Holy Week part 5

Friday, March 29th
– Good Friday 

Jesus’ Death

Read John 18:1-19:37
Some parts that stuck out to me:

7 The Jews replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus.

But Jesus did not answer him.

¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Pilate is scared.  This man has claimed to be the son of God.  The minute he hears that claim, he goes back to Jesus and demands to know where he comes from.  He saw something in Jesus.  He caught a glimpse of the divine  and he didn't know what to do about it.  I pray that when I catch such a glimpse, I also receive the wisdom to know what to do about it...

19 Pilate had a notice prepared. It was fastened to the cross. It read, jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read the sign. The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The sign was written in the Aramaic, Latin and Greek languages.

²¹ The chief priests of the Jews argued with Pilate. They said, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews.’ Write that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

²² Pilate answered, “I have written what I have written.”

Why?  Why did he have it written?  Why did he not change it?  Why did he have it written in three different languages?  In the other books (Matthew-Luke) I somehow assumed it was written as a mockery, like the crown of thorns and the purple robe that they taunted him with.  But this is different.  This was ordered by Pilate, the man who was scared, the man who caught a glimpse of the divine.  He refused to change it.  The sign was supposed to be what he was guilty of.  It should have said "blasphemy"  or "false prophet" or any number of other things... but it didn't.  Maybe it was his last attempt to say something about the Truth he saw... Pilate wasn't quite sure what to do with this man, but maybe, just maybe, he believed Jesus was who he said he was, and just didn't have the guts to do anything about it.  



Have someone read the story slowly out loud, while everyone else listens with paper and markers or pencils. Draw the story as you listen, or write down words or phrases that stand out to you. Afterwards, talk about them together.

OOOh, I kinda did that already, just by myself.

Queries:
What feelings arise in you as you listen to this story?
I think this story really humanizes Pilate.  I don't think he is necessarily a great guy, or is misunderstood or anything, but he seems more human.  He was a leader, but with any leader, you can only lead if people are willing to follow.  If all the students in my classroom just decided they didn't want to do anything, there is nothing I could do to force them to learn.  Pilate was facing a crazy mob about to riot.  He did what he had to do in order to keep the peace... in order to stay in charge.  I can see God knowing that about him.  I can see God knowing that Pilate would believe.  If there was no mob, if it was only the religious leaders and they had no backing from the people, I think Pilate would probably have let Jesus go, but that wasn't the way the story was supposed to end.  God used his knowledge of Pilate to direct the story.  Wow, it occurs to me that this is how stories are written.  You develop characters, and quite often the characters drive the story.  God knows the characters of this story intimately.  He KNOWS them, and so knows what to do to make the story play out the way it needs to.

I don't know about you, but this give me such HOPE.  God knows the characters in MY/YOUR/OUR story so intimately, that he knows just what to do to make our stories play out the way he wants them to.  He has a perfect plan for our lives, and knows just how to make that plan a reality.

Can you imagine yourself as a participant in this story? Which character(s) do 
you identify with the most?

I probably identify with Peter the most.  I believe, and I trust, but sometimes my fear is so close, I can't see the big God behind it.

me fear GOD