Saturday, April 16, 2011
John 19:19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
JESUS ON THE CROSS: LABELED AS KING
Today we stop at the cross and consider this label put on Jesus. Surely many mocked Him because, after all, what kind of King did He look like? Who would want to be under His rule? If this were your King, what would happen to those in His Kingdom? The soldiers surely had their fun with Jesus as they mocked Him as King. Yet Pilate's sign was accurate. Jesus, though mocked as King, was indeed who He claimed to be.
He was truly acting like a King even on the cross. We could say especially on the cross because He was going into battle. A King protects His people and looks out for their best interests, and this was exactly what Jesus was doing. He wasn't sending out an army, but going by Himself to wage war against Satan. Only He could win that battle.
To win He had to take out Satan's chief weapon, which is accusation. To do that He had to pay the debt of sin. When you are in Christ there is not a thing of which the devil can accuse you. He can rail and scream out invectives and accusations. He can dredge up memories out of your past. We might then fear in our hearts knowing the deep, dark secrets of sin that we have kept hidden, thoughts so horrible that we wouldn't want them to be exposed to the light of day. He might accuse us of sins that we know full well we have done, and there are tinges of guilt from them even though the events took place years ago. Yet your King has your back. He took all that sin upon Himself, so that when Satan would want to accuse us, we simply point to Christ and say, "If you have a problem, speak with Him. He has promised me forgiveness, and I believe that what He says is true." Stop at the cross and see your King going into battle for you.
