John 18 B Pastor Dan
By: Shelly Morin
Today we pick up in John 18 just after Jesus is betrayed by Judas, arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and then denied by Peter. We now find Him being led by the Roman guards and the Pharisees into the Praetorium (the palace of the Roman governor, and what the King James Version appropriately calls, the “hall of judgment”). The Pharisees “themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.” (v. 28) I could not get past this verse this week. Herein lies the definition of a Pharisee, the epitome of hypocrisy.
John introduces Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”’ (1:29) Jesus said in John 6, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” The Jews became upset and said, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus responds them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” They wanted to observe the Passover feast, but could not “swallow” Jesus, the Passover Lamb. Because of this, they would ultimately enter God’s “Hall of Judgment,” where they would have to bear their own sin. (Numbers 9:13)
In verse 38, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Good question. Jesus told the woman at the well, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” As we worship today and as we enter the Passover and Easter season, I pray that we would seek to fully understand and embrace its significance. In Jesus is life.
