him: to love God, to care for others and to do good work in His Name. 

Wine and myrrh

Mark 15:23
And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.

In both Matthew and Mark’s gospels, immediately after arriving at Golgotha (Latin “Calvaria,” “Skull”) they offered Jesus something to drink. Matthew and Mark differ slightly in terms of what was in the wine Jesus was offered with Mark referring to “Myrrh” and Matthew using a more generic term “gall” referring to the bitter taste and noxious nature of the drink.

 
Myrrh has a bitter taste. It is thought to have some analgesic effect and when added to wine, potentiates the effect of the alcohol. And so, some commentators believe that an arrangement had been made that allowed the one crucified to have access to a drink that would provide some mild pain-relief and decreased sensation. Perhaps it was prepared by the pious women of Jerusalem in obedience to the Scripture, “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those whose soul is bitter” (Proverbs 31:6,7). Jesus refused it.

 
For most of us, what Jesus suffered physically is beyond our comprehension and experience.
But there was even more that He endured.

 
Judas was so ashamed of his betrayal that he took his own life. Peter was so ashamed of his denial of Jesus and thankful for the Lord’s forgiveness that he made sure the account of his betrayal and dishonor (of which he was the only witness) found its way into every Gospel. Shame and honor were far more powerful aspects of Jesus’ world (and most of the world today) those of us raised in our nation appreciate.

 
In addition to the agonizing pain, crucifixion inflicted maximum shame and humiliation on its victims who hung naked and tortured before jeering mobs. The horrific practice of lynching in our own history accomplished the same effect.

With the shame and humiliation of His torture, Jesus bore the shame of our sin and the degree to which we have failed and continue to fail to reflect the honor and glory, reputation and character of God. The Lord God described Himself to Moses as “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).

We live in a time characterized by “unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil,” those who are “gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful…untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.” Not only do we practice these things, but we have chosen as our leaders and “give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:30-32). We have dishonored Him.

 
Jesus likely had a Psalm in mind as He was tortured to death and cried out to His tormentors “I am thirsty” (John 19:28).

 
“Reproach/shame has broken my heart, and I am so sick.
And I hoped for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall (bitter bile) for my food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:20,21)

Have a thoughtful fifth Sunday in Lent.
Remember. 

Pressed into service

Mark 15:20,21
After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

Mark 8:34
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

The half mile journey between Pilate’s palace and Calvary was too much for Jesus. Beaten, thirsty, stumbling and weak from blood loss, He could not navigate the hilly, narrow Jerusalem streets.

 
All three Synoptic gospels mention Simon of Cyrene, from a Greek colonial city in North Africa. The city was founded ~625 BC and was one of five Greek cities (called Pentapolis) on the coast in eastern Libya, perhaps one hundred miles from the Egyptian border. Simon was likely of mixed heritage, related to the first Greek settlers who traveled there and to the Libyan people with whom they freely married over six centuries.

Luke records that there were Jews from “the districts of Libya around Cyrene” in Jerusalem at the time of the first Pentecost (Acts 2:10). There must have been Cyrenians there at Passover too. One of them named Simon met Jesus on the road to Golgotha.

 
Sometimes we choose the things we must do. Sometimes the choices are made for us.

 
Carrying the cross was not his choice. Simon almost certainly did not volunteer. Matthew and Mark state that he was “pressed into service.” Luke says, “They laid hold of him.” Simon’s burden was not voluntary. He didn’t ask for it.

This cross he carried was not his own. A soldier reached for Simon in the crowd (singled out because he was of darker skin?) and pulled him into the street to carry Jesus’ cross (patibulum). Roman legionaries were permitted to compel the local citizens into service, but the distance was limited to one mile (Matthew 5:41).

 
This cross he carried left him filthy. Simon had traveled a long distance from Cyrene for the festival. He may not have had a lot of extra clothing with him. The blood-stained, grimy cross had probably been used for this purpose more than once. (Wood was a costly resource.) His labor left his cloak and tunic soiled.

