Love of Family

N.T.#802 "Love of Family"

May 22, 2026 

John 19-Part 4

LET IT GLOW 

Who were the four woman that stood by the cross of Jesus? They were His mother, Mary, and her sister, the wife of Cleophas, Mary, Mary Magdalene.  Can you feel the love there? I think those women were there to support Mary. What a time of anguish for a mother. When your child suffers, a mother suffers. There is a bond between them, especially mother and son.

LET IT GROW 

Jesus had been the firstborn and breadwinner of the family before He started His ministry. Did you notice He did not give the responsibility of taking care of His mother to His brothers? His brother had not yet believed in Jesus as the Messiah nor Savior. (7:3-5) Likely, they were not present at this time. 

So Jesus gave that responsibility of caretaker of His mother to John. He thought of her needs, even to the end of Jesus' life. John accepted the request and took Mary to his home. (verse 27) What a good son!

Spiritual relationships are to take precedence over biological and physical relationships. (Matt. 12:46-50) (Tony Evans)

LET IT GO 

The bond of love in a family is strong. 

Also, the bond in a church family should be strong.

Love exceeds everything.

Jesus' love is the highest form of love.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

N.T.#802 "Who do You Say Jesus Is?"

May 21, 2026 

John 19-Part 3

LET IT GLOW 

Who is your king? Is Jesus the king of your heart and life?

Pilate was driven by the crowd to please the Jews instead of his conscience. So he delivered Jesus to be crucified between to thieves. Since Jesus was not found guilty of any crime, 

Pilate had His title put on the cross: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (verse 19) It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The chief priests tried to get it changed to "He said, I am the Kinga of the Jews, but Pilate would not do so. This was done so everyone could read it. Pilate wanted the sign to sting the Jews, but God meant it to declare to the world the truth about His Son.

LET IT GROW 

The soldiers gambled for Jesus' clothing to fulfill Scripture in Psalm 22. 

Here was a king stripped nearly naked and obviously lost his kingdom forever. Yet, Jesus' kingdom was not of this world. The sign was correct and absolutely true. Jesus is King of the Jews, Gentiles, and whole universe. (Life Application Study Bible)

Who do you say Jesus is? 

LET IT GO

King of my heart, glory to Your name. 

Who is Your King?

N.T.#801 "Who is Your King?"

May 20, 2026 

John 19-Part2

LET IT GLOW 

What wrong did the Jews accuse Jesus of doing? They said he made himself out to be the Son of God, which was blasphemy according to their law, punishable by death. 

What happened next? There was the confrontation between Pilate and the Jewish leaders:

• *Pilate became afraid. He asked Jesus where He was from, but Jesus did not answer. 
• *Pilate wanted to know why Jesus wouldn't answer him.
• *Jesus told him Pilate had no power except it be give to him from above. (verse 11)
• *The Jewish leaders threatened Pilate with opposing Caesar. 
• *Pilate brought Jesus out and told the Jews to behold their King. (verse 14)

Can you hear the scorn between them? It was so thick you could cut the tension with a knife. 

Pilate didn't realize that he actually spoke the truth. Jesus is King of heaven and earth!  

LET IT GROW 

The Governor was trying to get rid of the situation. However, the Jewish leaders cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" (verse 15)

Then Pilate asked them if he should crucify their King. 

We have no king but Caesar. (verse 15c)

The Jewish leaders should have known that Jesus was the Messiah, about which the Scriptures spoke, and they should have pointed the people to Jesus. When evil, deceitful people pursue evil, they want to eliminate all opposition. Those guys wanted to further their selfish ambition. To accomplish it, they were willing to kill God's Son. (Life Application Study Bible)

It was apparent that Pilate hated the Jews and in scorn he gave them their king, poor, miserable, and beaten. Pilate was driven by the crowd and not by his conscience. He yielded to the Jews' wishes. Then Jesus was delivered to be crucified and led Him away. (verse 16)

Keep in mind, Jesus could have killed the whole bunch of evil people and gone back to heaven where He was treated with love and respect. But He chose to endure it all so He could be our Redeemer, Savior, Redemption, and King! He loves you!

