Podcasts about Roman governor

Things done in a corner are concealed from general knowledge. It seems evident that Luke, the writer of the book of ACTS was with Paul on some of his travels. Ch. 27 v.1 shows he was with him as he travelled after his appeal to Caesar (v.1,3,4 &c “we” experienced this and that). The defense of Paul before King Agrippa and the Roman Governor is given in such detail it is evident it is a personal report. Festus, the Roman Governor struggles to comprehend what Paul is saying, he desires to write a report to Caesar detailing the nature of the accusations against him.Paul declares, “To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” [26 v.22,23] Festus is confused saying, “Paul, you are out of your mind.” Paul responds, “I am not out of my mind … I am speaking true and rational words … for this has not been done in a corner” {v.24-26]The events of nearly 2,000 years ago are powerfully evidenced by history – not just the Bible text – but in Roman history. Alongside this we can put our reading today in Deuteronomy 28. Moses sets out the blessings the nation will have if they truly serve God when they enter the promised land. The first generation did so – as the book of Joshua we are about read shows.!But the latter part of our chapter details the curses that would come upon them for turning their back on God – ending with an awesome description which had its ultimate fulfilment in the Holocaust 70 years ago. “The Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread …” [v.66,67] Some try to deny the Holocaust but “this has not been done in a corner”What position do we take? There is no neutral position! Jesus said, “whoever denies me before me, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” [Matt. 10 v.33]

Deuteronomy 27 commands Israel that when they enter the land the nation should be assembled together at Shechem – which means the burden bearer. This town has an incredible history from the time Joshua gathered the nation to this location as soon as the major conquests of the land had been completed until the advent of our Lord Jesus' visit as John 4 records. The village lies in a valley between two mountains – Ebal and Gerazim. Six tribes were to stand upon each of these mountains to hear the reciting of Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. The curses for disobedience are found in chapter 27 and the blessings for obedience in chapter 28. Before this happens large stones were whitewashed and the words of the curses and the blessings were written on them. These were to be a record to remind the Israelites of the LORD's favour and goodness in bringing the people into the Promised Land. Additionally an altar of unhewn stones was to be built on Mount Ebal – the mountain of cursing. We, perhaps, puzzle that it should be the mountain of cursing where God's altar was to be. Why? Perhaps since the curses become more prominent in the nation's subsequent history as Joshua would point out towards the end of his life – Joshua 24 verses 18-22. Sacrifices were offered on Yahweh's altar. It is interesting to note that the confusing worship of the Samaritans had its focus on Mount Gerazim (John 4 verses 20). The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin were to stand on Mount Gerazim. On Mount Ebal stood the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulon, Dan and Naphtali. The Levites were to recite in a loud voice all the curses and the blessings. After each curse the people of Israel were to audibly respond with the word “Amen”. Think about that as we find that word in chapter in each of the verses from 15-32. In past ages it was normal practice for each member of the congregation in our ecclesias to audibly say “Amen” as a sign of accord with what had been said. It meant that we were participating in the prayer and agreeing that the prayer was not just for the praying brother, but that it was our prayer. And so we said “Amen” meaning ‘so be it'.. Song of Solomon chapter 7 is in two parts. In verses 1-9a the groom continues from the last verse of chapter 6 in his praise of his bride. This song starts in the concluding words of the sixth chapter. The groom speaks of his soulmate in metaphors describing her feet, her thighs, her navel, her belly, her breasts, her neck, her eyes, her nose, her head, the locks of her hair, her poise and her pleasantries. He knows her every part. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ intimately knows everything about us. And we must come to know him just as we are known – John 17 verses 3-8; 1 Corinthians 13 verses 9-13. In verses 9b-13 the bride responds by declaring that she finds her groom to be desirable in every respect. In verses 11-13 she wholeheartedly gives herself to him in enraptured love. Acts 23 tells of Paul before the Sanhedrin. In a similar way to when our Lord Jesus Christ appears before them, the hearing commences with an illegality from the High Priest, Ananias. That corrupt priest commands that the Apostle be smitten on the cheek – this is contrary to the Law of Moses. Paul reacts to this violation by saying that God would in His time smite the high priest. For this answer Paul is rebuked by those of the Council. The Apostle says he had not recognised the high priest. This seems unusual as in Acts 9 this high priest had given letters to Paul authorising the persecution at Damascus. Some such as Ramsay have suggested Paul's eyesight was poor, due to malaria possibly contracted on his first missionary journey. Others suggest that this is in fact a rebuttal of the high priest's right to hold that office. Paul undoubtedly had poor eyesight as many of his letters attest eg Galatians 6:11. The Apostle sees the impossibility of him getting a fair trial and so he divides the Council on the question of the teaching of the Scriptures regarding the raising of the dead. Verse 8 tells us of the difference in teaching between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Verse 10 informs us that the disagreement became violent. Paul is once again rescued. Paul's sister's son learns of a plot to assassinate Paul and informs the chief captain. The chief captain immediately responds by sending Paul to Felix the Roman Governor in Caesarea with a heavily armed escort – a journey of two days. This heavily armed company carry with them a letter explaining why the Chief Captain has taken these measures. Chapter 24 speaks of Paul before Felix and of the flattering orator the Jews hired to prosecute the Apostle. The Apostle defends each charge magnificently. Paul points out that he came to Jerusalem for worship and to bring charitable gifts for his nation. The aged Apostle also is a Pharisee. The Pharisaic teachings were an allowable teaching among the Jews. Felix finds himself in a difficult place having some understanding of the teachings of the Way (an early name for believers in Christ Jesus). Felix detains Paul not wanting to fall out of favour with the Jews. Paul is provided with protection and liberty. Having heard of Paul's bringing charity to his fellow Jews Felix hopes to secure a bribe. Felix becomes very disturbed knowing that since he understands the reality of the coming judgment and that he would be subject to the judgment of God. Felix's life makes it certain that he will be rejected when that judgment comes. After two years Rome replaces Governor Felix with Governor Festus. Festus maintains Paul's imprisonment to please the Jews.

John 17 outlines Jesus' wonderful prayer for unity with himself and his Father. Having struggled to subject his will to the Father in Gethsemane and being strengthened by an angel to do that, the victory had been won, and all that remained were the trials, scourging and crucifixion which our Master would endure. So the prayer began with an acknowledgment of the coming glory – verse 4 the glory that the Father had planned for the Son before creation. Then followed a plea for men to know the Father and the servant Son sent into the world to reveal the Father's character; and in that “knowing” would come life eternal. The prayer was to preserve the believers in that truth and so save them. None would be lost save Judas, the ‘son of destruction'. Eventually everyone sanctified by the truth would be united with the Father in the same way His Son was. John chapter 18 records the betrayal and arrest of the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane. Judas arrived with a heavily armed contingent of temple thugs; who when they asked the Lord, who they sought, they fell to the ground illustrating that where he was they could not come (John 7:36). He gave himself voluntarily into their hands after miraculously restoring the severed ear of Malchus- the high priest's servant and rebuking Peter who had mistakenly tried to protect his Lord. Jesus faced Annas and Caiaphas in trial. Peter's first denial followed. Then Jesus is placed under oath by the high priest, who contrary to the law commanded our Master to be struck and was rightly rebuked by Jesus. Peter's second denial followed. The rulers attempted to force from Pilate, the Roman Governor, during the night, the death sentence – another illegality – on the unproven charge of treason. Pilate questioned Jesus and it was clear that our Lord had total mastery of the situation and it was Pontius Pilate who quailed in the presence of the Son of God. Jesus bore witness to the Truth that he came into the world to be “King of the Jews” (see 1 Timothy 6:12-16). Pilate declared him to be innocent of the charge; but the rulers clamoured for his death and the acquittal of Barabbas.

Deuteronomy 5 is a restatement of the Ten Commandments first recorded in Exodus 20. In verses 1-6 Moses recounts the events and circumstances which led to the proclaiming of the Ten Commandments. The LORD had verse 6 gone to extraordinary lengths to redeem His people and bring them to Mount Sinai. The prologue is frequently given – I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of Egypt…”. This brought great responsibility and obligation to the Israelites. What our Sovereign has done for us also places us with a debt that we cannot pay to our Almighty Saviour. Verses 7-21 tell us the commandments. It is a more detailed account than that of Exodus 20. Some of the amplifications of this account are the expansion of the terms concerning the Sabbath. This was of course Yahweh's placing upon His people a national unbreakable observance of remembrance whilst Israel was bound to the Law of their God. Interestingly each of these commandments is reinforced in the New Testament except the fourth, which is about the Sabbath. Believers in Christ are to treat every day as holy and as an opportunity for service – see Romans 14 verses 5-10; Hebrews 4 verses 4-9; Colossians 2 verses 16-17. Deuteronomy 5:22-25 outline the aftermath of the proclamation. How intense and terrifying was that occasion. What an immense privilege Israel had in hearing “The voice of the Living God” as verse 26 says. Verses 28-33 tell Moses' response and the spirit that was instilled in him. He prays that the LORD's people might capture that same desire and that they would be motivated to serve the Living God from their hearts as they were to take possession of and dwell in the LORD's land. Moses' prayer was that Israel would wholeheartedly embrace the duty to cultivate the same spirit in their children. If this happened they would have inherited the Promised Land forever. Let us learn the power of our Almighty Sovereign's Word to save. Ecclesiastes is another of Solomon's writings. It is grouped in the Hebrew Bible as one of the wisdom books. Solomon describes himself in chapter 12:9-11 as the Preacher – he is described as the assembler, collector, or gatherer of wise sayings – Hebrew “Koheleth”. Read these verses first in order to understand Solomon's purpose in writing this book. Verses 1-11 are the author's introduction to his book, where several of his major themes are stated. Verses 2 is one of these, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. Human existence is futile declares Solomon. This of course is true if God is not at the centre of our life. The counter to his first proposal is found in Solomon's conclusion in chapter 12 verses 9-14. Reflect for a moment on this before going any further. The Preacher reflects on the toil and endless cycles of nature which seemingly continue without accomplishing anything. He says that this is a metaphor for human existence. In verse 8 he compares those natural cycles with human activity. Verses 9-11describes the constant seeking for something new that will bring enduring satisfaction. From verses 12-18 Solomon laments the seeming futility of wisdom. As king in Jerusalem Solomon has the unique opportunity to try every possible experience. Despite this he declares in verse 4 that his experience taught him that these too were futile – “a mere striving after the wind”. Catch the wind in your hand. Then open your hand and see what you have captured – nothing! Solomon repeats this thought in verse 17. Without our Sovereign our existence is pointless and the more we find out the more we realise the truth of this. Ecclesiastes will teach us this and will convince us to develop a meaningful relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. John 17 outlines Jesus' wonderful prayer for unity with himself and his Father. Having struggled to subject his will to the Father in Gethsemane and being strengthened by an angel to do that, the victory had been won, and all that remained were the trials, scourging and crucifixion which our Master would endure. So the prayer began with an acknowledgment of the coming glory – verse 4 the glory that the Father had planned for the Son before creation. Then followed a plea for men to know the Father and the servant Son sent into the world to reveal the Father's character; and in that “knowing” would come life eternal. The prayer was to preserve the believers in that truth and so save them. None would be lost save Judas, the ‘son of destruction'. Eventually everyone sanctified by the truth would be united with the Father in the same way His Son was. John chapter 18 records the betrayal and arrest of the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane. Judas arrived with a heavily armed contingent of temple thugs; who when they asked the Lord, who they sought, they fell to the ground illustrating that where he was they could not come (John 7:36). He gave himself voluntarily into their hands after miraculously restoring the severed ear of Malchus- the high priest's servant and rebuking Peter who had mistakenly tried to protect his Lord. Jesus faced Annas and Caiaphas in trial. Peter's first denial followed. Then Jesus is placed under oath by the high priest, who contrary to the law commanded our Master to be struck and was rightly rebuked by Jesus. Peter's second denial followed. The rulers attempted to force from Pilate, the Roman Governor, during the night, the death sentence – another illegality – on the unproven charge of treason. Pilate questioned Jesus and it was clear that our Lord had total mastery of the situation and it was Pontius Pilate who quailed in the presence of the Son of God. Jesus bore witness to the Truth that he came into the world to be “King of the Jews” (see 1 Timothy 6:12-16). Pilate declared him to be innocent of the charge; but the rulers clamoured for his death and the acquittal of Barabbas.

