Miracle Moment

 “Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple robe around Him. And they repeatedly came up to Him and said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and were slapping His face. Pilate went outside again and said to them, ‘Look, I’m bringing Him outside to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging Him.’ Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ When the chief priests and the temple police saw Him, they shouted, ‘Crucify! Crucify!’ Pilate responded, ‘Take Him and crucify Him yourselves, for I find no grounds for charging Him.’ ‘We have a law,’ the Jews replied to him, ‘and according to that law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.’ When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, ‘Where are You from?’ But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to Him, ‘You’re not talking to me? Don’t You know that I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You? (John 19:1-10)

Man, can you believe what Jesus was going through. He was being physically beaten, falsely accused, humiliated and demeaned. The King of Glory turned on by His own creation. Pilate didn’t want to charge Him; He was afraid because He knew Jesus had done nothing worthy of death and Jesus had such a control about Himself. I’m sure Pilate sensed there was something different about Him. Pilate tried to give Jesus an out, but Jesus wouldn’t talk to him. Ol’ Pilate put the power play on Him. “Just talk to me, I have the ability to let you go.” Look at Jesus’s response, “‘You would have no authority over Me at all,’ Jesus answered him, ‘if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.'” (V12)

Jesus remained in control because He acknowledged that nothing could happen to Him without His Father’s permission. I call it the Father filter.

There is nothing we will endure that God is not aware of. Unlike Jesus who was in perfect sync with our Father, we have and probably will open doors to things we shouldn’t have to be exposed to because of sin, arrogance or ignorance in our lives. Just saying that everything we walk through isn’t God’s perfect will but rather His permissive will, meaning God doesn’t want us to weigh 420 pounds and have diabetes and health issues but He won’t aggressively remove the fried chicken leg from our mouth. It is not His perfect will that we be obese and have these diseases, but He will permit it, allowing us to make our own choice, but we will be responsible for our consequences as well.

On another level however, there are some things the Lord has orchestrated for us. Perhaps to cause growth or to fulfill a plan, bottom line is, no matter what, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him to see us through. Remember Job? God told Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” And with that sentence He opened up a horrible Pandora’s Box on him. He allowed Satan to inflict Job in many ways. God had confidence that Job would remain true despite whatever hardships he would face. And he did. Has God expressed confidence in you lately? Like me, you may be praying God would not have so much assurance in you, ha-ha. It’s actually an honor when we walk through hard or challenging times though. We are counted in good company with Jesus Christ and many saints of old who believed that no matter what happened in this world, God was trust-worthy and faithful. And that everything “could work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

PRAYER:

Lord, I give You praise. I know Jesus had to endure the things He did in order to fulfill prophecy and to complete the mission You sent Him on. I see how He had such confidence that You were aware of all things going on in His life and that He could trust Your plan. I pray to believe with that level of faith. I don’t want to freak out every time something happens in my life. I want to walk in peace as much as possible knowing that it’s all good, You are in control and all things are as they should be. I pray against a spirit of fear, I refuse to receive it. I know You are bringing me along my path and I am totally reliant on You. Even when my short-comings bring unwanted consequences and possibly throws a bump in Your plan for my life, I am believing You are able to get me back on track. I love You my Father and I thank You for the opportunity to shine for You. Amen.