 
This cross he carried likely left him changed. Here we can be certain of very little because Simon disappears from history after this Good Friday task. But Mark mentions Simon’s sons, Alexander and Rufus in his gospel. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, as he concludes Paul extends greetings to a list of those whom he knew in the city. “Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine” (16:13). Perhaps Mark mentioned these two sons in his Good Friday narrative because they were well known to the Christian church in Rome for whom he was writing his gospel. Perhaps the man Mark mentions is the same Rufus mentioned by Paul, whose mother had become a second mother to the apostle. Perhaps this woman was Simon’s wife or widow.

While it is impossible to know, we do know this.

The crosses Christ calls us to carry leave us changed. When we encounter Jesus, when we think about who He is and what He has done, when we follow where He leads, we cannot stay the same. Like Simon, we have crosses we will bear that are unasked for and unwanted. In obedience to Jesus, we hope that we can take up those crosses in denial of self.

 
Perhaps the legacy of Simon – of whom we know nothing beyond this brief encounter with Jesus – is that his life was so changed by Jesus that his family decided to follow Jesus too. The stains on his tunic changed his life.

Simon’s faith, sparked by a chance meeting with Jesus, became the most important legacy he passed on to his family. who in turn became a blessing to the church, to their community and the church throughout the centuries.

All because he carried a cross he didn’t ask for.  

“If they do these things in the green tree what will happen in the dry?”

Luke 23:27-31
“If they do these things in the green tree what will happen in the dry?”

It was 600 meters (about 4/10 of a mile) between the Praetorium where Pilate passed judgement on Jesus to Golgotha where He was crucified. The traditional path between the two is called in Latin the “Via Dolorosa,” or “Way of Suffering” and is still traveled by pilgrims today through the old city of Jerusalem.

 
In Luke’s account of Jesus’ painful journey to Golgotha (Aramaic, “Place of the Skull” or in Latin “Calvaria,” Luke 23:33), a crowd followed. In the crowd were a group of women that included those genuinely grieving Jesus’ suffering as well as some who were professional mourners whose services were perhaps purchased by wealthy benefactors sympathetic to Jesus and His family. In some cases of Roman execution, especially those for treason, mourning after death is prohibited and the body was unceremoniously discarded by the executioners. Thus, the shame and punishment continued even after the victim’s death. 

 
At what was perhaps a moment of respite, while a stranger was enlisted to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum) of His cross, Jesus briefly addressed these “Daughters of Jerusalem” (Luke 23:28).

He urged them not to weep for Him but for themselves and the destruction that was ahead of them. It was most likely a foreshadow of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the annihilation of the city’s population that occurred a mere 40 years later. Some of these women, certainly their children and grandchildren would be victims of the unconstrained, homicidal wrath of the legions under the Roman general Titus.

 
While a dying tree is still green there is hope. There is yet some life flowing through the xylem and phloem of the tree’s circulatory system: water and minerals upwards from the roots and sugars and organic compounds throughout the leaves and branches. It can still draw strength from its roots. It can still bear fruit.

As it dies, it dries.

Roots decay and the tree can no longer draw strength from the soil.
Leaves fall and it can no longer draw energy from the sun.
Rootless and leafless, it is dry wood good for nothing but fire.

 
Empires silence dissent. That’s what they do. The more numerous the dissenters, the more vigorous the response. The louder the voices, the greater the rage, the more brutal the suppression. In AD 70, Titus’ legions burned Jerusalem and the Temple to the ground. Stone and masonry walls collapsed in the heat of the conflagration. The citizens who didn’t starve during the siege were slaughtered or sold as slaves. 

Wood burns. Dry wood burns more easily.
Today, if we could speak to the dying forest, if the terebinths would listen, we would tell the trees:
“Remember your roots. Turn your leaves towards the Son.”

Weeping and remorse...

Matthew 27:3,4
Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
Mark 14:72
And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said the statement to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And throwing himself down, he began to cry.

While Mark’s gospel tends to be more succinct than the others, we know that other events were taking place while Jesus was suffering on the via crucis, the way to the cross.