The triumphal entry that Jesus experienced into Jerusalem on a donkey has turned to persecution before Pontius Pilate. Part 2 of our series, Crowned, turns to Mark 15 as we read how the civic and religious leaders bound Jesus and brought him before the Roman Governor. What happens next is both heart-breaking and world-altering! Listen as Pastor Rob Bentz shares our Good Friday message, The Crucified King. (Scripture reading by Pastor Kevin Pobursky.) 

That first Easter was so incredibly unfair. Jesus – the innocent man – was crucified and Barabbas – the man guilty of murder – walked off Scott free. If you were God, would you have done things that way?   Let's Tarry a While It's interesting how when Easter passes us by we kind of quickly forget it and move on. It was a long weekend, it was a great time to have off and have a rest, have some chocolate. It comes, we eat chocolate, we have a long weekend, it goes, that's it, we move on, back to work, back to school, back to the empty house, whatever it is we do day after day and this week on the program and in fact over the coming three weeks we're going to dwell in Easter for a bit longer than just a long weekend. We're going to tarry and stay there a little bit longer. And today's program is the first message in a series that I've called, "The Price He Paid For You" and as well as talking about Easter over the Easter period we're going to do the unthinkable and spend the next few weeks after Easter doing it as well. Can you believe that because it's a big thing this Easter thing? Not as a religious holiday, I don't mean that, I for one am definitely not into religion, it just doesn't work for me. Not talking about religion, I'm talking about this big thing that God was up to at Easter. The thing that Jesus went through, the suffering, the persecution, the beating, the rejection and that death on the cross. You and I are so incredibly special to God which is what makes you and me worth dying for. He's handcrafted us, He's made us, He's set us free in this amazing universe, always loving us but with the freedom He gave us a free will to accept Him or reject Him and when it comes right down to this, according to God, He made us, He loves us, He gave us free will and the point of all of that was for us to know Him and have this fantastic relationship with Him here and now and for all eternity. But it doesn't matter which way we cut it each one of us in our own way we've rejected Him. I know I have, more often than we could ever imagine or count or recall and in doing that we miss the whole point. The whole point of creation, the whole point of life, the plan and the desire of God's heart. When we turned our backs on God and we all have, we miss the whole point of life, that's exactly what the Greek word for "sin" actually means. It means to miss the mark or as we might say today to miss the point. I know when I use the word "sin" people often write in or they call and say, "Come on, this is some kind of old fuddy-duddy concept, get with it Berni, get into today, sin just isn't relevant, it's something that priests or ministers talked about in the 1950's, get with it, it's old fashioned." I know, I know that some people think of sin that way but lets come back to Easter and the central point, the central problem of all creation is that we rejected God. We turned our back on Him, it's hard to come to grips with. People say, 'Well I'm not a bad person, I'm not that bad, I'm okay' but let me ask you, from the moment you were old enough did you put God first? Was God always first in your life? Did you live your life as though you belonged to Him? And the answer for all of us is, "No, we didn't." We've all done things; we've all turned away in our own way, in different ways; we've all turned our backs on God and at that Cross at a time that we now call Easter and we celebrate and we remember, on that cross God calls us home. The consequences, what we should have paid for rejecting Him, were paid for by His Son Jesus; He died to give us a new life. Okay God calls us to a life of sacrifice, God calls us to a life of giving, He gives us a fresh new life, a wholesome life with real joy and because out of His great love He reached out to us through Jesus, He opens the door to a real and dynamic and exciting and beautiful and wondrous relationship with God. At the heart of the message of Easter is the fact that Jesus paid the price of my sin and of your sin, of our rejection of God, our missing the whole point of creation and the fact that Jesus paid the price seems unfair don't you think? Let's have a read, we're going to go to the Bible, if you have one grab it, we're going to open up at John chapter 18 beginning at verse 38 and we're going to read through to chapter 19, verse 16. Here it is: What is truth, Pontius Pilate asked? With this he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no basis for a charge against this Jesus but it's your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? And they shouted, 'no, not him, give us Barabbas. Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged, the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, they clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him and again and again and again saying, 'hail the king of the Jews' and they struck him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, 'I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.' And when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe Pilate said to them, 'here is the man'. As soon as the Chief Priests and their officials saw him they shouted, 'crucify him, crucify him. But Pontius Pilate answered, 'you take him, you crucify him. As for me I find no basis for a charge against him.' But the Jews insisted, 'we have a law and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the son of God.' And when Pilate heard this he was even more afraid and he went back inside the palace. Where do you come from?' He asked Jesus but Jesus gave him no answer. 'Do you refuse to speak to me?' Pilate said, 'don't you realise I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?' And Jesus answered, 'you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. From then on Pilate tried to have Jesus set free but the Jews kept shouting, 'if you let this man go you are no friend of Caesars. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.' When Pilate heard this he brought Jesus out and sat him down on the Judges seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement. It was the day of the preparation of the Passover week, about the sixth hour. Here is your king' Pilate said to the Jews 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. Finally Pilate handed him over to be crucified. Pretty amazing story we're going to take a look at it in a moment.   An Innocent Man Not much regard for the rules of evidence if indeed there were any rules of evidence way back then. A good friend of mine by the name of Paul is a magistrate. Now, the more I get to know him, the more I realise how gifted Paul is to do that job. I've got to tell you, I'd hate to have to sit in judgment, this one goes free, this one gets locked up. And to make things even more difficult he's a magistrate in the children's court. Now Paul has this really balanced thing happening in his outlook. He weighs this against that in almost everything he does. I was saying to someone else recently that when I look at Paul, what I see is someone that I'm really comfortable with being a magistrate. I'm really glad that this guy is on the bench in the children's court because he's absolutely the right person to be doing it. When you look at the story of the crowd and Pontius Pilate and Barabbas and Jesus and this angry, ugly mob I see some of that in Pilate. When the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate and Jesus had been talking to him about truth, he says, "What is truth?" And he goes out to the mob and he says, "Look, I have looked into this man and I find no case against him, this Jesus." See he wasn't swayed initially in judgment by the religious leaders, who frankly just wanted Jesus dead because Jesus was threatening them. Jesus was going to the people and making sense to them and healing them and caring for them and loving them and standing up for them. That's why the religious leaders wanted Him dead. That's how poisoned that whole rule-based religion scene had become. See Pilate wasn't swayed by the same things that whipped up that mobbed. And all the way through this scene, over and over again, Pontius Pilate finds Jesus "not guilty". In verse 38 he says: ‘Look, I find no basis for a charge against Him'. Again in verse 4 of chapter 19: Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, ‘Look I'm bring him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him'. Verse 6 of Chapter 19: You take him, you crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. And then again, down in verse 12: From then on Pontius Pilate tried to have Jesus set free. See he was a man who was fairly objective and he found no guilt in Jesus the Christ. Of course there's a marked difference between my friend Paul and Pontius Pilate in that ultimately Pilate was a weak man and he gave in to the crowd. He never changes his judgment mind you, but based on this tradition he just rolls over because of this angry mob. And ultimately he said, "Look, look at the life of Jesus, this man who healed people and who reached out to them and who cared for them, who taught them stuff about life that made sense, of course he's innocent." Innocent of everything except the fact that his goodness, his genuiness, stood out in stark contrast to the manipulation and the deceit of the religious leaders of the day. He threatened their power base, that's why they wanted him dead. Now the other player in this game is Barabbas. Barabbas is an interesting character. His name literally means "Son" which is what "Bar" means, "of the father" – "abba". "Barabbas" son of the father – Barabbas. We'll come back to that a little later. But he is a criminal. John tells us there in verse 40 that he'd taken part in a rebellion. If you go to Matthew's gospel chapter 27 verse 16, Matthew calls him a notorious criminal, so it was well known that this man was a crook. Mark Chapter 15 verse 7 and Luke Chapter 23 verse 19, they both tell us that Barabbas committed murder as a part of an insurrection. So here we have it. A well-known, notorious criminal, a murderer, Barabbas versus Jesus Christ superstar. This Jesus with rock-star status who healed the lame and the sick and the blind and stood up for the oppressed and the needs of the people against all of those of religious rulers from all that manipulation. He exposed the religious hypocrisy of those leaders. Huge crowds followed him, they listened to him, they saw him heal countless people, they saw miracles. The same crowds just a few days before, on the day we now call Palm Sunday, when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, they threw down palm leaves, they were shouting praises literally calling him "King of the Jews" – their Messiah, their Saviour. Yet now, just a few days later whipped up by the religious leaders, manipulated by them again, here they are, baying for his blood. "Crucify him". What a brutal response. No wonder politicians say that the opinion polls are fickle. There's a great saying: "A week is a long time in politics." And it was certainly true then as it is now. Look at it again. When they're given a choice they say, "We want Barabbas! We want Barabbas!" And of Jesus, "Crucify him!" When Pilate asked them about Jesus they said: "Crucify him". And ultimately Pontius Pilate went against his own impartial judgment. He was weak, he was afraid of the crowd. He had Jesus beaten, he had him handed over to be crucified. Wait for it, instead of Barabbas who got set free. Do you get it. It's a switch, it's a substitution that's going on here. Barabbas the son of the father was the murderer. He should have gone to the cross, but instead he was set free and the innocent Jesus was crucified in his place. And here's what God's saying to us through what happened. Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." God said that of Jesus. Jesus was also man. He often referred to Himself as the Son of Man. He was human, He was God in the flesh, He was perfect without spot or blemish. He was totally innocent. The Son of God – Jesus; the son of the father, the son of dad – Barabbas. God is a loving Dad. There's a radical concept here introduced by Jesus. The Jews didn't refer to God as Dad but Jesus called Him Abba – Dad. And this man, Barabbas – Bar-abba, son of dad – is the one who gets set free. It's the swap over, it's the substitution. The "Son of God" and the "son of God". Both with the same name. Jesus and Barabbas. The innocent is substituted for the guilty. Jesus went to the cross for Barabbas; Barabbas deserved it but Jesus wore it. Barabbas was the murderer but Jesus was killed. Barabbas was the one who hurt people and yet Jesus suffered in his place. Barabbas – the son of the father – was guilty and he went free. Jesus – the Son of the Father – was innocent and He went to the Cross. And who judged Him? Not Pilate. Pilate wasn't the one that sent Him to the Cross, it was the angry mob and the religious leaders – the very people whom He came to set free, whom He loved, whom He healed, whom He taught. They were the ones that turned against Him. They were the ones who had Jesus crucified. So what does that mean for you and for me here and now?   Who is Barabbas Let me ask you something. Who was Barabbas? There was Pontius Pilate, there was Jesus, there was Barabbas. And then there was the angry mob in this story. To the angry mob, Barabbas was just that criminal and murderer and it was the Passover Festival. The Passover is the celebration of when God was releasing His people out of slavery in Egypt centuries before. He sent ten plagues on Egypt, on Pharaoh. And the final plague was the death of the first-born of all the Egyptians from Pharaoh's son through to a slave's son right through to the first born of all the animals. And yet here was the nation of Israel captive as slaves in Egypt. And God said to them: "Look, get a lamb, kill it, takes it's blood, smear it on the top of the door and the angel of death will pass over your house and you won't suffer that death – that death in the tenth plague." It was only visited on the Egyptians but not on God's people. And the way in which God's angel passed them over was by the seeing the blood of the lamb on the door posts. And so there's this tradition where the Roman Governor at the Passover Festival all these years later would release one criminal to the people. And this year that criminal was going to be Barabbas. Someone who had been part of an insurgency, an uprising; someone who killed multiple people. I mean, the worst sort of all criminals possible is who Barabbas was. Bar-abba – "son of the father", one of God's children. You see, you and I are Barabbas in this story. I said before that attitudes to sin vary enormously in our society and so many people see "sin" as an outdated concept. But the whole point of creation was us to have a relationship with God and to give glory to God but in our free will we rejected Him just as Barabbas rejected God, just as Barabbas went out and sinned. And when we did that we missed the point. And that's what God calls "sin". It's conspicuous, you can't hide it. We're all guilty of that and ‘the wages of sin is death'. See, God is wondrous and perfect and holy and awesome and a loving God and it's hard to imagine love and judgment in one person. Yet my friend Paul, the magistrate, I was talking about him earlier, Paul is a really fair and compassionate man, he's a great husband, he's a wonderful father, but he's also just. I look at him and it gives me some understanding at how those things fit together in God's nature. In His love, instead of letting you and me pay the price, in His love God sends Jesus, His Son, to die in my place. Now you and I might say, "Look, I'm no Barabbas. I haven't killed people. I haven't done all these horrible things." The point is, the moment we turn our back on God, the moment we reject Him, the moment we do one thing wrong – because God is holy, pure, perfect, clean – the moment we sin we deserve death. God's Word tells us "The wages of sin in death", and yet when we put our faith in this Jesus, in this Jesus who died on our behalf, we're forgiven. You too are one of the sons and daughters of Abba – Dad – God. We too are loved by Him and we too can put our faith in Jesus and believe with our hearts and with our heads that on this very first Easter, on that Cross, Jesus paid the price of our sin and when we believe in Him we have complete forgiveness. Finally, Pilate handed Him over to be crucified, so that the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying His own cross He went out to a place of the Skull which in Aramaic is known as Golgotha. Here they crucified Him and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the Cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews'. Many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The Chief Priest of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Don't write ‘King of the Jews' but that this man claimed to be the King of the Jews.' And Pilate answered them, ‘What I have written, I've written.' When the soldiers crucified Jesus they took His clothes off, divided amongst them in four shares, one for each of them with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in a single piece from top to bottom. Let's not tear it they said, let's decided by lot who gets it. This happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said, ‘They divided their garments among them and cast lots for my clothing'. So this is what the soldiers did. Near the Cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there and the Disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son and to the Disciple, here is your mother.' And from that time on this Disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was completed and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I'm thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there and so they soaked a sponge in it and put the sponge on a stalk of hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When He'd received a drink Jesus said, ‘It is finished'. With that He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. That's the price, the price that Jesus paid for you and for me and Barabbas. And as much as we here in the 21st Century might have a cultural problem with the notion of sin, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change God, it doesn't change who God is, it doesn't change why God created us, it doesn't change the reality that you and I have fallen short of the glory of God. You and I have both rejected God and it doesn't change the reality that He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son. So many people in our society have this nagging sense of guilt, this nagging sense of inadequacy, this deep down sense that they're not good enough. And the reason is that we aren't good enough. And God comes to us to the Cross of Jesus Christ and cries out and says to us: I love you. You are my Barabbas, you are my child. I love you, I sent my Son to pay the price. Look at my Son, look at the Cross, put your faith in Him and you can have eternal life. A new life, a fresh life, a life that begins now, a life with me that goes on forever. When we believe Jesus we have the forgiveness that Jesus purchased. When we believe the door is flung open into a deep relationship with God, when we believe we have eternal life, we do. Anybody, the worst criminal, you, me even if he had believed … Barabbas.