Who is your king? Jesus or self? Jesus or money? Jesus or family? Jesus or job? Jesus or material things?

LET IT GO

Jesus, worthy is the Lamb of God of praise, glory, and worship.

You deserve all praise.

Responding

N.T.#800 "Responding"

May 19, 2026 

John 19, 2026 

LET IT GLOW 

How do we respond when we are made fun of, criticized, forsaken? 

So a criminal thief was let go instead of Jesus. Pilate found no fault in Him. Yet the Jewish leaders did. They didn't want to hear Jesus preach the truth. They didn't want Him gathering people to follow Him instead of the Jewish leaders. Yep, their scheme worked. The Jews killed the Messiah, the Son of God.

Pilate tried to pacify the Jewish leaders by having Jesus beaten. 

What happened?

• They used a whip of leather strips with bits of bone or metal tied to the ends. It resulted in the victim's back having its skin ripped open. 
• Next, the soldiers mocked Jesua' claim of being a king by putting a crown of thorns on His head. 
• They dressed Jesus in a purple robe, then shouting, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
• They slapped Jesus in the face.

This was fulfillment of Isaiah 50:6 and 53:5, But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (NAS)

Such brutality and humiliation our Savior endured. So much suffering Jesus went through for you and me.

LET IT GROW

Again, Pilate said he found no fault in Jesus. He declared the innocence of Christ. Jesus' robe would have been blood soaked robe. 

The chief priests and officers cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him."

Pilate said, Take ye Him, and crucify Him: for I find no fault in Him. (verse 6) beaten, yet He forgave them and continued to love people

By Jewish law, when Christ claimed to be God, He should die. (Lev. 24:16)

Friend, Jesus knows what it is like to be made fun of, mocked, spoked of in bad ways, even beaten. Yet Jesus continued to love and forgive those evil ones.  Keep in mind that Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to rescued Him and kill the whole bunch of evil ones, but He chose not to do so. 

LET IT GO

Help us love our enemies and pray for them.

Innocence

N.T.#799 "Innocence" 

May 18, 2026 

John 18-Part 6

LET IT GLOW 

The first two trials of Jesus were before Annas and then before Caiaphas. If you missed the information about those, read previous posts.

Today, we will discuss the third trial of Jesus was before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. (verse 28) Those men had to hurry to get together for this illegal session during the night. The Sanhedrin was a type of supreme court of Israel with 71 members. The high priest presided over it. They met daily in the Temple to hold court, except for Sabbaths and holy days. However, they did not have the power to administer capital punishment. The Sanhedrin could not find a charge against Jesus to indict Him. (False witnesses could not agree among themselves.)

LET IT GROW 

The fourth trial of Jesus was before Pilate, governor of Judea. What are the highlights of this trial?

• "Are you the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked Jesus. (verse 33)
• Then Jesus asked Pilate if he was saying this on his own initiative or if others told him about Jesus. 
• Pilate said it was the Jews who brought Jesus there before him. 
• Jesus anwered that His kingdom was not of this world, and if it was, His servants would be fighting to prevent this. 
• So You are a king?
• You say it correctly that I am a king. 
• I was born for this and bear witness of the truth. 
• What is truth?
• Pilate told the Jews he found no guilt in Jesus.
• The Jews custom was to release someone for you at the Passover.
• Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?
• They said not Jesus, but Barabbas, a robber.

What a trial! The governor found no fault in Jesus, but the Jews would not accept this. They wanted to get rid of Jesus and have Him killed. How sad! Jesus was innocent of all charges. He is the King of the Jews, though.

LET IT GO

When our trials come, Jesus give us strength to endure and honor You.

