John 19:1-16a
19: Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.So they took Jesus,
Reflection
On the surface, Jesus seems to be completely subject to the whims of Pilate the people-pleaser and of a frenzied mob of Jews. But when Pilate labeled Jesus “King of the Jews” (John 18:39; 19:19) he was saying more than he knew.
Jesus was never more powerful and in control than when he surrendered to death on the cross. This is why the phrase “to fulfill the Scripture” runs through the entire crucifixion story (vv. 24, 28, 36). Nothing was left to chance. Everything that happened was anticipated or was within the purpose of God’s will and plan (Isa. 53:10; Rev. 13:7–8). This was the climax of all human history. Jesus is not only the main character in the drama of God’s salvation story; he is its writer, director, and producer.
James 5:13-20
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Reflection
James calls us to praise the Lord for every blessing and make requests to him in every sorrow. In serious illness, we confess our sins and call the elders. He promises that, “the prayer of faith will save” the sick, “and the Lord will raise him up.” That may happen in this life or in the next (James 5:15).
James teaches us to doubt our own righteousness, but the Lord grants the gift of his righteousness to us when we put our faith in him. Therefore, God will listen to us just as he listened to Elijah, a prophet who prayed effectively even though he had “a nature like ours,” stumbling as we do (vv. 17–18). James concludes with a call to restore “anyone” who “wanders from the truth” (v. 19). From a human perspective, we “save” such a person’s “soul from death,” but from God’s perspective we participate in the work of Christ, who covers sin and defeats it (v. 20).
Psalm 119:160
160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Those who wander from the truth are in grave danger, and prayer is one of the most important things we can do for them. Ask God to give them a heart that is receptive his Word and to save them from their path of destruction.