The details of Jesus before the Roman Governor, Pilate, and Jesus crucified, died and buried.

Years ago in college, our son and a young lady friend of his decided they needed to have an RDT. I know it sounds like an injection or like bug spray. But it actually had to do with what was going on between them. See, men and women at the college that they attended often would have an RDT with someone. And I guess history does repeat itself, because I actually had one with my future wife one night many years ago. We didn't call it that, but that's what it was. I told her this: "I'm just sick and tired of just having a brother/sister relationship. I want it to be more." I risked it all that day and, guess what, I married her. Well, after she picked herself up off the floor, she got my drift. And we were married a long time. Whenever a man or woman in my son's school wanted to figure out what their relationship was, they would say, "It's RDT time." That's when they found out, "Is this a friendship? Or are we dating? Are we going steady? Is this a possible marriage situation? Are we pre-engaged? What do we call this?" Well, actually there comes a time when you need to know where you stand. Oh, and what is an RDT? I probably should tell you that. It's a Relationship Definition Time! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Religion Isn't Enough." It may be RDT time for you in the most important relationship of all. See, Jesus Christ calls for you and Him to have a relationship definition time. Our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 13:5 is sobering. Listen, "Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that you have not failed the test." Okay, you know about Jesus. You like Jesus. You agree with Jesus. You try to live like Jesus would want you to live, and that's all good. But have you ever made the Savior your Savior and put all your trust in Him; grabbing Him like he's your only hope? See, when it comes to getting things really settled with Jesus Christ once and for all, many of us are like a plane that keeps circling the airport. We're close. We're circling, but we never landed. And you're looking down on that cross where God's One and only Son is dying to pay your sin bill with God. You know that's where you'll get the sins of a lifetime erased from God's book. But maybe you've never really landed. John 3:36 - "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." The New Testament makes it clear that believing in Jesus is telling Him He's your only hope. You're putting your total trust in what He did on the cross for you, abandoning any other hope. He's your only hope of knowing God, of going to heaven. Have you ever done that with Him? Have you ever really believed in Jesus in that way? And there's only one other relationship option according to Jesus. You're rejecting Him. Not to believe is to reject. Not to decide is to decide. The Roman Governor who tried Jesus unknowingly asked the question that decides every person's eternity, "What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?" It's time for you to answer that question. It's relationship definition time. If you're ready to finally get this settled, would you tell Him right now, "Lord, you're my only hope of having my sins erased from God's book, of ever having a relationship with God and of going to heaven. I believe You died for me, and beginning right now I want to belong to You." I want to invite you to visit our website, and let me walk you through the steps to make sure you belong to Jesus. It's called ANewStory.com. Today is relationship definition time. There's an old gospel song that makes it pretty clear. "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For some day your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with Me?'"

Today's readings.. (Ezra 3,4), (Hosea 6), (Acts 23,24)  People promise to say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a court of law!   The fullness of that wording is interesting as it tries to counter the common human tendency to bend the truth, this is done sometimes to the extent that it really becomes an outright lie. It has been said that “half-truths” are more dangerous than lies. When a human being declares to others, “Be it known to you …” certain ‘facts' – it is always as they want to see the facts.  We have examples of this in both our Old and New Testament readings today. In Ezra we are reading of the struggles of the first contingency of Jews who returned from captivity to Jerusalem with the purpose of rebuilding the temple.  Nebuchadnezzar, in destroying it, was so thorough that even the foundations were wrecked.  The non-Jews who, were transported to the area from Assyria, (Ezra 4 v.20) take offence when the Jews decline their offer of involvement in the work.  The result is they try to stop the work.  When a new King comes on the Persian throne they write a letter to him saying, “Be it known to the king that the Jews … are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city … if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished they will not pay tribute, custom or toll and the royal revenue will be impaired …” [v.12,13] This was a total distortion of the facts, really a lie.  It is astonishing how often money is made an issue – it was a most important factor in human decision making then and now.  Now in the New Testament we read that after Paul's arrest by the Romans in a riot that the Jews provoked, they allege before the Roman Governor  that Paul is “one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world … he even tried to profane the Temple, but we seized him.” [Acts 24 v.5,6]   Testimonies as to the true cause of a situation are so often distorted through prejudice.  Paul refuted these claims (v.12,13) and says, “I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man” [v.16].     Do we “always take pains” to have a clear conscience?  God knows whether we bend the truth, even slightly! Do we have a clear conscience in the way we teach what God's word says?  Paul tells Timothy, in the last letter he wrote, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” [2 Tim. 2 v15] The most dangerous thing of all for people to do is to bend God's “word of truth.” 

Pontius Pilate was the most powerful person Jesus ever met in terms of political and worldly power. And yet, when we look back at the meeting of a Roman Governor and a homeless teacher accused of treason, it isn't Pilate's stature or power that seem impressive.

This is the letter of Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor who presided over the sentencing of Yahooshua {incorrectly Jesus}) to the Roman Emperor Tiberius Ceaser about the life, death and resurrection of Yahooshua. Vitally important independent testimony about reality of Yahooshua!The letter of Pontius Pilate to Caesar is completed with a discussion of the events leading up to execution of Yahooshua and what followed immediately afterwardsWe then look at “Essence what Father wants from YOU”Relationship With Creator is broadcast live Fridays 12Noon – 1PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Relationship With Creator is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).Relationship With Creator Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

This is the letter of Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor who presided over the sentencing of Yahooshua {incorrectly Jesus}) to the Roman Emperor Julius Ceaser about the life, death and resurrection of Yahooshua. Vitally important independent testimony about reality of Yahooshua!This letter is drawn from a book “Archaeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmud of the Jews”We read Pilate's report to Ceasar and I share my observationsRelationship With Creator is broadcast live Fridays 12Noon – 1PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Relationship With Creator is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).Relationship With Creator Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

On Jesus' road to the cross, we find threads that reveal he is totally in control. Though he is betrayed by his disciple Judas and led through an unjust trial led by Pilate, the Roman Governor, we see Jesus fix his eyes on his purpose: to seek and save the lost.