When Trials Come

 N.T.#798 "When Trials Come"

May 15, 2026 

John 18-Part 5

LET IT GLOW 

Trial #1-Jesus was before Annas the former high priest. 

Trial #2-Jesus went before Caiaphas, the present high priest. He asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. (verse 19)

What happened next?

• Peter wasn't trying to fit in around the fire in the courtyard, but he didn't want to stand out either. He ended up denying Jesus three times. (verses 15-18) 
• Caiaphas was interested in the number of disciples Jesus had. Jesus had taught openly, not secretively. 
• Jesus asked him to produce witnesses for Him. Failure to produce them would have made this trial illegal.
• One of the officers struck Jesus on the palm of His hand, accusing Him of disrespect or evil.

Did you notice that Jesus stood His ground of innocence? Do our actions look like we don't know Jesus?

LET IT GROW 

Trial #3-Jesus went before the Sanhedrin, into the Hall of judgment and the governor's place of residence. The Jews didn't enter a gentile's quarters. They were more interested in ceremonial purity than justice. Pilate asked what Jesus was accused of doing. (verse 29) They would not have brough a person to Pilate if they had not been an evildoer. 

How did Pilate react to this scheme of the Jews? He told the Jews to take Jesus and judge Him according to their law. Pilate didn't know they wanted to kill Jesus. The Jews couldn't legally execute anyone. They wanted Pilate to pass the death sentence upon Jesus.(vere 31)

Do you see how this procedure was illegal?  

When trials come, are we strong in our faith in Jesus?

LET IT GO

Commit to following Jesus no matter what.

When on Trial

N.T.#797 "When on Trial"

May 14, 2026 

John 18-Part 4

LET IT GLOW 

Can you picture this: The soldiers pulled Jesus' arms behind His neck and placed them in irons or binding them tightly with a rope. During His ordeal, we assume He remained bound with a noose around His neck.

Then Jesus was taken to the highest Jewish power in Israel, Annas, for the first of 6 trials:

1, They took Jesus to Annas (the father in law to Caiaphas). He was previously a high priest and had a great influence over the Sanhedrin. It was like a preliminary examination. Annas would then give his advice to Caiaphas about Christ's destiny. It was up a hill to the residence of Annas and around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. According to Jewish law, the office of a high priest was held for life. Many still considered Annas their high priest. Yet, Caiaphas made the final decisions. The office of high priesthood was generally handed down through the family, so it was not uncommon for them to collaborate in carrying out the functions of the office.

Those religious leaders were evil and more concerned with their political ambitions than leading people to God. They should have known Jesus to be the Messiah according to Scriptures. 

This gave time for the Sanhedrin members to hurry and gather together for a trial so early in the morning. This was illegal in the Jewish laws, though. Trials were not to occur on the eve of a Sabbath or during festivals, either. All trials were to be public and held in the Hall of Judgment in the temple area. 

LET IT GROW

The disciples scattered immediately after the arrest in the garden. (Matt. 26:56) Peter and John returned to follow the Lord's movements from a safe distance. John was permitted inside to watch. John's family wealth and social status may have had an influence on Annas.

Peter entered the great hall of Annas' residence, the doorkeeper recognized him as a disciple. Then the first denial of Peter knowing Jesus around the fire, one of three, occurred as Jesus predicted. (13:38)

[Resources: Liberty Bible Commentary; Swindoll's New Testament Insights on John; Life Application Study Bible]

We know how this ends for Jesus-death on the cross. Keep in mind, He did this because Jesus loves you and me. He took our punishment for our sins. Do you trust Him to be your Savior?

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LET IT GO

No matter what comes our way, Jesus has already won it. Trust Him, He's got this.

Jesus knows what it is like to be on trial for doing good. 

We turn to You, Precious Jesus, for strength and comfort.; fix our eyes on You.

Help us face tomorrow, for it is in Your hands.

You will provide what we need.