Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 19:7-8 “The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.’ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;”
Have you ever had an “oops” moment? That’s a time when you got new information that you wish you had heard before you did something you wish you hadn’t done? Pilate didn’t have a problem executing a man pretending to be a king, but it certainly must have caused him to rethink what he had done if indeed this man was the, not a, but THE son of God. That would be a big oops.
I’ve felt that way about my sin against Jesus, have you? King David confessed to God, “Against You, and against You only, have I sinned.” Oops! I need to rethink who I’ve sinned against like Pilate did that day. You notice John said Pilate was “even more afraid.” That means he was already afraid. Thinking about what he had done to Jesus in light of this knowledge increased his fear. It should have the same affect upon us if we stop and think about our sin and see it rightly.
Holy Spirit, fill us with a fear of sinning against You, our Father, and His beloved Son.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:6 “So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, ‘Crucify, crucify!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.’"
Again we see Pilate trying to wiggle out of the guilt of executing an innocent man. It wasn’t that he had any mercy, empathy, or sympathy for Jesus. “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him,” he said. He didn’t want to be responsible for His death.
How about us? According to Isaiah, we are responsible. It was our sins that fell upon Him.
Isaiah 53:5-6 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
Behold the man. To live to love with Jesus means we will have to die daily. May God give us grace to bear the weight and consequences of other’s iniquities, sins, and hostilities. When we must be crushed for another’s wellbeing may His comfort and peace reign as it did in Jesus when Pilate presented Him to the Jews. Jesus, manifest Your glory through our lives today.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:5 “Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold, the Man!’"
Yes, let’s behold the God-man, Jesus. Perhaps Pilate thought that once they saw how much Jesus had suffered their thirst for His blood would be satiated. But as we will read tomorrow, they were not. What did they see as they beheld the man? Isaiah, the prophet, told us.
Isaiah 53:4 …Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:8 …And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
No, as they beheld the man, beaten beyond recognition and dressed in mocked kingly attire, they did not know they were looking at the holy lamb of God.
But we do. As we behold the man, we see the love of God in flesh appearing. We see our death to sin and this world initiated, we see our glorious savior bearing our sins. Behold the love of God, and may we walk in humility as He did and love others with an “all out love.”

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:4 ”Pilate came out again and said to them, ‘Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.’”
Had Pilate found Jesus guilty of anything worthy of death, he would not have brought Him out to the Jews. He would have had Him crucified without any hesitation. As it was, after trying Him by scourging, Jesus was spotless. It’s important for us to recognize, Jesus suffered not because He did something wrong, but because we have done many things wrong.
He was the spotless lamb of God, led to the slaughter, where He willingly shed His blood so we might know God’s love and salvation. I remember watching the movie, The Passion. During the scene when Jesus was scourged, I couldn’t take it. I wanted to shout out, “Enough! I can’t take any more!” What struck me was that there probably was no one in the Praetorium crying out those words. It was God who finally said, “That’s enough.” Only then did the soldiers wash off their deadly instruments and hang them up to dry. But God wasn’t finished. His love was deeper and greater. His commitment to glorify His Son to the uttermost required more.
This speaks to my heart when I consider to what extent will I love someone. I’m not talking about those around me that are easy to love. I have my enemies in mind. Jesus didn’t suffer for righteous people. While we were still His enemies, Christ died for us. That love revealed in the scourging, mocking, and shaming lets me know that there should never be a time when I say, “That person is too difficult to love. They require too much sacrifice from me. They are too toxic. Too hurtful. Too demanding.” No, as I consider the first phase of His suffering, I realize living to love with Jesus will cost me my life. It is a privilege to love whoever He puts in my path for His glory just as Jesus loved those soldiers that day.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:2-3 “And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him and they began to come up to Him and say, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and to give Him slaps in the face.”
From this verse we see the disposition of the Roman soldiers who carried out the crucifixion. They obviously had no respect for Jesus. They knew the charge. King of the Jews. It was written on the sign to be affixed to the cross. As we read about Jesus’ suffering, we are to learn from His example for in 1 Peter 2:21 -23 we read, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
Undoubtedly, we will not suffer like Jesus suffered nor to the degree that He suffered, but it’s amazing to realize the love of God for us revealed as Jesus kept entrusting Himself to His Father. If we live to love with Jesus, we have this attitude in us. We know, like Jesus did, that all things come from His Father, who loves Him. We also, like Jesus, find our satisfaction in life in the love of our Father. We also know, like Jesus, that every trial we face has the purpose of revealing the life and love of God in that situation for the glory of God. We can entrust ourselves to our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ regardless of what anyone else says about us or does to us. We know God judges righteously and in the end will glorify Himself through us in our suffering. Today, you may suffer an injustice or perhaps you’ll be slandered or abused. May the Holy Spirit give you the same love and grace that was given to Jesus so you may know how to respond for the glory of God.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com