Day: July 19, 2023

THEME WEEK – PETER – John 18

Old Testament: Ezra 6-8

Poetry: Psalm 16

This morning we read John chapter 18 – an emotional chapter that covers the arrest and trial of our Messiah, the King of the Jews. 

While the events we read about in this chapter and the next are completely unjust and cruel, they had to happen. Jesus knew what he was born for; he knew for what purpose he was sent to the world by God. He had already revealed his future several times in the gospels leading up to the crucifixion. Not only did Jesus predict his own death, but his life, ministry, and death was also prophesied in the Old Testament, beginning approximately 2000 years before his birth. This was God’s plan from the very beginning, and it was never supposed to be easy. 

God set his perfect plan in place long before Jesus was on earth, and when his time came he knew by whom he was sent and for what purpose, and he was determined to fulfill it, faith unwavering through every trial until death. He had many opportunities to walk away, and we know a part of him wished he could (Matthew 26:39), but our good and perfect Savior put his trust fully in God, and obeyed until the very end. This was no easy task. Though he remained without sin, Jesus of Nazareth was a human, just like us. He encountered countless trials that most anyone else would crumble under the weight of, and ultimately faced a gruesome death that most would run away from. 

We needed the sacrifice of a perfect human man to be saved. Through Christ we are redeemed. Without his tragic death, a sacrifice made both by God and by his Son, our fallen world would be doomed to live apart from God in sin and brokenness forever. But because we have a genius God who came up with the most perfect plan on our side, and because one man had unbreakable faith and steadfast love for the God he served and the world he was sent to save, we have the promise of a beautiful future – a kingdom not of this world (John 18:36). 

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:37

-Isabella Osborn

Reflection Questions

1. Have there been times in your life that you were scared to do what you knew God was calling you to do? 
2. What can we learn and apply to our own lives from the ultimate display of love and faithfulness in Jesus’ sacrifice?
3. What are some reasons you think the Jews were so adamant that the savior sent to them by their God should be put to death? What do you think you would have done in that situation? What are some ways we can guard our hearts from the lies of this world that lead us away from God’s will for us?