THE FOREVER KING
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Opening Prayer
Lord God, thank you for sending your Son to die for us. Thank you that through him we gain eternal life.
Read JOHN 19:1—16a
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
John
John 19
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
Reflect
Think of ways Jesus’ rule in your life has changed you and thank him for his transforming power.
John arranges his material to portray Jesus as the true King on the path through death to ultimate glory. Clearly, this perception endured among the Jerusalem Christians, daily reminded of these events for forty years as they walked past the sites of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. Pilate is torn by conflicting priorities. To the religious leaders, Jesus constitutes a threat. Pilate knows Jesus stands before him on trumped-up charges. He wants to release Jesus but is reluctant to alienate the influential Jews. Finally, justice will prove less important to Pilate than cultivating Caesar’s favor by maintaining the Pax Romana.1 His ploy of offering to free either Jesus or the dangerous Barabbas doesn’t work. His next strategy is to have Jesus flogged, hoping the leaders will be satisfied with corporal punishment.
Whipped and bloodied, Jesus is presented to the people in a sham crown and kingly robe. Instantly, they bay for his death. Pilate mocks them, knowing they have no power to execute Jesus, but their accusation that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God disturbs him. Reluctant to kill a good man, he is even less inclined to kill a holy man. Again, he privately interviews Jesus, who answers with confidence and self-control. Pilate then tries even harder to release him, but the Jewish leaders know how to exploit his weak point. Jesus claimed authority over Caesar, they shout. Knowing he must make his ruling, Pilate goes to the judgment seat. He makes a last effort: ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ The religious leaders, having accused Jesus of blasphemy, now resort to blasphemy themselves. ‘We have no king but Caesar’ (v. 15). Thus, the anointed priests of the old covenant deny their God. To John, however, as Jesus is taken away to be crucified, he is already and will forever be King.
Apply
Might you be experiencing struggles that require a more eternal perspective?
Closing prayer
Jesus, Lord of our destiny, come and be Lord of my future. Help me to see beyond any pain, to know what lies beyond death, and grasp the hope of eternity in you. 1 The Emperor valued, above all, for his Pax Romana—which is Latin for ‘Roman peace’—to be maintained at all costs.
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