Month: March 2016

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Pilate’s Weakness: Our Gain

22nd March

“Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict. “You bought this man to me, accusing Him of leading a revolt. I have examined Him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find Him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent Him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty.””

Luke 23:13-15

In John’s account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate in chapters 18 and 19, Pilate publicly said three times that he found Jesus innocent. First in 18:38, then again in 19:4 and finally in 19:6. In Matthew’s account, just before Pilate released Barabbas and condemned Jesus to death, Pilate washes his hands of Jesus’ sentence, as if to show that he was not responsible for Jesus’ death.

Yet in actual fact, Pilate had every opportunity to stop Jesus’ crucifixion. He was the governor. He was in charge. He had the power to release Jesus. In addition, Pilate didn’t actually know why he was sentencing Jesus to die. Matthew 27 verse 22 – 23 says the following, “Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has He committed?”” Even Pilate himself didn’t think Jesus had done anything to warrant the death penalty.

Yet the real reason Pilate wouldn’t release Jesus, is because he cared too much about his own status, popularity among the Jews, and fear of Caesars opinion of him. In John 19 verse 7, the Jewish leaders highlighted to Pilate that Jesus had declared Himself as the Son of God, which by status would have meant that Jesus was a King. If so, as the Jewish leaders pointed out in verse 12 “…anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar!” A rebel against Caesar being released by a governor appointed by Caesar could indicate that the governor was also guilty of treason! Surely enough, those words did put fear into Pilate’s heart… “When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever” (v8).

So in order to save face, Pilate succumbed to the crowds angry calls to crucify Jesus, fully knowing that Jesus was an innocent man. Yet Jesus’ innocence is the very reason why we are saved. An innocent offering had to take our place and bear the punishment for our wrongdoings. By allowing an innocent man to die, Pilate actually allowed humanity to be saved.

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What If…

21st March

“Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered a terrible nightmare about him last night.””

Matthew 27:19

Amongst all of the details of Jesus’ judgement and crucifixion narrative, we find this interesting scripture that can easily be overlooked. Although we cannot fully understand it because there is no mention of it anywhere else in scripture, we can draw some conclusions based on what we do know.

Firstly, who was the dream from? God or the enemy? Was God giving Pilate a second chance to prove his integrity or was the enemy trying to prevent prophesied scripture coming to pass, regarding the way Jesus had to die? Whoever it was from, what can be concluded, is that it deeply troubled Pilate’s wife as she knew Jesus was an innocent man.

Secondly, what was Pilate’s reaction to the dream? As far as scripture says, nothing. He didn’t do anything about it at all. It may have re-affirmed his belief that Jesus was an innocent man, yet he didn’t act upon it at all, but rather instead, as found in the following verses, we read he released Barabbas, a convicted rebel.

Finally, what if Pilate did listen to his wife’s dream and released Jesus? If he did, the only person he would have appeased would have been his wife. Jesus came to the earth for the very purpose of being crucified for our sins. It had to happen. Jesus had to lay down His life for us.

Perhaps Pilate’s wife’s dream did play a bigger part in Jesus’ crucifixion than we can understand. However, what we do know, is that it was God’s will for our sins to be placed on His Son, for our sakes. What we do know, is that Jesus did die for us and because of His sacrifice we are free from the bondage of sin. Whatever the purpose of Pilate’s wife’s dream, we can rejoice in knowing that the ‘what if’ questions don’t have to be answered because Jesus ‘completed’ what He was sent to do. Let us rejoice in Jesus’ victory and endurance to and on the cross.

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Jesus Loves You….Seriously

19th – 20th March

Weekend Edition

“…..“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength’. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. No other commandment is greater than these.””

Mark 12:28c-31

Jesus, as He was hanging on the cross for our sakes, never for one moment, stopped loving us. Even in His dying breath He poured out His heart for the lost. The significance of Jesus’ sacrifice changed the world as it was. It changed the spiritual realm. It changed our capacity to interact with the Creator of this world. Yet above all, it highlighted how much we are loved by God. As John puts it, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…’ (John 3:16)! When we understand this love, it changes our presuppositions of who God is and our position and identity in Him. Moreover, as today’s verse highlights, it changes our attitude to loving God, ourselves and others.

In fact, it is almost criminal to hate ourselves, if the Creator of this world loved us enough to sacrifice Himself for us. We are ridiculously and radically loved by Jesus. He really did give everything He had for us. He literally emptied Himself for our sakes. So if our Creator loves us so much, if our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ loves us so much, then how can we not love ourselves too?