For example, Mark does not provide much detail about Judas’ remorse and suicide. Only Matthew and Luke (Acts 1:18-19) recount Judas’ struggle with the consequences of his decision to betray Jesus. Judas’ motives were not entirely clear. But John, who like Matthew knew Judas, attributed his actions to greed: “He was a thief and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it” (John 12:6). Whatever Judas’ initial thinking, by sunset on Good Friday Jesus was dead and he believed it was his fault. He knew he could never face the disciples again. He almost certainly felt deep anguish because of his actions. It was more than he could endure.

Sometime before dawn on Good Friday in the High Priest's courtyard, Peter realized that he had been so concerned about his honor and saving his own neck that he had denied Jesus, just as the Lord had said he would. In Luke’s account the disciple made eye contact with Jesus: “The Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord how he had told him ‘Before the cock crows today you will deny Me three times’” (Luke 22:61). Peter threw himself to the ground and wept bitterly.

After His resurrection, Peter was lovingly but pointedly held accountable by the Lord with three admonitions to put the flock of God above His own honor and reputation (John 21:15-17). The disciple was left with the knowledge that God can redeem anything. Peter was also left with a lifelong appreciation for the importance of humility. He wrote, “You younger men… clothe yourselves with humility toward one another for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves before the mighty hand of God that He might exalt you at the right time, casting all your anxiety upon Him for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7). 

Peter’s denial of Jesus occurs in all four gospels. In humility, Peter made sure that what he had said and done was on the record. 

We all make mistakes. In a country and culture founded on individualism and capitalism, without even realizing it we can prioritize personal financial gain or our own agendas above following Jesus. We can prioritize personal honor, reputation, and social standing above Him. And while we know (and love to quote) that all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28), we also know that mistakes have consequences.

May we humbly cast our cares and the burden of our own failings upon Him who cares for us. 

Wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate...

Mark 15:12-14
Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

The way of the cross (“via crucis”) begins with a difficult decision for Pilate.

The Roman military prefect had to have known of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Among the quarter million pilgrims who had swelled the city’s population during the Feast of Unleavened bread, there were likely thousands of followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He had heard rumors of this Man’s power over sickness, the weather, and evil spirits. There was one report that Jesus had raised someone from the dead.

 
The religious leaders were pushing for Jesus’ execution. They raised the specter of insurrection to Pilate: “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that He Himself is the Anointed One, a King” (Luke 23:2). The prefect’s job was to maintain order, extract taxes, and suppress insurrection by whatever means necessary. The Jewish leaders knew exactly which buttons they needed to push. They could not be seen as responsible for Jesus’ execution. They needed Pilate.

But Pilate knew in His gut that Jesus was innocent and no threat to Roman rule. “I have found no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:14). Credible witnesses could have told the prefect that they had never heard Jesus say anything against Rome. And Pilate doubtless had enough experience with the personalities of the Sanhedrin to sense their scheming and manipulation.

Finally, Pilate’s own wife had experienced nightmares about Jesus. She passed word to Pilate, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19).

 
The first step in the way of the cross was Pilate’s difficult decision.

By now there was a crowd of onlookers who sensed blood and who were stirred up by the chief priests to insist on Jesus’ death.

 
Pilate had options. He could have just delayed judgment, waited until the feast was over and the crowds of pilgrims had returned home. He could have just kept Jesus in prison and waited.

In general, the more important the decision is, the more time one should take in making it.

A person’s life is such an important decision, arguably the most important of all decisions.
Unless it isn’t.

Unless others’ lives don’t outweigh other factors in the minds of those making the decision: power, control, position, wealth, recognition and reputation.

 
“Wishing to satisfy the multitude… Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified” (Mark 15:15).  
Pilate washed his hands of the decision (Matthew 27:24). History has not been so kind or forgetful.

 
The way of the cross began for Jesus as the victim of a hasty, cruel, uninformed decision.
In following the Savior, we may find it so for us. 

I am and you shall see...

Mark 14:61,62
Again the high priest was questioning Him and said to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ‘The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of The Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’”

Mark 15:2
And Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and *said, “You yourself say it.”

“You’ve given everything away!” (Vinzzini, “The Princess Bride,” 1987).

