How great thou art, then sings my soul my Saviour God to thee, how great thou art and I bow in humble adoration.
” I appreciate your humble adoration, I appreciate your worship – that you can see and declare My worth. That is why I created you and countless others who have gone before you. Not to achieve greatness or a claim, but to recognise something of My greatness and be moved to a true and humble adoration, no matter what the circumstances are that you are experiencing, no matter the challenges – to see past that, to get a glimpse of My greatness and to be filled with joy by what you see, hear and experience of Me. So continue to draw near and look up and perceive Me and My greatness for who I am and enjoy Me”
We read on, in ch 19 verses 1-16 of John’s gospel account. The interaction continues between Pilate and Jesus, with the Jews shouting in the background as the crucifixion looms darker ahead.
Perhaps the key verse here is 7b: “because he claimed to be Son of God” .We should remember that the triple question John seeks to answer in the gospel is: Who is this Man? What has He come to do? What should our response be? So we have been reading of the focus of the accusation against Jesus, that He claimed to be “the King of the Jews”. This is escalated in this passage cf 19:1-3, 5, where they go through the mockery of “Crowning Him”. But the real issue comes to the fore now in vs 7. He is actually claiming divinity!
This was a serious accusation from the Jewish point of view. This was the real reason they used to have Him crucified. So the reader, you and I, are called to make a decision. Who do we think Jesus really was and is? John has spent His whole gospel laying out the many proofs of who Jesus is, the real issue is: who do you think Jesus is? Do you really believe all the material John has put together as proof? I think it was a huge step in my faith life when the penny really dropped and I suddenly knew that Jesus is in fact God Himself in human form.
Standing back and allowing my mind and emotions to take in this scene in John 19, the feelings of hopeless confusion easily flood over me. Put into today’s context one sees the protests around the world and how easily they escalate and end in violence. Here, Jesus is the focus of the “protest”. I’m sure many of the people present there didn’t even understand the issues, but were carried along by the rising sense of crowd power and emotion
In the midst of all this we have a word from Jesus. A word for then, but also a word for us today, when Pilate says “Do you not realise I have power either to free you or crucify you” and then Jesus’s clear and ultimate answer into eternity, “You would not have any power over Me if it were not given you”. As completely out of control everything appeared to be, God/Jesus had complete control and was only allowing the riot, to achieve its purpose. The crucifixion was central to God’s plan and this is how it was going to play out.
I don’t pretend to understand all the relevant movements in the story. Why God chose to use these evil people to accomplish His purposes. Why God chose this evil man, Pilate to be in a place of authority, and used him to play a key role. Yet even as I write that, I realise I am as much one of the people that would have shouted and agreed with the mob. It was equally necessary for my salvation as it was for each of you, dear readers. So, I submit to His complete wisdom in carrying it out like this. What this does bring home to me is that no matter how confused and bad matters seem to be in our world today, it is always God’s plan being worked out for His ultimate glory. That gives me huge peace and assurance as I look at the chaos in the world today.
Nest week we will look at the actual crucifixion. Till then bless you all.