This message begins by providing a historical backdrop to Pilate's role as the Roman governor of Judea, emphasizing his historical and archaeological verifiability, thus grounding the narrative in historical reality. The message then narrates the events leading up to and including Jesus' trial, highlighting the ironies and the legal and religious maneuvers of the Jewish leaders and Pilate's interactions with Jesus, which underscore the tension between earthly and divine authority. STAY CONNECTED Connection Link: https://bit.ly/2JFOl6Q CityChurch Facebook: https://bit.ly/39KaZW2 CityChurch Instagram: https://bit.ly/39K23QK CityChurch YouTube: https://bit.ly/3aItETN

Today is day 62 and we are in the section on the Second Article of the Apostles' Creed on Jesus Christ the Son of God. Today we are on the seventh line: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate” and studying question 62. 62. Why does the Creed say that Jesus suffered under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate? The Creed thus makes clear that Jesus' life and death were real events that occurred at a particular time and place in Judea in the first century AD. (Psalm 2:1–6; Luke 3:1–2; 23; Acts 4:24–28). We will conclude today with The Collect for Monday of Holy Week found on page 607 of the Book of Common Prayer (2019). If you would like to buy or download To Be a Christian, head to anglicanchurch.net/catechism. Produced by Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Madison, MS. Original music from Matthew Clark. Daily collects and Psalms are taken from Book of Common Prayer (2019), created by the Anglican Church in North America and published by the Anglican Liturgical Press. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Catechism readings are taken from To Be a Christian - An Anglican Catechism Approved Edition, copyright © 2020 by The Anglican Church in North America by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Greetings and welcome- This is our daily devotional for February 29, 2024. Today we continue our series in the Book of Acts in chapter 25 with Paul standing trial before Festus, the new Roman Governor. In doing so the murderous plans of the Jews are exposed, along with God's plan of Paul going to Rome. Thanks for joining us-

Greetings and welcome! This is our daily devotional for February 29, 2024. Today we continue our series in the Book of Acts in chapter 25 with Paul standing trial before Festus, the new Roman Governor. In doing so the murderous plans of the Jews are exposed, along with God's plan of Paul going to Rome. Thanks for joining us!

Greetings and welcome- This is our daily devotional for February 29, 2024. Today we continue our series in the Book of Acts in chapter 25 with Paul standing trial before Festus, the new Roman Governor. In doing so the murderous plans of the Jews are exposed, along with God's plan of Paul going to Rome. Thanks for joining us-

We're in the final part of Acts and Paul's journey to Jerusalem then to Rome -chapters 21-28-. The Holy Spirit has led Paul to Jerusalem to be arrested and we hear his fourth defense before the Roman Governor of Judea, Festus. --Introduction- A Restatement of this Story--WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM IT- WHY DO WE SUFFER IF WE ARE RIGHTEOUS-- --WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM IT- HOW DO WE RESPOND IN SUFFERING----Conclusion

We're in the final part of Acts and Paul's journey to Jerusalem then to Rome -chapters 21-28-. The Holy Spirit has led Paul to Jerusalem to be arrested and we hear his third defense before the Roman Governor of Judea, Felix. --THE FIRST INJUSTICE- FALSE ACCUSATION -VV. 1-9--THE SECOND INJUSTICE- INACTION -VV. 22-27--PAUL'S DEFENSE, OUR RESPONSE -VV. 10-21-

What are we to make of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor who sentenced Jesus to be crucified? Was he an unwitting pawn caught up in the crucifixion drama, or was he fully responsible for his decision and part in what took place? Let's separate fact from fiction in this message titled, "When Pilate Stood Before Jesus."

Join us today for Celebrating God's Grace where host Rusanne Carole explores the competing voices that vie for our attention. In our current days, we have an overload of information right at our fingertips! Let's reflect on the time of the crucifixion of Christ and explore the many voices that Pontious Pilate, the Roman Governor, heard and finally prevailed to. We have a choice each day to decide whose voice we will listen to. Jesus tells us His sheep will know His voice - may we stop and learn to seek it, hear it, and be obedient to it  **** Welcome to Celebrating God's Grace, a Women World Leader's Podcast, I'm your host today, Rusanne Carole. We are grateful you are here and it's such a privilege to come together and delve into God's Word and teachings and I pray today's message will touch your heart and mind. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live our a courageous, purpose-driven life! Don't forget to join us each Monday where our founder & Co-CEO, Kimberly Hobbs, interviews women from all over the world – women of God who have a story to share – and how God has shown up in their life. And Wednesdays, where our Co-CEO and Bible Teacher, Julie Jenkins, brings us a study of God's Word and its application to our lives. Today, let's have a peek into a subject that would affect us all – there are things all around us competing for our time and attention. We are living in an Information Age. When I was growing up and you had a question or wanted information you went to the library and did research. It could take hours, days or longer – depending on the research and what you were looking for. Today, with a smart phone you can look up any question or acquire information in seconds. So much information/ talk of “disinformation”, so-called conspiracy theories – the descriptions can go on & on. But one thing is for sure. TRUTH is TRUTH. And the source of Truth is JESUS. John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Where will we turn? When we have serious questions about life? We may need wisdom, guidance, or comfort in any given situations in our lives. We have a choice. We turn to the peddler of poison (Satan) or the Prince of Peace? Somehow most of us linger somewhere in the middle, walking a tightrope with lots of distractions and voices vying for our attention. Even well-meaning Christians who love and follow God are having to choose daily – “Lord, is this You speaking to me?” We yearn to hear Him. Spending time in the Word and Prayer and Stillness desiring to hear His Voice. Let's have a look at Pilate in the Bible as an example of so many voices to choose from: It was days before the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. At every Passover festival the Roman governor could set free a prisoner chosen by the crowd. The choice was presented “shall it be Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?”. Barabbas, mentioned in all four gospels, was described as a robber, a murderer and a rebel who spoke openly against the Roman authority and was condemned to die. The crowd, along with the Chief Priests, shouted, “crucify Jesus!”. Luke 23:22, “A third time Pilate said to the crowd, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. AND THEIR VOICES PREVAILED. Their voices certainly did prevail. And Pilate's fear, Pilate's pride and his hunger for power prevailed too! Sound familiar. I think we could all relate to how we have listened or been subjected to every other voice but God's – either before we accepted Christ or even as we follow Him there are voices vying for our attention. Gods' or those contrary to His voice, they appear! The crowd's voices were not the only voices. Most importantly, there was the voice of Jesus.. Five times he postponed the decision hoping to gratify the mob with polices or lashings. Three times he stood right in front of him, eye to eye, face to face with the Nazarene who had come to reveal the truth. “What is truth?”. Jesus' silence was so much greater than the crowd's demands, but Pilate didn't listen. Then there was the voice of his wife. She sent a message to him to not have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him”. (Matthew 27:19) One might pause to wonder or ponder the origin of the dream. But Pilate didn't. Then there was his own voice, his conscious. Surely, it was speaking to him. In Luke 23 he told the crowd he had not found any crime to deserve death. Surely, he could see through the façade. But he didn't listen. The crowd's voices and his fear prevailed. We have all had times where that little voice presents itself: One time won't hurt. He'll never know. She'll never know. Other people do much worse. I will never do it again. It's just a little “white” lie We will rationalize, make excuses, and justify. We have all done it. And Satan's voice can be louder than all the rest at times. So that leaves us with a choice. Who do we listen to? Jesus tells us His sheep (us as believers and followers) will hear His voice. We must position ourselves to hear Him . Psalm 46:10 teaches us to “Be still and know that I am God.” So stillness – removing the other voices as much as possible and seeking Him through prayer and petition is where we will hear Him. We hear Him in His Word. What voices will you choose to listen to? The voices of men & women or the voice of God?  Let us pray: Father, let us hear You above all the noise we live with. Let Your Word, Your teachings, Your promises and yes even Your correction ring in our ears and drop into our minds and our hearts to be obedient to You and Your desires – for Your desires for Your people are only good. At times when there isn't a direct and immediate answer teach us to wait upon You, Lord. There are over 100 references in the Bible to wait upon You and Your Word in Isiah 40:31 tells us those who wait and trust upon the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grown weary. They will walk and not faint. Help us to choose purposefully and intentionally to seek to hear You! And when we miss the mark, may we ask for forgiveness and continue our walk with you – being strengthened each day as we get to know You more and become more like Your Son. Amen Thank you for listening to WWL's podcast. Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God's extravagant love & your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event & support the ministry. We'd also love to support you in finding for your God-given destiny. Check out our quarterly magazine, Voice of Truth and there are  several ways to join us online where we come together to pray and meet with women all around the globe where we are taught, inspired and encouraged!    From His heart to yours, we are WWL. All content is copyrighted by WWL and cannot be used without written consent.        

