Christ The King / Proper 29
Devotional
Pause Before The Pulpit
Personal Reflections For Pastors On The Lectionary Readings
John 18:33-37
Pilate is in a real predicament in this scene that our text describes. He is trying to ascertain just exactly who Jesus is. The Jews say one thing, Jesus says another, and Pilate's wife is telling him not to get involved! It was quite a predicament for this Roman governor who was trying to keep everyone happy, yet treat Jesus "fairly" as well. When he asked Jesus: Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus replied: Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?
I would like us to consider that reply for a moment in light of our own professions of faith and those of our congregations. When we profess, in the words of the Apostle's Creed, "I believe ..." and go on to state "our" beliefs; are we saying these things on our own, or because others told us about him? Another way of asking that is; do you truly believe in your heart what you profess to believe, or are you just saying it because that's what people expect you to say?
Creeds, liturgies, prayers, rituals, and ceremonies have their place and can add much to our worship experience, provided we are repeating the truths they contain, from the heart, and not the lips only. It's one thing to have these things memorized in our head, and quite another to have them uttered from the deep convictions in our heart. Pilate was not questioning what he believed, but rather what Jesus and others were saying.
We would do well to consider this for our parishioners, too. We may have deep convictions about what we confess and the things we preach on, but do they? If not, is it because these truths are not their own but merely what others (and more specifically we) are telling them?
When the Apostle Paul was preaching in Beroea, the Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed (Acts 17:11, 12a). Did they believe the word on the basis of what Paul said, or on the basis of their own study which supported what Paul had told them? It was the latter of the two. But how many of our parishioners go home after a Bible study, or Sunday sermon, and examine the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so, as we told them? Not very many, I'm afraid. As a result, if some one, or some thing, comes into their life and challenges their beliefs, immediately they are faced with the issue; do they believe Jesus and his words on their own or on the basis of what others have told them about him? If it is the former, they are less likely to be led astray. If it is the latter, unless they are very loyal to the person who told them about Jesus, they are much more likely to be led astray.
What are we to do about this? We must, for the good of our people, strongly urge them to read their Bibles. I'm amazed at how few professing Christians read the Bible on a daily basis -- even weekly, for that matter. What this failure to read the Bible has left us with, is a church that is largely biblically illiterate. How sad, for they are missing out on rich blessings of fellowship that come from reading God's Word and professing faith in truths that are truly their own because of their diligent study of his word.
I also want to briefly point out another question that Pilate asked Jesus, which comes immediately after our text in verse 38: What is truth? So many people are asking that today, and many of them grew up in the church. This question was preceded by a statement from Jesus, reading: Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. My question is this, how can they belong to the truth if they are not listening to his voice? And how will they "hear" his voice if they don't read his word in addition to what they hear from us? It's an issue that is of utmost importance to the future of the church, if the church is going to truly believe what it professes to believe.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Help me to make it a top priority every day to read your word, and to listen to your voice. In so doing, I will know better what I believe and why. Please help me to know how to encourage my people to do the same. Thank you. Amen.
Revelation 1:4b-8
What a glorious text this is, and what a glorious scene it portrays for us! Oh, how we need to be reminded of the glory that surrounds our king, now and for all eternity. The everyday cares of life and ministry cloud the glory of Jesus in us. We become weighed down by people's problems, our own problems, sin (whether ours or that of others), schedules, demands, and the like. As a result, it is difficult to see the glory of our great and coming king. Texts like this one can help restore our awe for the majesty of Jesus. Let's take a closer look.
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. Here we are reminded that our king is alive and eternal. The gods of many world religions are dead. They never were alive. The concept of them is alive and has possibly been around for thousands of years, but there is no eternal and living existence on the part of their god. But our God and king is eternal -- he always was and will always be! That is a good reminder for us when we consider who it is that we are serving and worshiping. It gives renewed meaning to what we do and why we do it, week after week.