 
The first half of Mark’s narrative pointed to Jesus’ authority over evil spirits, sickness, the wind and waves. He taught with authority. He stood up in defiance to the traditions and Pharisaic ways. But He was very careful about any claim to being Messiah. Instead, He referred to Himself as “Son of Man,” a phrase in its simplest form that was a common way to refer to being human.

 
In the second half of Mark’s gospel, Jesus reveals His fate: “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31, also 9:31, 10:33,34). When Jesus first said it, Peter rebuked Him. This was not the Messiah’s path. He was to win, and not lose. Jesus rebuked Peter in return (Mark 8:32,33).

It was in Jesus’ these two trials – likely a span of a couple of hours - that the truth finally came out. He made clear who was and what was to come of Him.

The Chief Priests point-blank asked Him if He was the Messiah and He told them He was, adding the prophecy of Daniel to His use of the title “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13,14). With the priests, Jesus also crossed the line in using the phrase “I am,” which in His Aramaic tongue sounded dangerously (and intentionally) close to Yahweh's name, the Aramaic and Hebrew verb “to be” (Exodus 3:14). It was enough for the Chief Priest to dramatically rend His garments and break the Torah Law himself, (the High Priest should never tear his clothes, Leviticus 21:10).

Before Pilate, Jesus deftly admitted to His kingship without giving the Governor any specific statement to catch Him: “You have said so” or “You yourself say it.” John’s account includes the reassurance to Pilate that Jesus' Kingdom was not a direct threat to the Roman Leader: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate concludes his interrogation, “I find no guilt in Him” (John 18:36-40).

Jesus had “Given everything away:” Messiah, coming King, Lord.

He knew who He was.

 
As we see Jesus’ boldness in declaring who He was to those in power, we should consider what our own response would be.

Perhaps we could start with something simple.
Jesum sequimur.
We follow Jesus.

May our lives reflect that truth (Romans: 12:2).

Have a blessed, intentional fourth Sunday in Lent. 

Are you also with the Nazarene?

Mark 14:66-68
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”

The High Priest’s courtyard had become a court of public appearance. Accused by a young servant-girl, Peter denied following Jesus. He countered the accusation by implying that this girl was a fool. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” and by implication neither do you. He repeated his denial three times, an account so important to the narrative of Holy Week that it appears in all four gospels.

 
What was the apostle thinking? What was he afraid of?

Peter was not a coward. All three Synoptic gospels recount that one of the disciples struck a slave with a sword in Gethsemane and John identifies the assailant as Simon Peter (John 18:10). Peter asked to be let into the courtyard and could probably have slipped away in the darkness at any moment if he sensed the risk of arrest (John 18:15,16).

 
The potential physical threat was real. But Peter was facing a more immediate danger. “And Peter followed [Jesus] at a distance, right into the courtyard of the High Priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.” (Mark 14:54).

The High Priest’s courtyard had become a court of public appearance. Honor was at stake.

- The need for honor and the fear of being shamed and ridiculed.
- The need to be thought well of and fear of disdain and disrespect.
- The need to win and fear of being on the losing side.
- In a patriarchal culture, the shame of being accused by a woman in front of a group of men.

 
At that moment, Peter’s honor was more important to him than his allegiance to Jesus.

 
We have all had these moments where our need to be liked, to be accepted, to be considered a part of the in-group shapes our response to a question about Christianity or Christ. Though prompted by the Spirit, we suppress the sense to speak of Him or to speak up in another’s defense.  

Peter knew dishonor. He had denied the Master. He wept as he heard the cock crow and He remembered Jesus’ warning (Mark 14:27-31). “We want to stay asleep, but the rooster’s cry is to wake us up. And part of what Peter had to hear is that he is not as strong as he thought he was. Neither are we. That’s why the sound of the rooster’s crowing—as painful as it is to hear—is actually grace” (Russel Moore, Christianity Today, March 2025).

 
Peter encouraged Jesus’ followers in his day and those who seek to follow still: “Therefore gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

 
And so we hope. For grace. 

Beating Him with a reed and spitting on Him

Mark 15:16-19
So the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. And they dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to greet Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him; and kneeling, they were bowing down before Him.

Before the Roman soldiers humiliated Him, Jesus had already been scourged (Mark 15:15).

