March 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 19:1-16:

¹Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
²And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
³And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
⁴Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
⁵Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
⁶When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
⁷The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
⁸When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
⁹And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
¹⁰Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
¹¹Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
¹²And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
¹³When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
¹⁴And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
¹⁵But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
¹⁶Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

Devotional

Jesus stood before Pilate's judgment seat. Three times at least Pilate solemnly declared Jesus innocent, and yet he delivered him up to be crucified. What injustice! O yes, he tried hard in various ways to set Jesus free; but when finally the Jews cried out saying, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend," he feared for his position and his power, and then he delivered him unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. The earthly judge condemned the King of kings. Yes, he condemned the Judge of all the earth, him who was ordained of God to judge the living and the dead.

And how patient Jesus was with him! He informed him concerning his kingdom. When Pilate told him that he had power to crucify him, He told him, that he could not have power at all against him, except it were given him from above. He informed him, furthermore, that He had come into the world to bear witness unto the truth, and that everyone that is of the truth hears his voice. But Pilate rejected the truth.

And are not the sins of Pilate also our sins? For example: Do we not often prefer outward things to spiritual things? If our security or our life were in danger, would we fear men or remain faithful to Christ? How easily we put our trust in man instead of in God? Remember, Christ suffered for our sins when he stood before Pilate.

Prayer

O Lord, who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer. Amen.

---

Scripture in Devotional: Acts 10:42; John 18:35,37; Ps. 19:12-14.

Click here for background on Light and Comfort and the author.