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Our king is a faithful witness of truth, a faithful witness of the Father, and a faithful witness of all that makes up his kingdom. We can know and stake our ministries and our futures upon his faithful witness. That's a lot more than can be said for the kings of the earth! Speaking of which, our king rules over them, too. It may seem like they are in control, but ultimately, they can't do anything (good or evil) other than what our king allows them to do. Our king is also the firstborn of the dead. He was the first to rise from the dead and is our guarantee that all who believe in him will do the same. What a great and glorious promise that is for us and for all to whom we minister!
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. This sounds like a benediction, but is actually a part of John's greeting to the churches. Notice the glorious truths he identified about our king: he loves us, he freed us from our sins, and he made us to be a kingdom of priests who serve our God and Father. May we never lose sight of the glory that is ours through his love for us. Who deserves that? None of us do, but that is the desire of his heart to love each and every one of us fully.
Oh, the glory of being set free from our sins! They are some of the heaviest baggage that weighs us down; if not our sins, then the sins of others. Thanks to our king, he has set us free; and what a privilege we have to pass that good news on to others; whether through our teaching, preaching, or pastoral care.
What a glorious position he has given us! It is not a position that we have worked hard for or earned, like our earthly positions; it is a gift. This position is to be a priest who serves our God and Father, in his kingdom. We do it now in this life, but will do it in a much fuller way in heaven. Once there, our duties will have changed from caring for the spiritual needs of people, to joining them in worship of our king.
Because of these glorious truths, John calls us to join him in acknowledging our king, and the fact that all glory and dominion are his forever and ever. Amen. May both our private and public worship be a taste of what it will be like in heaven. Not that I think we will be sitting around singing hymns and praise choruses all the time, for I don't think we will. But all that we will do (whatever that is), will be done as an act of worship. That is no different from how our life is to be lived now. Worship extends far beyond the worship hour on Sunday morning. It is to be a lifestyle lived for God's honor and glory, for he richly deserves it all the time, not just once a week.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for your glory and majesty. Daily renew that image in my mind so I never lose sight of who it is that I am worshiping and serving. I love you and adore you! Amen.
Pilate is in a real predicament in this scene that our text describes. He is trying to ascertain just exactly who Jesus is. The Jews say one thing, Jesus says another, and Pilate's wife is telling him not to get involved! It was quite a predicament for this Roman governor who was trying to keep everyone happy, yet treat Jesus "fairly" as well. When he asked Jesus: Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus replied: Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?
I would like us to consider that reply for a moment in light of our own professions of faith and those of our congregations. When we profess, in the words of the Apostle's Creed, "I believe ..." and go on to state "our" beliefs; are we saying these things on our own, or because others told us about him? Another way of asking that is; do you truly believe in your heart what you profess to believe, or are you just saying it because that's what people expect you to say?
Creeds, liturgies, prayers, rituals, and ceremonies have their place and can add much to our worship experience, provided we are repeating the truths they contain, from the heart, and not the lips only. It's one thing to have these things memorized in our head, and quite another to have them uttered from the deep convictions in our heart. Pilate was not questioning what he believed, but rather what Jesus and others were saying.
We would do well to consider this for our parishioners, too. We may have deep convictions about what we confess and the things we preach on, but do they? If not, is it because these truths are not their own but merely what others (and more specifically we) are telling them?
When the Apostle Paul was preaching in Beroea, the Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed (Acts 17:11, 12a). Did they believe the word on the basis of what Paul said, or on the basis of their own study which supported what Paul had told them? It was the latter of the two. But how many of our parishioners go home after a Bible study, or Sunday sermon, and examine the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so, as we told them? Not very many, I'm afraid. As a result, if some one, or some thing, comes into their life and challenges their beliefs, immediately they are faced with the issue; do they believe Jesus and his words on their own or on the basis of what others have told them about him? If it is the former, they are less likely to be led astray. If it is the latter, unless they are very loyal to the person who told them about Jesus, they are much more likely to be led astray.
