“Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the Man!’”

There is something so humbling about this verse, that had I been witness to the scene, I would have looked away.
Our Savior, a man of sorrows, exhibited such veiled strength in this moment. He had left his rightful place in the Heavenlies for us – for each of us as individuals. He took upon Himself the form of man so that we might be reformed in Him.
I imagine that as he wore the symbols of mockery on His shoulders and His head– the robe and the thorny crown – He wore His heart of love for humanity on His sleeve.
Pierced in His side, the blood and water flowed…symbols of redemption and a fulfillment of prophecy – the fulfillment of God’s plan.
Jesus fulfilled God’s plan and finished the work.
For God so loved the world that He sent His Son to wear a purple robe and a crown of thorns so that we might be robed in righteousness and crowned with loving kindness.

John 20:29
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

This has become a life verse for me. In the spring of 2010, I had begun running again. I usually ran in the evening and it was a season in which I wrestled with many things. I remember the night that I was returning home from a 3 mile run in the dark. As I turned the corner of my street, I told God, “Even though Andrew did not receive healing in our present time, I still believe You are the Healer.” Tears mixed with my sweat as I neared home and as I was almost to my mailbox, I heard this word gently whispered to my heart, “Blessed are those who have NOT seen and YET have believed.”
Healing began.

John 21:5-6

Simon Peter and company fished all night in the Sea of Tiberias and “that night they caught nothing.” But with the morning sun, came the Son of the morning standing on the shore.

“Then said Jesus, ‘Children, have you any food?’ They answered Him, ‘No.’ And He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.” (verses 5,6)

Sometimes even seasoned fishermen come up empty. But when God gives the command, the fish start jumping! This verse ‘jumped’ out at me this morning.
You see, my nets have been empty for a while. And I’ve gotten discouraged. Perhaps you, too, have experienced a “night of empty nets.” Be encouraged that when Jesus “shows Himself” (v. 1), and speaks in your season of emptiness, the fish will start jumping and your nets will be full!
And just to further convince you that God is in the details, verse 11 records the exact number of how many fish filled the nets – 153!

What a picture to end my personal study of Jesus in The Gospel According to John.
Because Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s plan, I am blessed and my nets will be full.

Know Jesus more and better and carry on

The trials (6) of Jesus, 3 before the Jewish religious authorities and 3 before the civil authorities were a mockery. There was no truth seeking in them. And they were all illegal according to the Jewish document called the Mishnah. These laws were governed by the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin.

It was illegal to:

• hold a trial at night
• have no witnesses (needed 2)
• abuse the accused during the trial
• bring no charges
• have an improper vote
• to keep someone in custody after having been found “not guilty”
• to be questioned in order to testify against oneself
• to be declared “not guilty” and yet condemned

Yet we know that God uses the decisions of man to carry out His sovereign plans.
When Jesus responds to the soldiers come to arrest Him, his reply, “I am He,” holds his unleashed power. And in that moment when Divine Power meets Divinely Ordained Destiny, that small army lead by Judas, can do nothing but fall to the ground.
And one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. He is the I Am.

These words of Jesus encourage my own heart as I seek to do God’s will:
“Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”  (v. 11)

Regardless of the illegal circumstances of the arrest and trial of Jesus, His life is not taken, He willingly lays it down. For you. For me. Bless His Holy Name.

Follow His plan and carry on!

Verse 33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Tribulation, thlipsis; Strong’s #2347: Pressure, oppression, stress, anguish, tribulation, adversity, affliction, crushing, squashing, squeezing, distress.
The word is used of crushing grapes or olives in a press.

There is nothing worse than spiritual darkness. Its result is spiritual death.
Without relationship to and in Christ, we are hopeless. As Jesus prepares the disciples for his physical absence from them, He senses their impending anguish and despair. After all He knows what it’s like to feel forsaken, alone. It was on the cross, he cried out to the Father, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?”

And so Jesus provides the answer for the disciples’ approaching distress when His hour is about to come.
“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy” (v. 20).
“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (v.22).

Have your hopes ever been crushed? Been squeezed lately?
Have your tears run out like oil pressed from the olive?

Jesus tells us that we will have tribulation. That is a fact. But then He leaves us with Truth. “…In Me you may have peace.”

Though pressure, anguish and affliction are a reality in this life, the Truth speaks of peace in the person of Jesus Christ and that is cause for some good cheer.

Cheer Up and Carry On!