We do not love ourselves because we think we are great, or deserve accolades. On the contrary, we love ourselves because we are loved. It is Christ’s love revealed in our hearts that gives us an understanding of how much we are loved, which in turn gives us the confidence and ability to love ourselves. It is from that understanding that we can then, love others with the same love we are loved with. May we ask God to replace our bad image of ourselves with how God sees us and reject the lies of unworthiness. Let us ask God to help us fully understand how much He loves us and help us love others as we are loved and love ourselves.

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IT IS FINISHED

18th March

“When Jesus had tasted it, He said, “It is finished!” Then He bowed His head and released His spirit.”

John 19:30

Out of all the gospels, John’s account of Jesus’ last moments are the most descriptive. Interestingly the other accounts just mention that Jesus let out a loud cry and then bowed His head and died, yet it is John’s account that gives us these wonderful last words from our Lord Jesus Christ.

“IT IS FINISHED”

Would you allow those words to soak into your spirit this day. Jesus’ declaration, His final words to us and to those of His time, hold so much weight and give us so much hope. When we look at our sin compared to God’s holiness, rather than be despondent and downcast, unworthy and bound, we can stand in awe at the grace of God and declare that Jesus’ last words were a promise that we no longer have to hold on to our sins but can release and be released from them at the foot of the cross.

‘It is finished’ literally means what it says. It’s over. It’s done. It’s been completed. Jesus’ mission to save humanity from their sins and to show His love for us has been completed. Jesus did what He set out to do and now we can stand and live in the freedom that His sacrifice brings. Stare your problems straight in the face and declare that Jesus said it is finished. Addictions, financial worries, marriage problems, and so on… All can be surrendered to the One who surrendered Himself for us.

IT IS FINISHED declares the Lord. IT IS OVER….

Jesus won so we no longer have to live in defeat!

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His Last Breath

17th March

“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for His clothes by throwing dice.”

Luke 23:34

An old pastor once said that you can tell what is in a man, when you step on his foot and see his reactions. Yet what’s your reaction if you are being falsely accused of something? Or greater still, what if you were being beaten, tortured and ridiculed, even though you have done nothing wrong, what would you do then? Jesus’ response…. To Love!

As the crowds gathered around Jesus mocking His divinity and soldiers gambled for His clothes, Jesus looked down from the cross upon the crowds and saw a people who needed His love and mercy. He cried out to the Father to forgive them, to have mercy on them and to release them from their debt of sin. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing!” Of course the soldiers knew what they were doing in terms of ‘their job’. Yet perhaps what they didn’t know, was that they were crucifying the Son of God. Even in this situation, Jesus never gave up on loving His murderers. He still called for grace and still showed His love for the ‘sinners’. Even with His dying breath, Jesus’ desire was to seek and save those who were lost.

Today, many of us find ourselves in the shoes of the angry mob or even in the role of the Roman soldiers. We ridicule Jesus by our lifestyles and wrong choices, yet Jesus’ words, as He stands next to the Father, remain the same for us: Father, forgive them… Even when we consciously know that what we are doing is wrong, in grace and love, Jesus continues to intercede on our behalf, presenting Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. That is love. That is grace. That is the wondrous GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST.

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It Was Me….. I Did It

16th March

“One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, “So You’re the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself – and us, too, while You’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

Luke 23:39-43

What makes you a ‘Christian’? Is it just belief in God or in Jesus? Is it recognising that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the 3rd day? Or is it living a good life, trying to follow the Bible’s teachings? Well, in essence it is all three of those, yet, what truly unites and reconciles us with Christ is the recognition of our sins and the repentance of them. There are many ‘good’ people in this world and many who know of God and believe that He exists. Yet what is knowing, if you don’t have relationship.

When the remorseful criminal cried out to silence his partner in crime, he declared this important truth.. ‘we deserve to die for our crimes..’. This criminal recognised he had done wrong and deserved to be punished for his crimes. The debt of his sins had been weighed and he was found guilty by death. Yet he knew that next to him, hung someone who had done nothing wrong, who was more than just a man and whose Kingdom would endure forever. ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom‘ are words of repentance, they are words of recognition and words of realisation. He first recognised he had done wrong, then, in his own words repented of his sins by asking Jesus to remember him and finally, he realised that Jesus was more than just an innocent man hanging on a cross, but was a King, whose Kingdom ruled forever, even after physical death.

May we too recognise our wrongdoings, may we lay them down and confess them before the Father and may we realise that Jesus has the power to forgive and make us whole once more. May we remember this truth, that because Jesus overcame the cross, we are forgiven. Grace be to you.

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Prove It!

