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Monday: Mocking the king

Read John 19:1-6

The physical and emotional abuse of Jesus ramps up at the beginning of John 19. There is so much irony here. Jesus has ALL of the authority and yet he submits to the ruling of a regional governor and the mockery of the Roman guards.

We would do well to pause and examine our hearts toward the kingship of Jesus. Are there any ways that we are rebellious or even mocking of him as king? Our nature is to shirk authority and rebel. Is Jesus truly wearing a robe and crown in your life or is merely wearing a crown of thorns?

Tuesday: Authority

Read John 19:7-16

When Pilate hears that Jesus is claiming to be a Son of God, he is afraid. The Romans were very superstitious and believed in demigods. He seems to take the position of wanting to help Jesus and flaunts his authority. In a tragic and humiliating twist, the Jews ironically admit that they have no authority to give the death sentence that they seek. They need the Roman empire they hate to help them. In all of it Jesus shows us that true authority doesn’t need to speak up or cry out. True leadership is content to accept what God is doing.

How much authority have you truly given God in your life? Are there areas where you are wresting away God’s will in favor of your own? How much contentment is waiting for you on the other side of surrender?

Wednesday: The Throne Room of Golgotha

Read John 19:17-24, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22

Isaiah prophesies that the suffering servant will be lifted up and highly exalted. James and John requested to sit at Jesus’ right and left, and Jesus said that those places were already promised. The scene at Golgotha is eerily reminiscent of a throne room. The king is not seated in the middle, but rather crucified. Instead of a throne, he is exalted and highly lifted up on a cross. Instead of James and John or other dignitaries taking the esteemed places on his right and left, he is flanked by criminals who are hanging on their own crosses.

Golgotha shows us the kind of King Jesus was willing to be. His throne room is at the place of the skull is a place of public humility and shame. We often feel like God is unapproachable. We might think more of the imaginative images of the throne room in Revelation. But Jesus wants to be our king in the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. There’s no shame too great for your king’s throne room. What can you bring to Golgotha and set before your humble king?

Thursday: In the end, family

Read John 19:25-27

Mary and John are close enough to the cross and to one another that Jesus, while dying, is able to minister to them and set them up for the future. It seems that Jesus is not just providing welfare for his mother, but also giving a mother to his beloved disciple John. This moment of care is striking.

When you stand at the foot of the cross and look to your left or right, who do you see? Are there people who are not fully pulled into the family of God and taken care of? Let’s follow Jesus’ example, no matter how much we might be going through, and be connectors to the spiritual orphans we encounter.

Friday: It is finished

Read John 19:28-37

Tetelestai – It is finished. What a loaded phrase! On the cross, Jesus completed our redemptive work. We can be in a relationship with God FULLY because of his finished saving work on the cross. “It is finished” is also a reality in the lives of Christ’s followers that we often miss out on. Because he finished the work of defeating sin and death, we can also finish things off in our lives with permanence. How long do we languish in the temptation and sin of something that should be finished?

Is there something your life that should be fully dead but is hanging around and causing trouble? Take it to God and let him finish it off!

Saturday: A borrowed tomb

Read John 19:38-42

Perhaps the greatest irony of all in these chapters is the ridiculousness of a borrowed tomb. If there’s one thing a person never borrows, it’s a tomb. Death is the most permanent state of all. Not so with Christ. He wouldn’t stay long beneath the burial cloth.

Just as we looked yesterday at things that need to completely be finished, we should examine things that need to fully come to life. Are there things in your life that are only sort of alive? What if Jesus lingered or remained in the tomb? The borrowed tomb is an invitation to kill what needs to die – not just for the sake of death – but so that new life can spring forth. Are you lingering in the graveyard instead of experiencing life to the full?