Who is King

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHO IS KING

John 19:12-15

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

NIV

The sixth hour is about noontime and we know that Passover is going to begin at sundown, or about the 12^th hour. We also know that Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross at about the 9^th hour, or 3 pm so then at this point Jesus has about 3 hours left living as fully man on this earth. What is interesting in all this is the Jews have accused Jesus of blasphemy and in this exchange with Pilate, in their statement about not having no other king but Caesar, they are committing blasphemy. The Greek word translated as blasphemy or to blaspheme means to rail, to speak evil, vilification, especially against God. They accused Jesus of this type of language because he said that he was the Son of God. But they are speaking words which defame God, speaking against the fact that God is their King, that He is the King of kings, that He is the Almighty King of heaven and earth. The word they used means sovereign, they have no other sovereign other than Caesar, which is a flat our denial that God is sovereign. They said this in order to have Jesus killed, which their plan was all along. The interesting thing is they were willing to deny God as their sovereign to get what they wanted, to accomplish their desires. Although in doing what they were doing, they were playing out the very plan of God for their salvation. But that is not their reason for doing what they were doing. They wanted their plans to be accomplished at all costs, even denying God as their sovereign by claiming they have no other king than Caesar. The question that we have to ask ourselves is if we ever put aside the sovereignty of our God to get something we want to have. That sounds a little bold, or harsh. It is not that we turn our backs on God, or speak evil of him in any way. It’s not that we have not accepted Jesus and that we confess we love the Lord with all our being. We do and we want to live in a manner that pleases him. But, when we make our plans when we devise a plan to accomplish something because we want to either have something we have been longing for or be recognized for something we have done, are we forgetting that God is sovereign and that we should be doing his plan for our lives, instead of our plan. In essence, are we saying in so many words, or by our actions, or plans, that we have no other God than ourselves? Have we departmentalized our lives so much that we live our secular life like everyone else focused on self wants or desires and then we have this religious department, the one we live on Sunday morning? Sure, we are aware of God throughout the week and we might even have a regular time of prayer or devotion, so we think of ourselves as a good Christian, doing all the right things. But what about our regular life, our goals, and aspirations regarding either our advancements or financial security, our plans for retirement, and what we want to do in it? How many life decisions as well as daily decisions do we make without considered God’s plan or decision for us? Does that make us our own sovereign? Just a thought, hopefully, we are always aware and living according to His plan for our lives, giving him all the glory and honor in all things, all aspects of our life, seeing his hand at work in and through us for the benefit of his kingdom and the lives of his people.