Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 19:9 “And he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, ‘Where are You from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer.”
So it helps to see what’s happening. It appears that Jesus was brought out of the Praetorium and presented to the Jews. Then upon hearing that He might be the Son of God, Pilate took Him back into the Praetorium to question Jesus along that line. He asks Jesus a great question, “Where are you from?”
That is the right question when considering the claims of Christ. If He’s from Nazareth, then no biggie. But maybe Pilate remembered that Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world and he thought he should double check. Fear of offending God should cause us to double check ourselves.
In this verse we see that Jesus didn’t immediately answer Pilate’s inquiry, so we will wait for the rest of the story. But for now let us ask ourselves this same great question. If Jesus is from God, shouldn’t it change everything in our lives?
If Pilate could have this moment back to do over, I think we would see him fall on his face before Jesus and say, “Have mercy on me, the greatest sinner, dear Son of God. I’m so sorry for what I have done. Forgive me!”
What about us? We have this moment. We are seeing that God is love, and that love is the sustained direction of the will toward our highest good no matter what the cost. Have we fallen prostrate before Him and confessed our sorrow for what we have done to Him? If not, do we really know where He is from? And if we do know that He is from God in heaven, shouldn’t we trust Him who has sent and sacrificed His Son for us? Shouldn’t we surrender all to Him who surrendered all for us? And shouldn’t we understand that we are not of this world, but are sons and daughters of God, sent into this world by God to live to love with Jesus as He lived to love with His Father?

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

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