Jesus had died and was buried in a borrowed tomb. We can say “borrowed” because three days later, after the Passover had come and gone, the women who did not have the time to fully bury the body came to deliver and apply the burial spices, about sixty pounds worth, only to find the tomb open and empty. Jesus was gone. The tomb was sealed lest anyone steal the body and proclaim a Resurrection, and the Roman guard would be there with no chance of sleeping on duty under penalty of death. The seal wasn’t merely cracked; the entire stone slab, which weighed several thousand pounds, wasn’t just rolled away but more tossed out of the way. The description isn’t merely to just get the door open, but to knock the door off its hinges. And Jesus was nowhere to be found, and apparently neither were the guards.
The women were baffled until a man approached Mary Magdalene and asked why she was crying. The man comforted her and then called her by her name. Suddenly, she recognized Jesus and sought to cling to Him, but Jesus refused. His glorified body was not fit for that, as He was now preparing for His ascension. So the women ran back to the disciples. Peter and John didn’t even hesitate; they ran to the tomb. Though John beat Peter in the race, John stopped, and Peter ran into the tomb directly. While an angel announced Jesus’ resurrection to the woman sitting on the stone door, here two other angels sat inside the tomb at Jesus’ head and feet, and all that was left were the grave clothes.
There are multiple times in the Bible when someone had died and was brought back to life, but most had just recently died, like the same day, and only a couple of cases had several days pass. But even then, their life was merely restored to them temporarily. Each person who died and was brought back to life would die again when it was their time. But Jesus did not have His life restored to His body; He was resurrected. The body He was born in perished, marking the death of the sin-cursed, but it was changed, transformed, and made new in its glorified form. However, Jesus still bore the five scars from His crucifixion: the holes in both hands and feet and the spear-pierced side. The scars were there, yet fully healed.
Jesus was the first resurrected person, and no one else is going to be resurrected until the time for all judgment to come. One thing that is often missed is that literally everyone is going to be resurrected. Good, bad, young, and old, every person of every point in history is going to die physically (or taken to heaven in some rapture-type thing of which I am not going to delve into), and that body will be resurrected. This is how every person is going to give an account for their lives. We all are going to receive immortal and perfect bodies, bodies that will not die. Those who are in Christ will be welcomed to paradise, but those who are not will suffer the wrath of God for eternity in a body that cannot die. That needs to scare us.
The second “death” is not annihilation or an eternal slumber where even time will forget us. No, this lake of fire is where God’s eternal, righteous, and just wrath is going to be poured out without exhaustion. Unlike man, whose wrath can be exhausted, God’s wrath is never exhausted. While His love and grace and mercy are infinite, so is His wrath, and we are going to glorify God one way or the other: in paradise or in eternal judgment. Those who lived this life in sin and crime and did not meet judgment here on earth will face it with God. And those who did experience judgment here on earth faced their crimes against humanity, not their crimes against deity. The only escape from the judgment for crime against deity is Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ death took the just punishment against sin as though He were the only one to have sinned. But in His resurrection came the defeat of sin, Hell, and the grave, so that all who are “in Christ,” those who died to themselves and submitted themselves to a new Master, will escape it. Just as Noah and his family escaped the Flood by one means of salvation, so we can escape the judgment of God through the one means of salvation: the cross.
Just as Adam and Eve were clothed, Paul uses this notion of being “in Christ” so that when Jesus died, we died, and when He rose, we will rise with Him. However, it’s more than just that. God does more than just see Jesus in our place. When Jesus died, He came back the same God as when He came. He did not change other than having His human nature. When we die in Christ and when we are resurrected in Christ, we are changed. Jesus never had a sin nature to change from; we do. When we die, the law that demands our judgment is still fulfilled. But when we are resurrected, we are raised under a new law that gives us a new master. We experience the resurrection in part in this life because we have a new heart, new mind, new motives, and new drives, but we don’t have a new body yet. That still has to die as well, and then we will receive our new bodies that will not experience the curse of sin. They will be fully functional as they would have been had we never sinned.
How it is going to look can only, at best, be described with “glorified imagination” and I don’t have the time or space, let alone the vocabulary, to describe it. But Jesus’ resurrection is what gives us the hope that we have. It is the resurrection that will enable us to endure whatever this world gives us to offer if only we would start thinking eternally again. But in that eternal thinking is the doom people have if we do not tell them how to escape it. We must see both, and I fear too many of us have fallen for the intellectual game that keeps the reality of things “out there.” Jesus did die for us. He did rise from the grave. He did defeat sin, death, and Hell. But do we live like we believe that?