367 It is Finished, Good Friday   It Is Finished, The last words Jesus spoke on Good Friday as he died on the cross to save Humanity.   Greetings all my friends and today I am doing something a little bit different on the Dharmic Evolution Podcast I wanted to present a project that I worked on more than 5 years ago on Music Row in Nashville. The band is called “Mercy” and the project was the “I AM VICTORIOUS” Album.   Its ultimate purpose is to become a theatrical musical experience, similar to West Side Story, or The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in that it's design is to include the audience as part of the presentation. However, at the time of putting the music together, we had no idea this was part of the plan.   My writing partner Archbishop and Captain Chaplain Christine Mercy Johnson and I wrote and Produced this album with Kim Copeland as Music Producer on Music Row in the late Spring and Summer of 2016.    I wanted to share 4 of the tracks with you today to give you a glimpse of the story and how important It is for us to remember what actually happened during those last days of the Lord that set up our Eternal spiritual possibilities for all time moving forward, I hope you will listen, and enjoy the story, And realize its importance on your life!   AMEN The Lord wanted us to write a song entitled “Amen” that is all we got, just “Amen” I walked around In circles in my small humble studio in this tiny cottage I was renting  at the time, it had a loft and fireplace  it was perfect actually, I really lived in a small recording studio, on an 80 acre estate surrounded by nature. After being exasperated At the lack of direction, I turned on my DX7, plugged in a couple of guitars, and set up the metronome, and    Just started tracking, the rest just came out, pretty much the same as you hear on the recording. The one Icing on the cake was that Christine had told me the Lord wanted her to do a voice over on top of the  Recording, and it turns out The Lords Prayer fit into the space perfectly, we had not planned on this And I had no idea that was going to be part of the song, but it fit like a glove.   The intro of this song starts with Christine reciting scripture from Revalations 22, its a moving and stirring Message, filled with dire warnings, but also with the promise of beautiful, revealing, and everlasting Light for us all, if only we dare to have the courage to claim it. As the scripture concludes, it moves Quietly into the song.   The intro is real birds that I captured at the cottage, I woke up pre dawn one morning and put two hi quality Microphones out of my windows to capture the early morning song birds, then later that day I went for A hike in one of my favorite forests and brought with me a tiny hi quality recorder, my trusty Boss Digital Micro BR recorder. (I still use it today, its smaller than a peanut butter sandwich) I set it on a rock in the Middle of a stream to capture the real water sounds for the recording, and added them into the mix.   I always thought of the piece as more of a prayer than a song, it is designed for you to put on in your Car, on the way to a stressful meeting, or uncomfortable situation, and is meant to help you find Peace through the prayer that you are communicating to the Father, Lord Jesus, and the  Holy Spirit. Amen~   Bless You This was a beautiful story about Jesus imparting to his disciples how to conduct themselves out in the World and how they can make an impact on society and care for their impoverished brothers and sisters. He spoke in parables not to be overly mysterious, however, he would alway try to trigger our creative minds using storytelling, and touching our imaginations in ways that would inspire thinking in new and prosperous way towards the good of humanity.   This showcases what faith and hope really are when these men just left their previous life in a Moments notice. They intuitively knew that they were witnessing something so unusual and so Brilliant, and must have thought “how could we miss this”?   I think the rolling piano riff in this song really glued the arrangement together. That is Nashvilles own Buddy Hyatt,  with brother Jim Hyatt on Bass guitar.  Shawn Fichter (from Tim McGraw's band) is on drums and percussion,  James Mitchell on electric guitars,  Glen Duncan on Acoustic Guitars and violin.  Kim Copeland did a fabulous job producing along with Kelly Schoenfeld handling all Of the highly skilled and challenging engineering, as this was no easy feat to incorporate spoken Scripture with music.   I'M AFRAID I'm afraid records the last night that the Lord Jesus has of earthy freedom before the soldiers come To take him away. How torture with the whipping was just brutal, they beat him and scourged him For hours on end before forcing him to carry his own heavy wooden cross up to Calvary where he Was to be crucified.    The main beam of the cross was stretched across his shoulders and weighed 80-100 Lbs, he had To carry this more than 600 yards uphill, he was beaten so badly and lost so much blood and bodily fluids, it has been said he barely looked human. I think it was astonishing that he even  survived the brutal beatings to get to the crucifixion.   As Jesus was in the Garden of gethsemane praying to his father, he had asked his disciples to stay Awake and keep watch while he prayed to his Father. These last hours were so terrifying for him that he began sweating blood as he could see the horrible and brutal torture he would be suffering over the next 24 hours. He returned to them several times to find them all asleep, which must have been even more exasperating for him.    He was so terrified that he asked his Father, “If it be possible please take this cup from my Hand, but I serve your command, although I'm Afraid”   Everyone played so well on this track and the featured violin playing by Glen Duncan was really Sweet and special. Shawn also added so many elements of drama with the swelling symbol  Effects as well.     IT IS FINISHED Captures the last moments of Jesus speaking to his Father as he is about to die a brutal Painful physical human death. The hours that led up to this had Jesus in court with Pontious Pilate, the Roman Governor of the province of Judea. Pilate knew this was a very highly  Charged political situation and even his wife was trying to influence him not to punish Jesus As she had dreams that he was indeed the messiah.   The Jews hated the fact that Jesus was being called the Son of God, and wanted know part Of it, they were screaming “Crucify him” in the town square where Pilate was presenting them A choice to free one prisoner as is customary before passover, he asked “do you want me to Free Barabas, or Jesus”?    We were having a bit of trouble with this one, as Christine suddenly said after tracking that it Was not sad enough, James Mitchell suggested to me to change up to a minor 6th and that Was exactly what it needed to give it that sad temperament in all the right places.  I remember writing this on my Strat and using a capo up around fret 4 or 5, just really Tore into it without any though whatsoever.   Its amazing how all the musicians picked up on the dynamics of the song just from that One very sparse and simple demo. Its another song completely run by the Holy Spirit,  All we needed to do was hang on and enjoy the ride!   After the vocal on this, I could not even come into the control room for a minute or two, It was almost an out of body experience.   Be blessed, and Happy Good Friday,   James~  

Day 41 of 47 going through John's gospel - more info at https://www.severnvineyard.org/time-space-jesusWhat could happen if you take time and make space with Jesus today? This ten-minute podcast is part reading, part music, and part silence, all designed to help you create a space to picture and feel the scene with Jesus in it. You can use this space in lots of ways, including meditation, prayer, re-reading the passage or thinking about what it means for you today.Today's reflection: What does it mean to you that Jesus is a leader whose purpose is to bear witness to the truth?---Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Look, they know what I said.”When he had said this, one of the officers present slapped Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, make a statement about what was wrong; but if I have spoken correctly, why did you strike me?”Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You aren't also one of his disciples, are you?”He denied it and said, “I am not.”One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn't I see you in the garden with him?”Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, the Roman Governor's palace. It was early, and they didn't enter the Praetorium themselves, to avoid becoming ceremonially unclean – they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What charge are you bringing against this man?”They answered him, “If this man weren't an evildoer, we wouldn't have delivered him to you.”So Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”The Jews said to him, “It is illegal for us to put anyone to death,” This fulfilled the word of Jesus, which he spoke, signifying the kind of death he was about to die.So Pilate went back into the Praetorium, called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”Jesus answered him, “Do you say this by yourself, or did others tell you about me?”Pilate answered, “I'm not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done?”Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn't be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is from a different place.”So Pilate said to him, “You are a king then?”Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”After saying this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”Then they all shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.

Sermon from 04-02-2023

Palm Sunday begins the celebration of what Christians around the world refer to as Holy Week. In John's Gospel account of the events between Palm Sunday and the Resurrection, we read of an exchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, just prior to His crucifixion. This small, simple exchange stands as a profound example of how we, as Christ followers, stand apart from the world in our acknowledgment, embrace, and representation of the TRUTH of who God is and who we are, in Him.Kevan presents a talk entitled, “What is TRUTH?”“Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose, I have been born, and for this, I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”John 18:37,38a NASB2020

Jim Allen preaches on the civil trials of Christ that took place after the Jewish leaders took Him early on the morning of the crucifixion to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. Reading: John 18:28-40. (Message preached in Scotland in the year 2,000). Photo: The “Pilate stone”. Complete series: The Last Sign – Jim Allen In the Garden of Gethsemane – Jim Flanigan The Lord's Religious Trials – Jim Allen The Lord's Civil Trials – Jim Allen The Crucifixion The post The Civil Trials of Christ (34 min) first appeared on Gospel Hall Audio.

Day 15 in a series of daily readings and meditations from "The School of Jesus Crucified" by Father Ignatius of the Side of Jesus. Rob will read sections from this book aloud daily throughout Lent to help draw us in deeper to our blessed Lord's Passion. Today we meditate on Jesus being led by the Jews before the Roman governor of Judea.#catholic #christian #lent********************************************************Avoiding Babylon was started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult and dark days, when most of us were isolated from family, friends, our parishes, and even the Sacraments themselves, this channel was started as a statement of standing against the tyrannical mandates that many of us were living under. Since those early days, this channel has morphed into an amazing community of friends…no…more than friends…Christian brothers and sisters…who have grown in joy and charity.Avoiding Babylon does not criticize the hierarchy or institutional Church, especially Pope Francis. We recognize there is an unprecedented crisis in the Church, but we feel that there are other shows that address these issues that are more qualified than us. Instead, we try to remind ourselves and those who enjoy the channel that being Catholic is a joyful and exciting experience. We seek true Catholic fraternity and eutrapelia with other Catholics who, like us, are doing their best to live out their vocation with the help of God's Grace. Above all, we try to bring humor and joy to the craziness of this fallen world, for as Hillaire Belloc has famously said:“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,There's always laughter and good red wine.At least I've always found it so.Benedicamus Domino!”https://www.avoidingbabylon.comTelegram Chat: https://t.me/+AMwZ2f9ChPg5NWNhRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssSpiritusTV:  https://spiritustv.com/@avoidingbabylonRumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1626455Odysee:  https://odysee.com/@AvoidingBabylon Support the showCheck out our new store!

Today is day 62 and we are in the section on the Second Article of the Apostles' Creed on Jesus Christ the Son of God. Today we are on the seventh line: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate” and studying question 62. 62. Why does the Creed say that Jesus suffered under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate? The Creed thus makes clear that Jesus' life and death were real events that occurred at a particular time and place in Judea in the first century AD. (Psalm 2:1–6; Luke 3:1–2; 23; Acts 4:24–28). We will conclude today with The Collect for Monday of Holy Week found on page 607 of the Book of Common Prayer (2019). If you would like to buy or download To Be a Christian, head to anglicanchurch.net/catechism. Produced by Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Madison, MS. Original music from Matthew Clark. Daily collects and Psalms are taken from Book of Common Prayer (2019), created by the Anglican Church in North America and published by the Anglican Liturgical Press. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Catechism readings are taken from To Be a Christian - An Anglican Catechism Approved Edition, copyright © 2020 by The Anglican Church in North America by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

There’s a new sheriff in town … or well, at least a new Roman Governor. As Festus begins his rule on behalf of Rome, he has a problem that was left to him—Paul’s imprisonment. The Jews want his first act to be handing Paul over to them so they can deal with him as they want. This will gain goodwill for Festus, but previous trials and his own tribunal prove that Paul is not guilty of anything deserving a trial, much less a death sentence. Yet, politics put Felix in a position where he could gain favor over those he is supposed to govern by giving in to their demands. So, Paul drops his trump card—as a Roman citizen he can appeal to Rome, meaning any trial that could result in his death had to be heard in Caesar’s court in the capital city. At this point the Roman government is generally sympathetic to Paul’s arguments and faith and Paul responds with respect, submission, and gentleness. Generally, this should be the posture believers have toward authority. Yet, there are times when the hostility starts with authorities and the government, and believers’ responses might look different. Today we will look at our responsibilities and attitudes as they relate to those who govern and have authority over us.