The Roman scourging was repeated blows on the back by “a whip consisting of three or more leather tails that had plumbatae, small metal balls or sheep bones at the end of each tail.” The effect of the repeated blows of flogging with this instrument were devastating. When it was finally over, Jesus was likely close to death from the shock of blood loss and loss of bodily fluids.

But that wasn’t enough for His torturers.

 
After beating Him nearly to death, they shamed Him in front of the crowd of soldiers who took turns mocking His claim to kingship, wrapping Him regally in a cape. After wedging a wreath of thorns on His head they repeatedly struck Him on the head with a reed staff, spat on Him and kneeled in feigned homage. The Chief Priests’ soldiers had done the same thing prior to delivering Jesus to the Romans, spitting on Him, beating Him and slapping His face (Mark 14:64,65).

 
The behavior of the soldiers towards Jesus should give us pause.

 
The Roman legionnaires had likely been in service since mid-to-late adolescence. They had likely been exposed to beatings and humiliation throughout their training and subsequent service. As soldiers, they had been exposed to violence and had the moral injury of hand-to-hand killing. Some might even have developed an appetite for aggression and cruelty. In this latter case, they might have developed a total lack of empathy and compassion, thus explaining their continued need to violently shame and humiliate Jesus.

 
Moses asked to see God’s glory. But he could not see the face of God and live. Instead, the Lord passed before the patriarch unseen and called out,

“Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).

 
In the Praetorium on the last morning of His human life, the Son of God confronted “anti-God:” all in mankind that is the opposite of the character of God. Jesus brought His entire life, His character and His teachings into that moment. By mid-morning, His face was bruised and disfigured, stained with His own blood and the spit of His tormentors. He had endured unimaginable shame. And it was only just beginning. 

 It was for us. “The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:6).

 
We see what Moses couldn’t. In Jesus  we can see the face of God.
When Moses heard the voice of Yahweh, "He made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship” (Exodus 34:8).

May be join Moses, prostrate in worship before Him. 

"Are you the King?"

Mark 15:1,2
And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, immediately held council; and binding Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. And Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “You yourself say it.”

The Roman military governor (prefect) Pontius Pilate’s only interest in Jesus of Nazareth was as a potential threat to the fragile civil-political order of the troubled Judean province. Pilate was likely a career soldier who chafed at dealing with these kinds of trivial complaints from the ruling priestly order. But Mark records the chief priest’s anger with Jesus after His symbolic disruption of the money exchange and buying and selling of sacrificial animals in the Temple courtyard. “They began seeking ways to destroy Him because they were afraid of Him…” (Mark 11:18).

 
Pilate was only willing to meet with the religious leaders “early in the morning” because the Jewish leaders charged with maintaining the peace were worried about this Rabbi’s influence. What worried them, worried him. The potential danger was particularly acute during the Passover when the city swelled with as many as 100,000 additional pilgrims, many of whom camped outside the city walls for the week-long festival of Unleavened Bread. He could not afford to have the Chief Priests unhappy nor to have unrest while the deliverance from captivity in Egypt was being celebrated and remembered.

All four gospel writers record the same fundamental question from Pilate: “Are you the King of the Jews?” (Matthew 27:11-14, Luke 23:2,3, John 18:29-38). And in all four gospels Jesus answers in the affirmative, with John providing additional dialogue, “You say correctly that I am king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (John 18:37).

 
“Who is Jesus to you?”

We have considered these words before. It is among the most important questions anyone will ever answer. For those of us who call Jesus Lord and King, we must follow the declaration with a probing analysis of the kinds of things we are devoted to following instead of Him. For those who haven’t realized that truth yet, they will. “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess… that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:1011).  

Pilate was unconvinced. “I find no guilt in Him” (John 19:6). If Pilate thought Jesus was the threat that the Chief Priests alleged, the Governor would not have offered the people a choice to release Jesus or a notorious insurrectionist Barabbas (Mark 15:11). Instead, the mob clamored for Jesus’ death.

 
The crowds are clamoring still. And the question of His kingship remains.

Pilate failed to see Him as king.
Would those in the crowd see that we are any different?