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Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”
- Psalm 91:9-16
Today was our monthly men’s meeting. Part of our time at the very end was centered around, “Why is it that there’s this sense or feeling we’ve lost our passion?” Of course, I had to speak up.
“We can’t blame God or anyone else for this loss of passion except ourselves. You see, if individually, each of us, in our vertical relationship isn’t there or is almost non-existent, to have a horizontal relationship with each other can be confusing and literally, impossible.”
Seeing questioning looks in the room, in essence saying, “What are you talking about?” excited me to share more.
You see, in today’s life of all the business with our schedules just so full, we don’t take time to read God’s Word, let alone pray and talk with Him. Basically, we seek Him when a crisis hits. We pray when it’s convenient for us.
All along, we spew out our know-it-all attitudes, and then when the ceiling falls in on us, the finger-pointing begins. The “He said, she said” verbiage begins.
We’re confused and don’t know what to do because we have not stayed in control with the One who has the answers for us. Also, most of the time we don’t like His answers because they’re so unrealistic, so simple, or they’re not in line with our thinking.
We can’t show up for a one-hour time frame or less per week and walk out the front door of God’s house thinking and/or saying, “Well, I’ve done my duty for the week. You know this Christian thinking, it’s not so hard.” Think about that for a moment, in this light – just because I go and sit in my garage overnight doesn’t make me a car by morning.
We need to remember that sin brings pain to us and to God. Just because God isn’t physically right here, we have a hard time believing He’s experiencing pain. In Judges 10:15, Israel knew they had sinned, they let God know, and asked to be delivered from the day in whatever way God would choose. In Judges 10:16, it tells us that God’s soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
Does God hurt? Does God feel pain? You bet! And not just heart pain, it went to the depths of His soul.
The misery we suffer because of spiritual rebellion will always cause pain to the Lord. Isaiah 63:9 says, “In all their affliction, He was afflicted.”
The greatest pain God suffered was when His Son went to the Cross for our sins.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
- Isaiah 43:2
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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
- Galatians 5:22-23
When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was addressing a community caught in the tension between the law and grace, between what people could produce on their own and what God desired to produce within them. In that context, Paul gave one of the most beautiful and practical lists in all of Scripture: the fruit of the Spirit.
These nine characteristics are not individual fruits we pick and choose from, nor are they goals we achieve through sheer willpower. They are one singular fruit displayed in different ways, the natural result of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in the life of a believer. A person walking closely with the Spirit naturally bears love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Love is not just the first in the list. It is the foundation upon which all the other fruits grow. Without love, joy becomes self-centered happiness. Without love, peace becomes mere comfort. Without love, patience becomes passive endurance. Love gives meaning, purpose, and strength to every other fruit of the Spirit.
The word “love” today can feel overused and underdefined. We say we love pizza, we love our pets, we love our favorite TV shows, and in the same breath, we might say we love our family or God. The English word love covers everything from affection to desire to admiration. But in the original Greek, the word Paul uses is agapē, a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. It is not a love that depends on feelings, circumstances, or reciprocity. It is the love that chooses to seek the good of others, even when it costs us something.
Agapē love is the love that characterizes God Himself, as in 1 John 4:7-8. God’s very nature is love. Everything He does flows from this reality: His creation, His redemption, His patience, His discipline, His mercy. When His Spirit lives in us, that same love begins to grow in our hearts and express itself in how we relate to others. Love is not something we manufacture; it’s something God cultivates in us through His Spirit.
But before we can love others, we have to understand that love begins with God’s love for us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This is where many Christians struggle. We know in our heads that God loves us, but we often live as if we have to earn His approval. We try to be “good Christians” to stay in His favor, but that mindset leads to striving, exhaustion, and guilt.
The fruit of love grows only when we rest in the soil of grace, when we fully accept that God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is. God loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). His love is unfailing and steadfast (Psalm 136). Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). When we truly believe this, it transforms how we see ourselves and others. We no longer have to prove our worth or compete for love. Instead, we become free to love others as we have been loved, generously, graciously, and unconditionally.
That’s why the first fruit of the Spirit is love. Everything begins with receiving God’s love. Paul describes this kind of love more fully in 1 Corinthians 13, a passage often read at weddings but written for the church as a whole. Read more about that here. Love is not measured by what we say or how we feel, but by how we treat others, especially those who are hard to love. Loving others in this way is not natural. It goes against our instincts to protect ourselves, get even, or seek recognition. That’s why it’s called the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of human effort.
