In the remainder of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, we encounter the sinfulness of sin of Pilate, Caiaphas, and the Jews. In all of these we see a glimpse of ourselves and our own sinful hearts. But in this text we also see the immense suffering of our Savior who has paid our ransom. There is hope for sinners because Christ Jesus suffered on our behalf. He has paid the price to call us out of sin and to transform our wicked hearts. May the Lord evermore lead and guide us to His pathway of righteousness for His name’s sake.
John 18:28-38a, The Kingdom of Truth
We have a Lord to serve, a church to build, and a world to reach. All who belong to the kingdom of Christ are to be about the Lord’s business. As Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, He testified to the reality of His heavenly, redemptive, eschatological kingdom. May all recognize the voice of the Lord and heed it faithfully and follow Him diligently in the strait and narrow way to eternal life.
John 18:12-27, The Sinner and His Savior
While Jesus was progressing toward the cross to pay the debt of sin of sinners, Simon Peter kept driving himself deeper and deeper into the debt of sin. The contrast between Simon the sinner and Jesus the Savior is as stark as it can be. John intertwines the two stories of Jesus’ trial and Peter’s denial to showcase the golden thread of Jesus’ righteous character against the contrast of Simon Peter’s dark black thread of sin and unfaithfulness. John writes this story for our sake that we would deal with our sins honestly before the Lord and recognize the Lord Jesus alone as our Savior who can cleanse us and restore us from all our sin and condemnation.
Philippians 2:5-11 - Acquire the Attitude of Christ
John 18:1-11 - He Gave Himself Up for Us
Jesus selflessly gave Himself up for us, a profound truth vividly displayed in the scene of His arrest. In these eleven verses, John reveals how Jesus truly surrendered Himself for our salvation. His rejection of personal gain, self-preservation, and self-centeredness exposes our own selfishness, highlighting our need for the Savior and repentance. May the Holy Spirit guide us to behold Jesus’ glory in His self-sacrifice, repent of our sinfulness, and grow in grace.
Psalm 145 - Reverberation of Extolment
Worship is the insignia of salvation. We who wish for all our children to be saved must pass down to them an enthusiastic worship of the LORD. This is the pattern revealed in Psalm 145. Extolment of our God passes from personal to generational to universal, and the character of that worship is seen as reverberative, personal, constant, wonderful (full of wonder), and faith-ful (full of faith). May the extolment of our great God be the legacy we leave behind.
Revelation 22:6-21, The Last Words of Our Lord
The visions of the end times events are now complete. As the book of Revelation draws to a close, John conveys to us the last words of our Lord and underscores three themes of revelation, overcoming, and imminence. They teach us that we are to trust, know, preserve, and heed His revelation to us. His core message in this book can be captured in the one word “overcome.” The true overcomer in the book of Revelation is the Lord Himself. This reveals the nature of our overcoming efforts. We overcome in Christ. it is only as we abide in Christ and He abides in us that we overcome. He has conquered and He enables us to do the same in this sin infested and corrupt world. He guides us in the pathway to heaven which is the pathway of sanctification. The urgency of this matter is seen in the resounding reminder that the coming of the Lord for rapture is imminent. May the Holy Spirit give all of us the wisdom to walk closely with the Lord and be ready for Him whenever that day comes.