Daily Devotion

Join us for worship online today to hear the traditional reading for Maundy Thursday when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples and gives them a new commandment to love one another.  We will be gathering online for a live premiere of worship at Noon and 7pm.

For today’s devotion we continue the story from John’s gospel of the last hours of Jesus’ life.  Read the scripture passage twice.  Pay attention to the details.  Try not to skip over the violence in the passage. See Jesus standing beaten and humiliated. How do you feel when you first hear the words, “Crucify him!” shouted from the crowd? It is now about Noon, the whole morning has passed in growing tension.  Feel the exhaustion and hopelessness welling up in your body.   

John 19:1-16

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face.⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.’ ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ ⁶When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ ⁷The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’

8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He entered his headquarters^* again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ ¹¹Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ ¹²From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.’

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat^* on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew^* Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your King!’ ¹⁵They cried out, ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but the emperor.’ ¹⁶Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

Reflection questions:

What part of the story stuck out to you as new or especially meaningful or troubling?

Who do you relate to the most in this story? 

What questions, thoughts or emotions does this story stir up in you?

If you could speak to Jesus at this point in the story, what would you say?