In John 13:35, Jesus told His followers that love would be their defining mark. Notice that He didn’t say people will know we are His followers by our theology, our worship style, or our moral stances. He said love would be the unmistakable evidence of our faith. In a world filled with division, hatred, and self-interest, genuine love stands out like light in the darkness.
The early church was known for this kind of radical love. They cared for the sick during plagues, shared food with the poor, welcomed strangers, and treated slaves and masters as equals in Christ. Their love turned the world upside down, and it still can today. Imagine what would happen if the church truly lived out the fruit of love in every community, workplace, and family.
So how do we cultivate this fruit in our lives? First, we should abide in God’s Word. Scripture reveals the character of God and reminds us of His love. The more we meditate on His truth, the more our hearts align with His. Next, we should ask the Holy Spirit daily to fill us with love – not the world’s definition, but God’s. The Spirit delights to answer that prayer. We should practice forgiveness and serve one another, especially those who cannot repay us.
Love cannot grow in isolation. We need the body of Christ – people who challenge us, comfort us, and help us learn how to love in real life. The fruit of love isn’t meant to stay theoretical or reserved for church. It’s meant to show up in the ordinary rhythms of life. Every act of love, no matter how small, becomes a testimony to God’s transforming grace. Love becomes a way of life, a movement of the Holy Spirit flowing through us into the world around us.
As we begin this journey through the fruit of the Spirit, remember that love is not simply the first virtue in a list, but it is the root from which all the others grow. Without love, the Christian life becomes empty duty. But with love, even the smallest actions become sacred. When we walk in love, we walk in the very nature of God.
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The cross is the singular most discussed topic of all of history. There is literally no other event in all of world history that remotely compares to the crucifixion of Jesus. It truly is the singular most important world-changing event. It is because of the cross that we have BC and AD for our calendar. If we did not have the cross, we would be either still counting years by ruler or like the Jews, who started from creation and counted forward. We count from the birth of Christ forward. But the reason we start with Christ’s birth is that that is when the most important person in history was born. But without the cross, Jesus’ birth doesn’t have the same weight. The cross is why Jesus came to us to begin with. All Jesus did and experienced was for this one moment of history that literally changed how everything operates.
The physical torture Jesus endured is beyond harrowing. At the time, it was the most severe form of torture known to man. The whipping was just the opening. Roman soldiers, taking their cat o’ nine tails, edged with glass, rocks, bones, or whatever would rip into flesh easily. And they made a sport out of it – who could make the most devastating blow. Scripture describes Jesus being unrecognizable, just a standing hunk of meat. Some would not survive such a beating due to the loss of blood, let alone any infection that would finish the job. The crown of thorns, the mocking, and the mob assault added to the mix. The crown of thorns not only drew blood but would cause serious head pain that would make anyone lose concentration easily. Getting beaten up and having your beard ripped out in chunks doesn’t help either. And that’s all before being driven down the streets of Jerusalem outside the city, being forced to carry the very cross that would be used to execute Him. Jesus was so weak from all this that He could not physically carry it anymore, and so they had to pull a man from the streets to finish the job. Then, finally, He was nailed to the cross and hung naked, having to rely on His very weak body to get a breath. The very setting of the cross into the hole would make most joints get dislocated.
Often, it could take 2-3 days for someone to finally die on a cross. Jesus didn’t make it for at most six hours, to include the events we know and the three hours of darkness. Jesus died of a burst heart, indicated by the water and blood flowing out of the chest wound from a soldier’s spear, meaning it was already settling out from each other. Then the earthquake happened, and even the centurion on site acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God.
Jesus’ death on the cross was unlike any other death or self-sacrifice. While it has been echoed in Narina and Lord of the Rings or even Harry Potter, Jesus was the root of it. The notion of a sacrifice preceded Jesus, going all the way back to Genesis. What is unique in the Bible and in Jesus is the key component that the sacrifice must be pure and innocent, and a substitute for others. Absolutely perfect. While other myths would have the concept of a pure maiden giving her life, none of them have a sacrificial element. Only Aslan in Narnia, who is hard to deny was meant to BE Jesus, gets close. But these are all snapshots, pictures, and shadows of the one reality that Jesus did.