Delivered by Cynthiana Santos from Saint John Cathedral, Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hebrews 9: 2-3.11-14; Rs psalm 47: 2-3.6-7.8-9; Mark 3: 20-21 TO HATE BECOMES TO LOVE Our meditation today has the theme: To Hate Becomes to Love. We are familiar with the act of hatred and of love. Our common perception simply identifies an act of love as the opposite to the act of hatred and vice versa. There is a teenage girl who has two little dogs named Hate and Love. What really special in each pet is each name hads all the information to say. The Hate dog is known to be violent and hostile to its friend. On the other hand, the Love dog loves to play, always friendly and stays in company with its friend Hate dog. There should be a transformative dimension or should be something that creates a change. When that change occurs, it gives us a meaning on how the two opposing sides can become something we mostly expect. If our expectation is then “to hate becomes to love", this should be our aim in this transformation. In short, let us see through our experiences, our zeals, and our actions as to find out how hatred from anyone of us has undergone a process of change in time and situation, when a person who was hateful and full of anger eventually became a kind person with zeal to live with love. The change from hate to love is an example for us to expect other changes too such from laziness to diligence, from dirt to cleanliness, from childishness to maturity and so on. Today our two readings bring us light about this change. May we don't just stop at the excitement because of the light brought to us, but we must be able to make a concrete change from hate to love. This is actually in line with the primary duty of the Lord, which is to bring us light, love and salvation. There is one incident in the life of Saint Agnes that can be a lesson for us. Procop, the son of a Roman Governor during a time of persecution against the Church, forced himself to marry this young, virgin and beautiful girl. Agnes refused because she thought that her pure body was only for Jesus as her bridegroom. She must be willing to be killed because of that rejection and her choice of Jesus. She changed hatred and sin into love for God. The love of Jesus Christ was also so great, and far greater than that of Agnes. In the midst of all hatred and anger from the people, Jesus had convinced that this should lead Him to the Cross. He must also be so hurtful when some members of His own family or relatives acted so cruel and really hated Him. They believed that Jesus was already crazy. We also have the similar experience when our own relatives hate us so much. But Jesus did not not return hatred with hatred. He instead sacrificed himself as an expression of His greatest love to defeat hatred. And so, we have a wonderful example of overcoming hatred with love. It all depends on us. Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O God of all wisdom, may our hearts, minds and desires be filled with Your love so that we can overcome all hatred and anger within us. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

Chapter 18 Jesus is ambushed in the Garden of Gethsemane by his friend, Judas, with a considerable army. He is then subjected to three fake trials with a pre-determined sentance, although the verdict from the Roman Governor is: Not Guilty.

Background • Pergamum was the seat for the Roman Governor for the region. So, if Ephesus was like New York (Financial and commerce center), Pergamum would be like Washington DC (governing and legal center). • They had the 2nd largest library at the time (Alexandria had the largest) • In 29 AD Pergamum was the very first city to erect a temple to a Caesar (Augustus) • Those in Pergamum also worshipped the god Asclepius, who was a healing God in the form of a serpent. They also were the center for medical practice. This God's temple had a medical spa connected to it and a 3500-seat amphitheater for musical therapy. o Asclepius was given the title Soter (savior)for his “healing power”. This would have put early Christians at odds with this cult claiming Jesus was the healer and savior. • On the highest peak of the hillside around Pergamum was the temple to Zeus. It had a huge altar that looked like a throne. Smoke would rise day and night from the temple from the sacrifices being made. • On another hilltop near Zeus' temple was Athena's temple the goddess of victory. • As well there was a massive temple to the god Serapis who was also a god of healing. Today this temple is known as Red Basilica. It contained a massive 30-foot statue that the priest could make “talk” by entering the base and speaking through a pipe. NT Wright describes the impact this environment might have had on the church in Pergamum: “Many local inhabitants in the first century must have been proud of all of this. But for the little Christian community it represented a threat- and a threat with which, it seemed, the Christians were not coping particularly well.” All of these temples, smoke, talking idols, altars and more must have seemed overwhelming and intimidating to the believers here. It's no wonder Jesus describes Pergamum as the place where Satan dwells. Not only was it the governing center for the imperial cult but also a major center for false worship and some of the Christians are struggling to maintain a faithful witness in this culture. Revelation 2:12-17 Description of Jesus (v12) Antipas the Faithful Witness (V13) Balaam/Nicolaitans (v14, 15) Call to Repent (v16) Reward: Hidden manna and New name (v17) Conclusions: How to apply this to the Church today

We all face tough decisions sometimes, and even Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, faced a tough one: what would he do with Jesus? Pastor Greg Laurie says we each face that decision every day. Today, Pastor Greg helps us evaluate our options and make the right choice as we study the trial of Jesus. Support the show: https://harvest.org/resources/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pilate, the Roman Governor.Bible Reference: John 18:28 - 19:16.Series: Encounters with Jesus, in John's Gospel.Within Jesus' encounter with Pilate, the Roman Governor, we see this fascinating power struggle between Pilate and the Jewish authorities, and in the middle of this power struggle is Jesus. And the power of Rome comes face to face with Jesus. And it is fascinating to just watch this encounter between power and counterfeit power, between truth and counterfeit truth.

Jesus stood trial before the Jews and the Romans for claiming to be the Messiah – the Son of God. Pilate, the Roman Governor, knew Jesus to be good, but he was scared to make this declaration. Pilate tried to remain neutral, even washing his hands of the entire situation. However, no decision is a decision. Pilate, “wanting to satisfy the crowd,” handed Jesus over to be crucified. What do you believe about Jesus? Is He truly the Messiah – the Son of God, or is Jesus a liar or lunatic? Every one of us must give an answer about Jesus. How will you respond to Jesus' claim this Easter? Is He your Savior? If so, follow Him for all your life.

Jesus stood trial before the Jews and the Romans for claiming to be the Messiah – the Son of God. Pilate, the Roman Governor, knew Jesus to be good, but he was scared to make this declaration. Pilate tried to remain neutral, even washing his hands of the entire situation. However, no decision is a decision. Pilate, “wanting to satisfy the crowd,” handed Jesus over to be crucified. What do you believe about Jesus? Is He truly the Messiah – the Son of God, or is Jesus a liar or lunatic? Every one of us must give an answer about Jesus. How will you respond to Jesus' claim this Easter? Is He your Savior? If so, follow Him for all your life.

Jesus stood trial before the Jews and the Romans for claiming to be the Messiah – the Son of God. Pilate, the Roman Governor, knew Jesus to be good, but he was scared to make this declaration. Pilate tried to remain neutral, even washing his hands of the entire situation. However, no decision is a decision. Pilate, “wanting to satisfy the crowd,” handed Jesus over to be crucified. What do you believe about Jesus? Is He truly the Messiah – the Son of God, or is Jesus a liar or lunatic? Every one of us must give an answer about Jesus. How will you respond to Jesus' claim this Easter? Is He your Savior? If so, follow Him for all your life.

In this chapter, we find Paul given access to the Roman Governor, Felix. Paul is able to speak with him many times about being a Christ follower. I find it interesting that Felix was looking for a bribe from Paul but instead kept hearing more about Jesus and his way. Paul stayed in jail and kept sharing the message of Jesus. I am struck by the way that Paul continued to share the message of Jesus even when his circumstances are not good. I can't help but think that if I was in jail like Paul, for no reason, that I would not be as positive and faithful to sharing the message. What about you?

Many know facts about Jesus. Though all are loved and welcome few know Jesus as their Saviour. Soldiers and betrayers approached Him in the Garden of Gethsemane as He was about to be betrayed, beaten, and crucified the next day.Slowly read and reflect on what follows.____________________Jesus asked a deep brooding question, “Whom do you seek?”John 18:7A short time later Jesus was taken in chains to meet with Pontius Pilot, the Roman Governor. He asks Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Perhaps Pilot too felt the hole in his heart and was curious enough perhaps to move from curious to a devoted follower.How about you? Curious? Aware of a deep unfilled longing in your heart? What, or who are you looking for? Are you weary? The One you seek has come for you.Jesus is the One you have been searching for.____________________Imagine If your spouse or child had inoperable brain cancer what lengths would you go to find a cure? Would you consider unorthodox treatment not recommended by Western medicine? Would you travel the world to find a doctor who has found success with a new medication?This is the story with all of us. We all have a terminal disease called “humanity.” Only One can rescue us from the abyss of the unknown.Action If you knew you would die today would you be certain of what lies ahead for you? You can have the assurance of heaven. The Bible tells us is available to all who come to believe in Jesus and accept Him as their Saviour. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12Ask Jesus Will you be my Lord and Saviour? I believe You are the One.Begin attending a church. Tell someone you have become a follower of Jesus. Drop me a note at budlamb@infaith.org or give me a call at 831-566-4131____________________ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