15th March

“One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, “So You’re the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself – and us, too, while You’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

Luke 23:39-43

‘Prove it – save yourself’, cried one the scoffers hanging next to Jesus. Have you ever asked yourself the question, what if Jesus did prove it? What if He did supernaturally release Himself, come down from the cursed cross and healed Himself of His wounds? You may have your conclusions but the Biblical truth is.. . . nothing. Jesus didn’t need to do anymore to prove that He was who He said He was, the Son of God.

Time and time again He showed who He was by His miraculous works and His life changing teachings. He raised men and children from the dead. He feed thousands with barely nothing. He calmed the raging sea. He turned water into wine. He healed people of their sickness’ and forgave them of their sins. He had a meeting with Elijah and Moses. He Himself said He was the Son of God. How much more did Jesus need to do to prove that He was who He said He was.

And yet even if He did come down, would people now believe in Him? Again….NO. Jesus was raised to life and now lives and people still ignore He even exists. He heals today, saves today, teaches us and reveals Himself to many, yet people still reject Him.

Believing in Jesus, believing that He was who He said He was, is down to a personal choice. The evidence is clear. He really did exist. He really did rise again on the 3rd day and He really is still alive today. However, the choice is yours to make; Believe in truth or join in with the scoffers.

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The God Of Second Chances

14th March

“One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, “So You’re the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself – and us, too, while You’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

Luke 23:39-43

This is one of the most powerful demonstrations of Jesus’ love, mercy and acceptance in the whole of scripture. Jesus has just been beaten, punched, kicked, abused and is carrying the weight of every sin of humanity on His shoulders and yet still, He could find space in His heart to recognise a sinners remorse and forgive Him with His dying breath.

The remorseful criminal knew that Jesus was an innocent man. He may not have fully understood why Jesus had to die, he certainly was not baptised or put through the sinners prayer, and in addition, although not mentioned in the text, this was probably the only time he had talked to God (Jesus). Yet Jesus looked straight past the criminals sinful exterior, and straight into the man’s heart, who had clearly realised that next to a Holy Man, he fell very short of God’s holy standards and knew that Jesus was no ordinary man.

Jesus completely forgave the man of his sins, although again not mentioned in the text but can be assumed based on Jesus’ confirmation that this criminal would be in paradise with Jesus Himself. The man hanging on the cross for his own sins, forgiven by the Man hanging on the cross for humanities sins. Isn’t that just an astounding picture. Jesus hanging next to the criminal, taking the criminals sins upon His shoulders, and releasing the criminal from the wages of his own sin, death. A marvellous exchange of sin for grace; of punishment for redemption. This is the Jesus we serve.

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Give Thanks For God’s Love

12-13th March

Weekend Edition

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful loves endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.”

Psalm 136:1-3

“Give thanks to the Lord!” What a wonderful way to start the weekend. Put to the side your worries, problems and stresses and just thank God for who He is; for His love that endures forever.

When we remove the things that burden us and concentrate on who God is, our problems decrease as we are reminded of how great our God is and how powerful His works are. It sounds so simple and it is. Praise takes away the opportunities to moan or worry. Praise doesn’t give the enemy a foothold in your life but rather it creates a closeness with the Father. Praise reminds us of the magnitude who God is.

We have to encourage our hearts and remind ourselves that God is good. He is the Lord of lords, the God of gods and the King of Kings. Let us remember that this great God, chose to send His only Son, to lay down His life for us and rise again in victory for our souls. That alone, is worth praise and worth giving thanks for.

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I Did It….. God’s Way

11th March

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

If God is the creator of all life, all matter, the animals in the sea and those that walk on the earth, the world we live in and everything in it (including us!), then why do we insist on living life our way? So often, many join in with Frank Sinatra’s famous song lyrics and declare that they will live their lives their own way or ‘MY WAY’, as Frank put it. Sadly, this becomes more than just song lyrics but a lifestyle choice and decision to put ‘me’ first and everything else secondary. We say as long as we look after ‘number one’ (a reference to one’s self) then all else will be fine.

Yet nothing could be further from the truth as the nation of Israel found out during their time of persecution. They tried to live ‘their way’ and ended up abandoning the one true God who liberated them and chose them as His own people. He offered them life yet they settled for slavery. They exchanged God’s goodness for their own foolish desires. Sounds crazy right…? Yet when we settle for second best and become content in doing things our way, we too exchange the best God has for temporary satisfaction and cheap thrills, which never actually satisfies but rather just leaves us empty (v2).

When we surrender to God’s ways, we can be guaranteed that He knows best. We might not fully understand His ways and sometimes it may be hard to follow but we can take full assurance that it’s the best for us. Isaiah encouraged the troubled Israelites with these words, which we too can take encouragement from, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God always knows better because His thoughts are higher than ours, more wiser than ours, He can see the bigger picture and knows the future. What more assurance do you need that God knows best?