Jesus did not die merely sacrificially; He died as a substitute. We had sinned, and we deserved the full wrath of Almighty God. Throughout history, man has sought to downplay the severity of our crime against deity or to increase the value of humanity. We love trying to make our own sins not very significant, and we also love making ourselves victims deserving of being rescued. So we’ll call our sins “mistakes” or “imperfections,” but we’ll say that we are so valuable in God’s eyes that He couldn’t live without us. That’s heresy. Jesus didn’t die to show us how valuable we are to Him. He died because of how heinous our sin is. And we need to remind ourselves every day of the severity of our sin, developing a hatred for it so that we would put it to death. It is such a slap in the face of Jesus to proclaim His death and resurrection and our salvation just to live however we want.
The thing about the cross that we have missed is that we, too, must die. Jesus didn’t merely die as our substitute, representing us. We have to be “in Christ,” which means we must die, too. We won’t face the wrath of God as Jesus did, but our old sinful selves must be put to death so that we may be raised in new life. We love citing John 3:16, but we recoil at Luke 9:23. If we are in Christ, we have a new master, and it’s not sin and it’s not self.
Jesus didn’t die to free us from the hands of the devil; Jesus died to free us from ourselves. Satan is just a deceiver, but he would be completely powerless if we simply didn’t listen to him. All he can actually do is just dangle carrots in front of us, and because we are our own problem, we lunge at those carrots and get ourselves in trouble. And if Satan didn’t do that, we’d still find our own trouble. That’s why Satan simply leaves most people alone because they are so good at their own sin. Jesus died to save us from that. He died to save us from ourselves, so we need to put self on that cross daily so that we live not the very lives that cost Jesus His life to begin with, but that we might live a resurrected life in Christ, which we will cover next week.
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Special Note from our president, Jason DeZurik: In April 2025, my earthly father went to be with His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Though it has been incredibly hard losing him physically here on earth, I am so honored to share with you writings of his from over many, many years of journaling from his personal devotion time while here on the earth. Admittedly, I considered just keeping these for our family to enjoy, but I know my father would want these to be shared with the world. If these writings will help to bring only one person into God’s Kingdom, that is enough for my wonderful earthly father, Frank DeZurik. I believe he has not only given to me and our family a great gift but also a gift for all of us to meditate on and enjoy as well. The following is just the first of many installments to our blog from my father posthumously.
1 Peter 1:3-9
Even when Christ died on the cross, there were many who taunted and jeered and looked upon Jesus’ crucifixion as just the death of another criminal. They knew His death was very different from those they observed in the past, and even with all the happenings were blinded because of the choices man made. Yes, God could have stopped it, BUT God’s plan for His son was drawing to a close.
All through Scripture, we’ve read how the blood was an atonement for sins, and it needed to be one spotless and pure. From the Old Testament to the cross, we read and come to our understanding of the purity, the cleansing power, and its atoning power, the last sacrifice necessary to cleanse us and usher us into God’s throne room of grace.
Today, those so inclined go to, of all things, a blood bank. Of course, the importance here is to give life to someone whose own supply is dangerously low because of some injury, whether an accident or because of bad choices made by others.
Now, not all who donate or want to donate can because of something they’ve contracted through tainted food, or because of some bad choice made, and someone has HIV-AIDS. Now, I know accidentally you can contract AIDS. The thing is, we should not even be dealing with this disease if, through the course of time, man had chosen to follow God’s law and teaching rather than his own selfish, lustful desires, but this is a whole other matter.
Let’s see Christ’s death, a perfect sacrifice, His blood shed for the atonement of the world, when He took His last breath, and the heavy curtain that separated man from God was torn in two, meaning we can all now have direct access to God. BUT each of us, like in the Old Testament, needs to bring before God a perfect sacrifice for our sin. That is our personal relationship of knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. NOTHING else will do, nothing else in and from this world can take the place of the cross, not even our own self-believed perfections.
Yes, we can donate blood, give blood to help save someone to live for another day, BUT how about offering them the blood of life to save them to live for all eternity?
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As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.
Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
- Titus 3:12-15
The book of Titus ends in what may look like a simple farewell. Paul gives travel plans, names a few companions, and closes with greetings. At first glance, these verses might seem unremarkable compared to the powerful doctrinal and practical truths earlier in the letter. But as we’ve seen throughout Titus, every word is inspired and intentional. Even in Paul’s closing words, there are deep lessons for the church.
