WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
John 18:36–38 ESV
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.”
CONSIDER
I grew up thinking Barabbas was a bad guy. You know, just another garden-variety criminal. I thought the people hated Jesus so much they would rather let a convicted murderer go free than save him. It turns out Barabbas was more of a freedom-fighter type, an insurrectionist, a hero who had taken one for the team. The people loved Barabbas. He was probably something of a minor celebrity among them. He would make an excellent Passover gift.
And isn’t it interesting how the Roman governor had a custom of observing the Jewish Passover by releasing one of their prisoners? It’s kind of like he was the agent of the Passover, pardoning a criminal in celebration. It’s all such a joke. Did Pilate have any idea what the Passover meant? Did he know it was the downfall of Pharaoh? He couldn’t have cared less. The Jews were nothing to Pilate and less than nothing to Caesar. Releasing Barabbas was like throwing them a bone to get them out of his hair.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, Pontius Pilate, mid-level political appointee that he was, engaged in what must have seemed like yet another of the most inconsequential conversations of his career. Little did he know this interaction with another convicted criminal would ultimately make him more famous than Caesar. Pilate patronized him:
“So you are a king?”
Listen to what Jesus said to him:
“You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
My translation of Pilate’s retort: “Whatever!”
Isn’t that always the world’s posture toward the truth? Whatever!
“Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Truth has a side. These days, everybody wants to be on the right side of history. No one seems to care too much about being on the right side of the truth. Here’s the truth: The right side of history is the side of the Truth.
Truth has a side. We find it by listening to his voice.
PRAY
Abba Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus, who not only teaches us the truth, but who is, himself, the Truth. Grant us the humility to love the Truth and the courage to stand by his side no matter what. We pray in Jesus’s name, amen.
JOURNAL
How would we know we were on the side of Truth? How do you respond to the question: What is truth? Is it possible to be on the right side of history without being on the right side of Truth?
SING
Today, we will sing “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (Battle Hymn of the Republic)” (hymn 283) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
P.S. CONVERSATIONS: A Brand New Feature for You on Our Wake-Up Call YouTube Channel
Seedbed is now releasing a new resource for the church by our longtime friend Andrew Forrest. It is called Love Goes First: Reaching Others in an Age of Anxiety and Division. If ever we’ve published a book that was right on time, this one is it. It’s so helpful. I sat down for a conversation with Andrew, and it is the first of many such CONVERSATIONS we will host on our YouTube Channel. Enjoy it here and share it with others.
P.P.S. As mentioned on the podcast, if you missed the entry last Saturday here on the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus and my challenge to kids to send me a video of themselves saying these seven “I Am” statements from memory—and you want to play—click here for instructions. I’m sending the first ten submissions a set of Sermon on the Mount flash cards.
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
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6 Responses
Twice in John 18 Jesus says “I Am He”…(18:5-6)… should these verses be added to the seven?
I did not receive the Daily Wake Up Call this morning..
https://seedbed.com/wake-up-call-archive/
That’s truth is reality. And reality is objectifiable and measurable.
The reason that Pontius Pilate asked what is truth is that politics and religion confuses everything.
All the spiritual and metaphysical talk that can come out of the mouth of man will not change gravity.
All of the talk of manna from heaven will not change the hunger of a living child or adult.
Open your heart so that you can hear the truth that comes from God’s voice and be set free! (John 8:32) A tender heart will be drawn closer to God. A hard heart will drift far from Him.
The Bible plainly says: “Do not harden your heart.” (Hebrews 3:8) Oops. A lot of Christians choose to ignore that verse!
A tender, caring, and compassionate heart can learn to hear the voice of God. (1 Samuel 3:10) It can become consciously aware of His Presence. (Psalm 46:10) It can become good soil (Mark 4:20) to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
A closed heart cannot. Even when people honor God with their lips, hard hearts stay far from Him. (Isaiah 29:13) A closed heart bites with such stubbornness and clamps shut so tightly that it leads to truth decay. Without openness to God’s mercy and grace, the human heart is hopeless. (Mark 7:21-23)
Hardness of heart hides so effectively and is so deceptive that most hardhearted people have no idea that their heart is made of stone. (Ezekiel 36:26) A hard heart prevents people from having a deep, personal, ongoing relationship with God.
A broken heart is painful, but it can help a person open up to, experience, and enjoy the wonderful presence of God. A hard heart alienates people from the life of God. (Ephesians 4:18)
If you neglect to cultivate tenderness of heart, your heart will naturally be hard. (Jeremiah 17:9) An open, tender, and caring heart is strong and courageous. A closed, hard, and angry heart is hiding in fear. (1 John 4:18)
Dry eyes are often a sign of a hard heart. Honesty, (Ephesians 4:15) humility, (2 Chronicles 7:14) openness, (1 John 1:7) and vulnerability (Galatians 2:20) are keys that can open a hard heart. Without the living water (John 7:38-39) of tenderhearted Spirit-led discipleship, (John 13:35) Christianity is easily shipwrecked. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)
A nation full of people with hard hearts is a nation in trouble. Let Jesus soften your heart. The USA and other nations have plenty of crackpots, but far too few people who allow Jesus to crack and soften their heart so that His living water (John 7:38-39) can freely flow from within them.
Well said, Jeff.
And may Jesus transform me so that I am changed and I see right side up and care and act.