Abiding in Easterనమూనా

ABIDING IN EASTER - LENT DEVOTIONAL by BRYAN CRAIG

DAY 42

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

John 18:33-38 ESV

After the religious leaders heard Jesus’ confession about Himself and condemned Him to death, they sent Him to Pilate, the political leader of the city. The religious leaders wanted to know if Jesus was a High and Holy Priest, one who might threaten their position, power, theology. Pilate, the politician, wants to know if he is a king, one who might infringe upon his turf. Everyone was trying to fit Jesus into some sort of category that made them comfortable. As Jesus explains to Pilate, His Kingdom is not of this world, so everyone needed to stop trying to understand Him in worldly terms. Yet, Jesus was and is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Pilate has no idea how powerful Jesus was, that it was only by God’s will that Pilate had any power in this situation.

And Jesus sums up why He came to earth as a man…to bear witness to the Truth! Remember that Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6) Then, Pilate asks a question that, again, many are asking today, “What is truth?”

APPLICATION:

Do you believe Jesus is the Truth? In this world where so many, like Pilate, are confused about faith, morality, sexuality, existence, is Jesus your gold standard of truth? If so, do you feel the same way about the Bible, for the Word is Jesus’ truth? Do you serve Jesus’ Kingdom, or do you find yourself still trying to serve this world system?