     In our previous lessons we looked at God's selection of authority figures—judges (Deut 16:18-17:8), priests (Deut 17:9-13; 18:1-8), kings (Deut 17:14-20), and prophets (Deut 18:15-22)—who were assigned to lead His people into righteous living (Deut 16:20). In this next section, we will consider how the nation was to practice righteous living after they entered the land of Canaan (Deut 19:1—26:19). In our current pericope on righteous living, Moses discussed cities of refuge and the role they played concerning Israelites who killed someone, either accidentally or intentionally (Deut 19:1-13). This section expands on the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Deut 5:17).      Homicide is a reality that every society faces, whether the death caused was accidental or intentional. A just society must have laws in place to handle such matters, either to protect the innocent or punish the guilty. The consistent and fair application of these laws will mark a society as righteous. This was true in Israel where God expected His people to handle cases of homicide. The pericope under consideration was addressed by Moses to the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt (Ex 21:12-14; Num 35:9-34).      Moses opens the current discussion by saying, “When the LORD your God cuts off the nations, whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess” (Deut 19:1-2). Here, Moses directed the Israelites to establish three cities of refuge after they had taken possession of the land under Joshua, and these would be added to the three cities Moses had already assigned east of the Jordan River; namely, Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan (Deut 4:41-43). After Joshua led the Israelites into the land, he set aside the cities of Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7–9). Cities of refuge were places where a manslayer could flee for refuge until he stood trial (Num 35:9-15). Moses had previously stated, “The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial” (Num 35:12; cf. Num 35:24).      Moses also said, “You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the LORD your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there” (Deut 19:3). Here, Israelites were to make sure the roads in their land were easily navigable by travelers which, in this case, pertained to one who felt compelled to flee to a nearby town for safety after unintentionally killing another person. And the towns were to be equally spaced apart, so that the manslayer would not have to travel an exceptionally long distance and possibly be overtaken by an avenger who sought his life. Moses continued, saying, “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously” (Deut 19:4). Here was a law of compassion, for in a case of accidental homicide, the victims consisted both of the one who lost his life as well as the one who took it. This verse also addresses motive, and considers that a person was innocent in such a situation because he had not shown past hatred for the person who was killed.      Moses then provided an example of how one might accidentally die, saying, “as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live” (Deut 19:5).[1] If such an accidental homicide were to happen as Moses explained—and this was only a template for similar accidental killings—then the manslayer may flee to a city of refuge for temporary safety until a trial could be held by the city elders. Moses said, “otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously” (Deut 19:6). The avenger of bloodגֹּאֵל הַדָּם)  go'el haadam) is considered by some Bible scholars to refer a family member of the deceased who was responsible for executing the killer. Daniel Block believes that “gôʾēl is a technical legal term, denoting a near kinsman responsible for maintaining the integrity of the family and its holdings.”[2] Jack Deere agrees with Block, saying: "The word translated “avenger of blood” is gō'ēl. A gō'ēl was essentially a “family protector.” He was a “near kinsman” (traditionally understood as the nearest male relative) responsible for redeeming (buying) a relative out of slavery (Lev 25:48–49), for redeeming a relative's property (Lev 25:26–33), for marrying a relative's widow and raising up children in the name of the deceased (Ruth 3:13; 4:5–10), and for avenging the death of a relative (Num 35:19–28)."[3]      However, it could be that the avenger of blood was not necessarily a family member, but as Victor Matthews says, “may have been appointed by the government to serve the needs of both the family and the state by apprehending the accused and then carrying out the sentence if the verdict was murder.”[4] Peter Craigie states: "The avenger of blood (goʾēl haddām) (v. 6)—the exact meaning of this expression has been the subject of considerable debate. Traditionally, it has been taken to refer to the nearest male kinsman of the deceased, upon whom rested the responsibility for avenging the blood of the dead man. More recently, however, the expression has been interpreted as referring to a representative of the elders of the city in which the death took place; he was therefore an official (the “protector of blood”), not a close relative of the deceased. The meaning of the expression possibly lies somewhere between these two alternatives. The avenger of blood may well be the nearest male kinsman of the deceased; his responsibility, however, was not simply to kill the person responsible for the death (whether manslayer or murderer), but to bring him before the established courts of law in his home town, who would determine the case in the proper manner. If the death was manslaughter, the manslayer would be sent to the city of refuge; the city of refuge was not simply a place of safety, but a place in which the manslayer made atonement for the deed of which he was guilty. If the death was determined to be murder, then the culprit would be executed."[5]      The avenger of blood could execute the killer, but only after the city officials had properly carried out a trial (see Num 35:16-28), as Moses had previously said, “the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinances” (Num 35:24), and this on the basis of two or more witnesses (Num 35:30). And if the manslayer was found innocent of any criminal wrongdoing, he could remain in the city of refuge for safety until the death of the high priest, at which time he could safely return to his own land (Num 35:22-28). But there was a price to be paid by one who took the life of another, even though accidentally, as Warren Wiersbe writes, “If found innocent, the manslayer was allowed to live safely in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Even though he was innocent, he still paid a price for accidentally killing another human being. If he left the city of refuge, his life was in danger and the elders couldn't protect him.”[6] Jack Deere affirms, saying, “The cities of refuge taught Israel how important life is to God. Even though a man had killed his neighbor accidentally he still had to give up a large measure of his freedom for an extended period of time.”[7]      All these factors required the need for multiple cities, as Moses wrote, “Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities for yourself'” (Deut 19:7). These cities, roads, and judicial structures worked together to protect the innocent and condemn the guilty. Moses, thinking ahead, considered the possibility of adding new cities to handle these sorts of cases if the nation expanded its territory. Moses said, “If the LORD your God enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He promised to give your fathers– 9 if you carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways always—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three” (Deut 19:8-9). Here, God promised to enlarge the nation's territory if they pursued righteousness as He was directing them. This directive repeats what Moses had stated before in Deuteronomy 6:5. If their territory expanded, then so must their continued pursuit of righteousness before the Lord. By providing these cities of refuge, it would prevent the avenger of blood, in the heat of the moment, from overtaking and killing the one fleeing to a city of refuge for trial, “So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and bloodguiltiness be on you” (Deut 19:10). The avenger who killed a manslayer before his trial would have shed “innocent blood” and been guilty of murder himself.      What follows pertained to the one who intentionally killed another and then tried to flee to a city of refuge for protection. Moses said, “But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die” (Deut 19:11-12). Remember, when a community investigated a case to determine guilt, it was to be “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses” (Deut 17:6a).[8] This set a high bar for trials which was intended to protect the innocent and judge the guilty. Once guilt had been established, the murderer was to be executed, and this by the avenger of blood. Moses had previously stated that capital punishment could not occur on the basis of a single witness, saying, “no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness” (Num 35:30b). For emphasis, he repeated this policy again, saying, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed” (Deut 19:15). In Israel, as in any society, there was always the possibility that a wicked person would present a false charge against another, thus corrupting and weaponizing the judicial system for evil ends. The Lord had clearly forbidden this, saying, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Deut 5:20). The two or three witness policy would mitigate against this sort of corruption. In fact, there was a statute that condemned the false witness to bear the punishment he sought to bring upon another. Moses said, “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing…[and] if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother” (Deut 19:16, 19).      If a person was found guilty of intentional homicide, Moses said, “You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you” (Deut 19:13). There was a time and place to show pity to others, such as the poor within the community. But there were also times in which citizens were to withhold pity toward others who were guilty of horrible sins. Israel was told to have no pity for the wicked Canaanites (Deut 7:16), nor the family or close friend who enticed them to practice idolatry (Deut 13:6-8), nor those guilty of murder (Deut 19:11-13), nor a malicious witness (Deut 19:18-21), nor a woman who sought to damage the genitals of a man (Deut 25:11-12). Sentiment is healthy, but should never cloud wisdom nor interfere with the execution of justice. By executing God's judgment upon those guilty of murder, His people would “purge the blood of the innocent from Israel” and God would ensure His blessing “that it may go well” with them (Deut 19:13b; cf. Num 35:33). If Israel would obey this law, it would reflect God's righteous expectations for them (Deut 16:20), be for their good, and He would bless them for their obedience (Deut 6:24-25). Present Application      Biblically, there is a difference between killing and murder. Murder is always wrong (Ex 20:13), since it is born out of sinful hatred (1 John 3:15), and unjustly takes the life of someone who is made in the image of God (Gen 1:27; 9:6). However, there are times when killing is justified and necessary. Under the Mosaic Law, capital punishment was required by God for certain violations.[9] Killing is justified when God commands it. Also, we learn that God Himself has killed (Ex 12:29; 13:15; Lev 10:1-3; Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; 25:38; 2 Ch 13:20; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor 11:27-30), and will kill again (Rev 19:11-21). God instituted capital punishment with Noah (Gen 9:5-6), perpetuated it under the Mosaic Law (Ex 21:23-25), and continues to delegate the practice to human governments (Rom 13:4; cf., Acts 25:11). Capital punishment is necessary: 1) to exact justice for those who have been innocently murdered because they bear the image of God (Gen 9:6), and 2) to deter acts of evil (Rom 13:4). The biblical teaching is that there is “a time to kill and a time to heal” (Eccl 3:3), “a time for war and a time for peace” (Eccl 3:8). At times God called His people to kill others, whether individuals (1 Sam 15:32-33), or mass groups of people (Ex 32:27-28; 1 Sam 15:1-3). As a theocratic nation, Israel was under divine orders to kill all the wicked Canaanites (Deut 7:1-2; 20:17). David recognized that his military skills were from God when he said, “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Psa 144:1; cf., Psa 18:34). David was in God's will when he stood on a field of battle and killed his enemy (1 Sam 17:46-51), and later when he rescued his family and belongings from Amalekites who destroyed and plundered the city of Ziklag (1 Sam 30:1-20). And David was justified in killing Goliath (1 Sam 17:48-51). Biblically, there are occasions when God sovereignly extends grace and mercy toward the guilty who humble themselves and display genuine repentance (2 Sam 11:1-5; 12:13; cf., Psa 32:1-5; Mic 7:18-19; John 8:1-11). Today, in the Church Age, God has delegated capital punishment solely to the governments of this world (Rom 13:1-6; 1 Pet 2:13-14). However, this does not prevent God's people from practicing self-defense, by lethal or nonlethal means.      Throughout the Bible we observe God's people engaging in self-defense to protect themselves as well as others. For example, in the book of Exodus, self-defense was permitted by a homeowner when confronting a thief, but only as the situation warranted. Moses wrote, “If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account [i.e., the killer]. But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account” (Ex 22:2-3). The distinction seems to be the whether the thief breaks in during daylight hours or at night. If it's dark, the homeowner cannot see whether his intruder is armed and is therefore justified in killing him. Another example is found in the book of Esther, as we're told that King Xerxes “granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil” (Est 8:11). These Jewish men had the right to protect themselves, as well as innocent children and women. At one time, Jesus did not require His disciples to carry a sword, but then later told them to purchase one for self-defense (Luke 22:35-36).      If possible, Christians should “Pursue peace with all men” (Heb 12:14), avoiding trouble and even tolerating a certain amount of abuse. When Saul tried to kill David with a spear, “David fled and escaped that night” (1 Sam 19:10). And when hostile Jews wanted to stone Jesus, we're told, “Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59). In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, He told His disciples, “I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matt 5:39). A slap is a nonlethal assault, and the Christian should be willing to tolerate these sorts of abuses without seeking personal revenge. Solomon echoed this when he wrote, “A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Prov 19:11). The apostle Paul stated, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.” (Rom 12:17-19). However, though we tolerate certain abuses according to the will of God, this does not mean lethal force cannot or should not be exercised on other occasions, and this according to the will of God. Remember, at one time Jesus allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified by order of the Roman Governor, Pontus Pilate (John 19:1-16; cf., 1 Pet 2:21-23); however, this same Jesus will return at the Second Coming and suppress rebellion by personally killing many millions of people (Rev 19:11-21; cf. Isa 63:1-6).      As a nonlethal deterrent the Christian might exercise his legal rights to avoid a harmful or fatal attack. For example, when in Jerusalem, the apostle Paul found himself in a situation where he was about to be flogged by a Roman soldier—which might have killed him or crippled him for life—and he defended himself by exercising his legal rights as a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29). Paul was not averse to dying if he were actually guilty of a crime deserving of death (Acts 25:11), but if not guilty, he was ready to defend himself by legal means if necessary.      Additionally, when facing lethal force by an attacker, sometimes a verbal warning is sufficient to neutralize the threat. However, if the waning does not deter, then the believer has the right to escalate and use the necessary force to stop the attacker. For example, when Abner was being pursued by Asahel, Abner said, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground?” (2 Sam 2:22). However, Asahel refused to heed Abner's warning and “refused to turn aside; therefore, Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot” (2 Sam 2:23).      Lastly, there may be times when we have no option of escape, nor the means to defend ourselves, and we should be ready to die a martyr's death. Luke records such an event when Stephen was stoned to death with no way of escape, and rather than reacting with violence, he committed himself to the Lord. Luke wrote, “They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!' Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!' Having said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59-60). Stephen's words and actions modeled the humility and love Jesus displayed toward His enemies while being crucified (Luke 23:34, 46). In this situation, God did not rescue Stephen from death, but sustained him by means of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:10) and stood in approval of his message and welcomed him as the first Christian martyr into heaven. The record of Stephen's life was that he was a good man, full of faith, who helped the needy and preached the gospel.   [1] If a person were going to intentionally kill another, simpler means would naturally be employed, for the likelihood that one could deal a fatal blow to another in the situation Moses described would be too complex to execute with any degree of certainty. In such a situation the murderer would need to know the exact location and distance of his victim, coordinate the axe head to come off the handle at the correct time of the swing, travel the intended path, then strike the victim in the intended spot, and with sufficient force to be fatal. [2] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 453. [3] Jack S. Deere, “Deuteronomy,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 297. [4] Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Dt 19:6. [5] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), 266–267. [6] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub., 1999), 129. [7] Jack S. Deere, “Deuteronomy,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 297. [8] In the New Testament, the apostle Paul borrowed the rule of two or three witnesses in church policy concerning charges brought against Church leaders, saying, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses” (1 Tim 5:19). [9] These included: intentional murder (Ex 21:12-14; Deut 19:10-13; cf., Gen 9:6), attacking or cursing a parent (Ex 21:15; Deut 21:18-21), kidnapping (Ex 21:16), habitual rebellion against God (Deut 17:12), worshipping pagan gods (Ex 22:20), blasphemy against God (Lev 24:15-16), working on the Sabbath (Num 15:32-36), being a false prophet and leading Israelites into idolatry (Deut 13:1-5), human sacrifice (Lev 20:2), the practice of divination, sorcery or witchcraft (Ex 22:18; Deut 18:9-14), adultery (Deut 22:22), sex with an animal (Ex 22:19; Lev 20:15-16), incest (Lev 20:11-12, 14), homosexuality (Lev 18:22; 20:13), and the rape of an engaged woman (Deut 22:25-27).