This final passage of the letter gives us a glimpse into the everyday rhythms of early Christian community and mission. It highlights the importance of faithful people working together, the call to generous support of gospel workers, the priority of living productive lives of service, and the unifying power of grace. For the church today, these verses are not merely historical footnotes but living instructions.
In verse 12, Paul reveals his strategy. He plans to send either Artemas or Tychicus to relieve Titus, freeing him to join Paul at Nicopolis. This verse underscores a vital truth: gospel ministry is a team effort. Paul depended on co-workers, not only to spread the gospel but also to encourage one another.
Artemas is otherwise unknown in Scripture, yet Paul trusted him enough to send him to Crete, a difficult mission field. Tychicus, however, appears several times in Paul’s letters as a faithful messenger and servant (see Ephesians 6:21 and Colossians 4:7). Whether well-known or obscure, both were useful to Paul and to Christ. Also, notice Paul’s desire for fellowship. He wanted Titus with him during the winter months, likely for mutual encouragement, planning, and prayer. Ministry is not just about tasks but about relationships.
The church today must remember that ministry is never a solo mission. Pastors, leaders, and laypeople alike need co-laborers. Churches should cultivate partnerships, not competition, across congregations and denominations. Every believer, whether more in the spotlight like Tychicus or relatively unknown like Artemas, has a vital role in God’s work. Do not underestimate your place in the Kingdom. Leaders should prioritize not only work but also relationships – spending intentional time encouraging and strengthening one another in Christ, to build this community of co-laborers.
In verse 13, Paul emphasizes the responsibility of the church to provide for traveling missionaries and teachers. Zenas, possibly trained in Roman law or Jewish law, and Apollos, the eloquent preacher from Alexandria (Acts 18:24-28), were evidently on mission. Paul urges Titus and the church in Crete to ensure they are well-supplied. This highlights the biblical principle of supporting those who labor in teaching and spreading the gospel. Ministry requires practical provisions like food, lodging, travel expenses, and encouragement. Gospel partnership involves generosity.
Churches should be eager to support missionaries, pastors, and Christian workers, not minimally but generously, ensuring they “have everything they need.” We as believers should ask ourselves, How am I partnering financially, prayerfully, and practically in the advance of the gospel? Support goes beyond just money. Hosting, encouragement, prayer, and friendship are invaluable gifts to those serving in ministry.
Verse 14 ties the whole letter together. Throughout this letter, Paul has emphasized “doing what is good” (see 1:16, 2:7,14, and 3:1,8). Here, he reinforces the point: believers must be devoted to doing good, not just casually interested. Why? To meet urgent needs and avoid unproductive lives. The believers in Crete faced a culture of laziness and dishonesty (1:12). Paul calls them to a countercultural lifestyle of service, productivity, and usefulness for Christ.
Good works are not the means of salvation (Paul has already stressed that salvation is by grace in various places), but they are the evidence of salvation. Productive Christian living means putting faith into action in tangible ways. Churches should regularly teach believers to be intentional in meeting urgent needs in their communities, whether poverty, loneliness, injustice, or disaster relief. Christians should evaluate their lives: Am I living productively for Christ, or am I wasting my time and energy on trivial pursuits? Productivity in Scripture is not about worldly success but kingdom fruitfulness: lives touched, needs met, and people pointed to Christ.
Paul ends with greetings and a blessing in verse 15. These simple words reflect the warmth of Christian fellowship. The gospel binds believers together across geography, culture, and background. Paul’s final prayer is for grace – the same grace that saved, sustains, and empowers the church. Notice Paul greets not just leaders but “those who love us in the faith.” The church is not an institution but a family, united by love in Christ. And grace, not law or performance, has the last word.
The Church must cultivate authentic relationships, marked by love for all who are in Christ. Believers should regularly encourage one another with words of grace. The church should be a community where people are refreshed, not drained. Grace should shape not only the beginning of our faith journey but the ongoing life of the church.
The closing verses of Titus remind us that even the “ordinary” parts of Scripture are filled with extraordinary wisdom. This passage calls us to invest in relationships, practice radical generosity, live productive lives, and embrace grace in all we do. May God’s grace empower us to live productive, fruitful, Christ-centered lives until the day we see Him face to face.
