John 19:17-22And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the centre. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." BEARING HIS CROSS We know that Jesus is ‘The Pattern Son’. Everything about Him, of Him and in Him, is for our instruction and edification, leading us on to His perfection manifested in us. He goes to His Death, as was foretold, carrying the full weight of the burden placed on Him by The Father. The Cross is His — we each have our cross to bear — but this is His and His alone, and He did so then, that now our individual and collective burdens will be immeasurably lighter. THE PLACE OF A SKULL Near the present day site of Golgotha is what looks like a skull, hewn in the rock face, and it is said that this is how that place got its name. Maybe so, but it was also the site of many crucifixions — a place of death. But the symbolism of this is that it was the final attack on the ideology of those who were to die. You were an enemy of the established order. Thus, all that was contained within the head — the mind, the intelligence, the passion, the emotions and ideas — were being brutally stripped away, and in a particularly cruel way. JESUS IN THE CENTRE Our Lord is always ‘in the centre’ of everything. It is important that for each believer, that Jesus is the centre. He is not on one side or the other; He is the epitome of complete balance. There is no wavering or deviation from the righteous path in Him — and the more we let Him in, the more He will be the centre of each and every existence for every one who knows Him. The Holy Spirit needs to be the centre of our lives, so that we can know Jesus saying to us each day "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” [Luke 23:43] “WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN, I HAVE WRITTEN” In effect, Pilate is saying that he is in charge and his pronouncement is final, thus attempting to put all blame onto the Jews, and showing that he lacked the courage of his conviction that Jesus was King of the Jews. Pilate may have tried to absolve himself of blame, but he is troubled nonetheless. It shows clearly how we can get in a mess, leading to appalling mistakes, when we cannot see Jesus in our midst. MEDITATE ON THESE THINGSMICAH 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? JESUS BE THE CENTRE LOVE with all your MINDTHE SPIRIT OF God corrupts our natural virtues. If we are naturally pure-minded, good-tempered, loving, we shall find that since we became spiritual God's corruption has been put on everything that was of old, because the natural virtues are not promises of what we are going to be, but remnants of what we were created to be, and the new life re-forms its own virtues. It is the most woeful thing to see people in the service of God depending on what they have by the accidents of heredity. Intellectually we nearly always sympathise with pagan virtues, while spiritually God is trying to get us into contact with the real life of the Lord Jesus Christ that cannot be described in terms of natural virtues, [from ‘Notes on Jeremiah’ by Oswald Chambers] Listen to this meditation by clicking on ‘download file’ below
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MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Archives
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GEORGE and GILL STEWART |