https://tinyurl.com/oluxbeataThis short hymn is attributed to St. Ambrose in the 4th Century. St. Ambrose, a Roman Governor suddenly elected Bishop, is one of the Doctors of the Church. He is perhaps best known for helping to convert and baptize St. Augustine.St. Ambrose has been called “The Father of Church Hymnody,” and the hymns of St. Ambrose are some of the oldest, if not the oldest complete Latin Hymns we have today. There are only four hymns which are universally accepted as being from Ambrose's pen, as they are ascribed to him by his contemporary and friend, St. Augustine. But this beautiful little gem is generally attributed to him as well.Shout-out to Sarah for requesting this hymn!O LUX beata Trinitas,et principalis Unitas,iam sol recedit igneus,infunde lumen cordibus.Te mane laudum carmine,te deprecemur vespere:te nostra supplex gloriaper cuncta laudet saecula.Deo Patri sit gloria,eiusque soli Filio,cum Spiritu Paraclito,et nunc, et in perpetuum.O TRINITY of blessed Light,O Unity of sovereign might,as now the fiery sun departs,shed Thou Thy beams within our hearts.To Thee our morning song of praise,to Thee our evening prayer we raise;Thee may our glory evermorein lowly reverence adore.All laud to God the Father be;all praise, Eternal Son, to Thee;all glory, as is ever meet,to God the Holy Paraclete.

Two years later, Roman governor Festus replaces former governor Felix who had Paul imprisoned. They are yet to find charges accurately against Paul, however the jewish leaders are still set on finding a way to still ambush and kill Paul. Listen in to find out what happens!

ENTERING THE KINGDOM Luke 4:42 Early the next morning Jesus departed from the people so he could be in a solitary place, but the crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them but to stay at Capernaum. But he replied, "I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other places too, for that is why I was sent." Jesus kept talking about a Kingdom, and people wanted to know what this Kingdom was, especially the religious leaders and the Pharisees – Where was it? – When would it come? – What did it look like?  Jesus' answer to them was that His Kingdom was not in a geographical place, and you couldn't plan its arrival with a calendar or describe its outward appearance as a visible organization. He said it was not an external system but an internal reality. He said it was in us and amongst us - something shared between us and God and us and one another. Luke17:20,21 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!' or ‘There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Jesus was underpinning that ‘within you' life as he withdrew into the place of solitude with his Father as we saw in the opening Scripture and he would be fortified by his Father's love which then flowed forth from him to the people. Jesus was telling them that he was bringing in a Kingdom that was not a place but rather a realm of God's supernatural activity and order which was to operate here and now within those who had surrendered their authority to God's authority and their will to God' will. They would be people who have desired that their human nature be transformed by God's nature of love and justice and mercy so that the power of that Kingdom within would not be corrupted like the power of the kingdoms of the world. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple guards, he was tried by the Jewish High Priest and the council of elders and then handed over to Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor of Judea. When Pilate questioned Jesus about being King of the Jews he asked him why he had been tried by his own people and why they had brought him to a Roman Governor for trial. He asked Jesus what he had done, and why was he claiming he was their king. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting for me and not allowing me to even be put on trial. But my kingdom is not of this world.”-Jesus also added that if God had not willed for this to happen then Pilate would not have had any authority to put him on trial  (John 18:36 ff) Jesus did not ever urge his disciples to protest against Roman authority or consider any hostility towards Roman rule. They were all convinced that the Kingdom would be an outward Kingdom ruled over by Jesus, and that the Roman Empire would be overthrown and that they would rule alongside of him with great power and authority. But Jesus did not come to try and change the outward kingdom in which his disciples lived; he came to establish the kingdom that would live within them. He said to them once when he was given a Roman coin ‘whose face do you see on it?' and they said to him ‘Caesars' and he said to them ‘therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's'. That day Jesus established the principle of the separation between Church and State. Jesus went on to say that they could not behave like the Roman rulers, or their own religious leaders who use their authority and positions of power to dominate others to get what they want out of them.  There was one occasion when the mother of James and John asked if her sons could sit next to Jesus on his throne, one on the right hand side and one on the left, when he established his Kingdom. It became clear by the reaction of the other disciples of anger and resentment at the two brothers that all of them were coveting some special place in the order of this new Kingdom that would be happening any time soon. Matthew 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. He told them that what they were all wanting for themselves was not even his to give. He said that Father had given them all to him, and that Father alone gives place and position as he sees fit. He said that if they were to follow him then they must follow all the way.  He told them that true authority was serving one another, not competing with one another, and that he had been sent to serve, not to be served, and to lay down his life for others. That day they learned a lot about God and a lot about themselves and a lot about the Kingdom.  Jesus had to correct their tendency towards the power plays of political zealotry and activism, some of them more than others. Peter would not be slow in lopping off the ear of the temple guard when Jesus was being arrested on the night he was betrayed by Judas, and Judas was the most zealous political activist of all who was bitterly disappointed when he realized that Jesus had planned no imminent earthly Kingdom. Those two brothers James and John whose mother wanted a place for them on the left and the right-hand side of the throne of Jesus were also quite happy one day to ask Jesus to let them bring judgment upon the Samaritans, their political and religious opponents by hurling some fire from Heaven against their rejection of Jesus' message. Jesus rebuked them and said ‘you don't know what spirit you are of. (Luke 9:54). Many Christians today have a similar zealous political activism to that of those disciples, and it is a common and understandable misunderstanding to have, because of the indignation that rises up in all of us when we see the corrupt power plays in the politics of this day. Jesus had to correct his disciples and prepare their hearts and minds to live in the power of a Kingdom within them rather than seek the power in an earthly kingdom around them.  There are many Christians that believe that the Church will reorder every political and commercial and educational institution and every family and relational arrangement in the earth and bring it under God's rule so that Jesus can return to a Kingdom of God on the earth that is ready and waiting for him to take up his rule. We can certainly have a transformative influence upon the political and civil landscape when called upon to speak or act in a way that honours God and shines light into darkness in a situation that God has ordained for us. However, the Bible is clear that we cannot achieve a perfected earthly kingdom in this age where every kind of corrupted kingdom authority contests the Word and the ways of God to maintain its flawed and limited power base, and the Bible says we are not here to judge the world – that is for him (1Cprinthians 5:12). The Kingdom of God cannot be perfected until Jesus returns from Heaven to put down all rebellion in the earth and in the heavens. 1Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.  And at that time, it will come to pass; ‘that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9). We finally take our place with him in a New Kingdom of a New Heaven and a New Earth. Until the time of his return, we live in an age where every kingdom on earth is being shaken. The only Kingdom that cannot be shaken is the Kingdom of God that is dwelling within us. (Hebrews 12:28)  God's Kingdom is the experience and the influence of a community of people that love God and love one another. The other world is the world of division, competition, self-advantage and independence from God.  Jesus asks us to choose what world and what kingdom we will be active in. Jesus asks us how much we care for him, and how much we care for one another. God wants us to attract people to His Kingdom, and The Holy Spirit will take the love that we actively pour into being with God and with one another and he will draw people towards that love. We are creating a Kingdom community for people to come into, not encouraging anxious or pushy or demanding people with political agendas but growing people with a simple and meaningful walk of faith in God, not trying desperately to impress the world but seeking to care for a broken world that God wants to heal with his love. The Holy Spirit is working within us to make us willing to do whatever The Father puts before us each day, in the big things and the little things. If we provide the willingness, He will provide the grace and love and the power to do. He will give us wisdom in ethical and moral decisions that change lives. He will give us strength to be there for someone else and help carry their load. He will comfort us in our affliction so that we can comfort others in theirs. He will demonstrate to the world that the Kingdom is here and now and in those who have truly entered into it because of their love for one another.  Then others can be brought in.  Jesus came to bring in The Kingdom. He will come again to complete it.  

Our Scripture this morning is John 18:33-38. We find Jesus face to face with Pilate, the Roman Governor. Pilate has found no reason to hold this man, much less sentence him to death by crucifixion. Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews, Jesus replies that his kingdom is not of this world. They spar verbally and Pilate finally asks Jesus, “what is truth?” And that is our question for the day: What is truth? Join us as The post Everyone Who Belongs appeared first on McFarland UMC.

In this sermon, we looked at John 18:28-40 when Jesus claims to be the King of the Kingdom of Truth. The Jewish leaders wanted to have Jesus put to death, while still maintaining the appearance of adhering to their strict religious laws, so they passed the burden onto the Roman Governor, Pilate. They knew that if Pilate could get Jesus to admit to His claim of being a king, it would make Jesus look like a political threat to Caesar, and Pilate would be forced to put Him to death for treason. As Pilate questions Jesus, Jesus doesn’t deny that He is a King but points out the difference between His Kingdom and earthy kingdoms by saying that His Kingdom is not of this world and is a Kingdom of Truth. This left Pilate, and every person since, pondering the reality of absolute truth and wondering, “Is there a truth greater than my perception of the world?” Our brokenness keeps us from naturally being drawn to absolute truth and seeing that we are all broken people living in a broken world that is hopeless without Christ. However, when we recognize absolute truth, we see both this difficult truth about ourselves as well as the liberating truth that God meets us in our brokenness, sets us free from guilt and shame, and leads us to healing.

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in order to be crowned King and inaugurate the Kingdom of God. During his coronation and passion Jesus stood before all three representatives of the principalities and powers — Joseph Caiaphas the High Priest, Herod the King of Judea, and Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor.

The Gospel of John is a masterpiece of storytelling. Through out the text we see a marvelous story of God's unfailing love and glorious splendor displayed. In John 18:28-40 Jesus is on trial before Pilate, the Roman Governor. During an exchange with Pilate, Jesus presents to him the choice of two very different kingdoms - the kingdom of this world, and the Kingdom of God. The beauty of this text is that Jesus presents this same choice to you.

Since the foundation of the world (by which we mean the beginning of human civilization) there's been something fundamentally and tragically wrong with the world. But we mostly accept it as normal because to us it's just the way the world is. (Only the prophets offer a minority report.) The basic arrangement of the world is this: The strong dominate the weak. In the domination system, economic power, military power, and religious power are used to dominate the weak. This system guarantees privilege for a small elite and oppression for most. Those who control the treasuries, the armies, and the temples benefit from this system. In Judea in the time of Jesus those who controlled the treasuries, the armies, and the temple were King Herod (the King of Israel), Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor), and Joseph Caiaphas (the High Priest). There is a reason why these three powerful men figure so prominently in the Passion story.