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Jesus was arrested and taken straight to trial by the Sanhedrin. They were ready for Him. This shows very easily that the whole thing was a setup. They needed enough of the seventy members to make a quorum, and clearly, they did not call ALL the members for this quorum, but the ones who were opposed to Jesus, not the ones who supported Him. At the seat of judgment, leading this trial, was Caiphas, the High Priest. Caiphas was very political and hated Rome with a passion, but he did everything to keep the peace with Rome, knowing that to trigger Rome would steal their power and would lead to their destruction. Rome was actually beneficial to the Sadducees because Rome kept them in power. And here came Jesus, a very clear threat to the system, and just a few days ago, he made a huge scene with the cleansing of the temple and even evading the tax question. They wanted Jesus dead, but now they had to find a reason to do so.
So they tried to get witnesses to lie about him, but they needed at least two to agree. Despite a multitude of witnesses, none of them could actually agree on it. This trial was a setup, but it was also a rush job. We have an example of another setup back in 1 Kings 21, when Jezebel got two scoundrels to testify together against Naboth and had him executed on false charges so Ahab could take Naboth’s vineyard. Yet here, the quorum could not get any two witnesses to agree until two finally stepped up and relied on Jesus’ claim to destroy the temple and bring it back in three days. And Jesus kept silent until Jesus was forced under oath to say if he was the Son of God. Then Jesus simply said, “You said it,” and then added that He wasn’t merely a human, but the Son of Man referenced in Daniel. They knew precisely what Jesus was saying: He wasn’t just claiming to be the Messiah but to be God Himself. The Sanhedrin found Jesus guilty of death; however, they only had the legal right to execute anyone on Temple grounds. So they went to their next step: appealing to the Romans.
Jesus was sent to Pilate because Pilate had to order the crucifixion. He was expected to just comply with the Jews on their sentences, but Pilate had his own political issues. He was under pressure from the Capitol for carrying out too many executions, and the political pressure with the Passover feast, where over a million people had gathered, equating the population of Rome itself. In the center of it was Jesus: the now-famed miracle-worker who had just raised Lazarus from the dead and created a scene in the Temple. Pilate wanted nothing to do with this and then sent Jesus to Herod, who played the role of a king, but knew more of Jewish custom. Both Herod and Pilate could find nothing wrong with Jesus, who did nothing to defend Himself.
Finally, Pilate got Him back and sought to set Jesus free, baffled that Jesus would not defend Himself. He wondered if Jesus was even taking this seriously enough that Pilate could have Him executed, but Jesus basically said, “You don’t have any authority over Me except what My Father lets you have.” There was nothing Pilate could find. But he had to deal with the Jews. So he offered a notorious criminal, Barabbas, thinking they’d actually choose to have the criminal executed, but they chose Jesus. So Pilate took a bowl of water, washed his hands, and declared he was not going to be held responsible for this. And with that, Pilate signaled for Jesus to be crucified.
The amazing thing in all this is Jesus’ silence. Jesus would not defend Himself. Yes, we know He had to fulfill Scripture and be silent as a lamb before shearers, but Jesus endured all sorts of slander, mockery, and insults and did not raise a finger to defend Himself. Before, He stood when Pharisees tried to stone Him and asked, “For what do you stone Me?” Not this time. Jesus remained silent, demonstrating one of His key teachings: turning the other cheek. This is echoed throughout Scripture: Repay evil with good. Scripture tells us to suffer well, even when people lie and slander about us, and live so that no accusation can be proved. This is no easy task.
There is a place to defend ourselves. Paul did to avoid another farce trial in Jerusalem while under Roman protection, and he appealed to Caesar when it showed he wasn’t going to be able to be released without facing the Jews in Jerusalem. But part of this was knowing that he was to go to Rome. Paul knew his journey wasn’t over. Jesus knew His earthly journey was over. This was to be His death, and it had to be a death in which He gave His life. It could not be taken from Him.
We have a SEVERE problem in our culture, and we don’t have a “doctrine of suffering” because we in the U.S. have not suffered. Sure, we have been mocked and ridiculed, but we haven’t experienced actual suffering for our faith. Yes, I am aware of MLK Jr., and yes, Charlie Kirk is still fresh on our minds, but those were more politically motivated as opposed to Gospel related. They weren’t killed simply because they were Christians and preaching a Christian message. They were killed because their political views, which came out of their faith, had greatly disturbed the status quo.
But we are now at the verge of facing true persecution. With AI and Deep Fakes being very easy to manipulate and perform, it is vital that we learn how to keep our mouths shut – except at the proclamation of the Gospel. We need to learn when to properly defend ourselves and when not to, and at any cost, don’t give the enemy reason to question our character because they’ll see weakness and then seek to get us to say something to incriminate ourselves. We must be watchful.
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