Today’s Reading: John 18:34-35(NIV)
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Good morning!
Accepting responsibility for the choices we make is a mark of maturity. Recognizing that the greatest human thought is merely human comes from something outside oneself. Pilate asks a question and Jesus answers it with another question. I had an evangelism professor who once told me that the greatest teaching method is to answer one question with another. Great philosophers throughout history must have believed it to be true, as they made their human attempts to address the holy mysteries of life and death and life after death. How unfortunate that some believe human thought is far superior to the Word of God. Were their thoughts novel or divinely inspired?
A good question deserves a solid, well-thought out answer. Sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Take Pilate, for instance. He had been given the power to judge right from wrong and exercise Roman law based upon his findings of fact. This allowed him to wield a lot of power over the people placed under his authority and care. Have you ever felt in a brief, fleeting moment, that you had complete control over your own life and just maybe, the lives of the ones in your family? Some folks have learned to walk life’s road rather comfortably in the rut they’ve dug around their feet. We’ve become creatures of habit and complacency, unwilling to venture outside the walls of our safe shells for fear that we may have to change direction, lifestyle, or our behaviors and attitudes. We can easily become self-righteous in our own little world, judging others as if we have been given a God-given right to do so. Did Pilate know who Jesus really was? Did he even care?
Suppose Jesus is standing before you today. He is on trial in your heart, and you must make a decision whether to believe that He is the Son of God and Savior of the world, or a very intelligent, well-studied rabbi, who seems to have been given a great spiritual gift mix. The choice you make today will bear consequences not only for the one standing before you on trial; it will affect you and your family for the rest of your lives.
What will you choose to do with Jesus of Nazareth?
Grace and peace,
Deb Spaulding
Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO
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