What are we to do about this? We must, for the good of our people, strongly urge them to read their Bibles. I'm amazed at how few professing Christians read the Bible on a daily basis -- even weekly, for that matter. What this failure to read the Bible has left us with, is a church that is largely biblically illiterate. How sad, for they are missing out on rich blessings of fellowship that come from reading God's Word and professing faith in truths that are truly their own because of their diligent study of his word.
I also want to briefly point out another question that Pilate asked Jesus, which comes immediately after our text in verse 38: What is truth? So many people are asking that today, and many of them grew up in the church. This question was preceded by a statement from Jesus, reading: Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. My question is this, how can they belong to the truth if they are not listening to his voice? And how will they "hear" his voice if they don't read his word in addition to what they hear from us? It's an issue that is of utmost importance to the future of the church, if the church is going to truly believe what it professes to believe.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Help me to make it a top priority every day to read your word, and to listen to your voice. In so doing, I will know better what I believe and why. Please help me to know how to encourage my people to do the same. Thank you. Amen.
Revelation 1:4b-8
What a glorious text this is, and what a glorious scene it portrays for us! Oh, how we need to be reminded of the glory that surrounds our king, now and for all eternity. The everyday cares of life and ministry cloud the glory of Jesus in us. We become weighed down by people's problems, our own problems, sin (whether ours or that of others), schedules, demands, and the like. As a result, it is difficult to see the glory of our great and coming king. Texts like this one can help restore our awe for the majesty of Jesus. Let's take a closer look.
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. Here we are reminded that our king is alive and eternal. The gods of many world religions are dead. They never were alive. The concept of them is alive and has possibly been around for thousands of years, but there is no eternal and living existence on the part of their god. But our God and king is eternal -- he always was and will always be! That is a good reminder for us when we consider who it is that we are serving and worshiping. It gives renewed meaning to what we do and why we do it, week after week.
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Our king is a faithful witness of truth, a faithful witness of the Father, and a faithful witness of all that makes up his kingdom. We can know and stake our ministries and our futures upon his faithful witness. That's a lot more than can be said for the kings of the earth! Speaking of which, our king rules over them, too. It may seem like they are in control, but ultimately, they can't do anything (good or evil) other than what our king allows them to do. Our king is also the firstborn of the dead. He was the first to rise from the dead and is our guarantee that all who believe in him will do the same. What a great and glorious promise that is for us and for all to whom we minister!
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. This sounds like a benediction, but is actually a part of John's greeting to the churches. Notice the glorious truths he identified about our king: he loves us, he freed us from our sins, and he made us to be a kingdom of priests who serve our God and Father. May we never lose sight of the glory that is ours through his love for us. Who deserves that? None of us do, but that is the desire of his heart to love each and every one of us fully.
Oh, the glory of being set free from our sins! They are some of the heaviest baggage that weighs us down; if not our sins, then the sins of others. Thanks to our king, he has set us free; and what a privilege we have to pass that good news on to others; whether through our teaching, preaching, or pastoral care.
What a glorious position he has given us! It is not a position that we have worked hard for or earned, like our earthly positions; it is a gift. This position is to be a priest who serves our God and Father, in his kingdom. We do it now in this life, but will do it in a much fuller way in heaven. Once there, our duties will have changed from caring for the spiritual needs of people, to joining them in worship of our king.
Because of these glorious truths, John calls us to join him in acknowledging our king, and the fact that all glory and dominion are his forever and ever. Amen. May both our private and public worship be a taste of what it will be like in heaven. Not that I think we will be sitting around singing hymns and praise choruses all the time, for I don't think we will. But all that we will do (whatever that is), will be done as an act of worship. That is no different from how our life is to be lived now. Worship extends far beyond the worship hour on Sunday morning. It is to be a lifestyle lived for God's honor and glory, for he richly deserves it all the time, not just once a week.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for your glory and majesty. Daily renew that image in my mind so I never lose sight of who it is that I am worshiping and serving. I love you and adore you! Amen.
