Posted: 3/1/05
LifeWay Family Bible Series for March 13
Eternal rewards should be the focus of life
John 12:12-29; 18:28-19:16
By Mitch Randall
First Baptist Church, Bedford
The world today offers so many things we can worship. Advancing a career often takes the place of spending time with one's family. Accumulating wealth can replace using resources to help others in need.
These are just a few examples of how people can replace their faith with the idea of earthly grandeur. We seek importance, and we believe by accumulating certain achievements we can obtain it. Yet after all of our achievements, we fall short of true happiness. Misery still resides within us, and we realize we still need a Savior.
Jesus showed us the way to accumulate spiritual rewards, eternal rewards. Through humility and sacrifice, Jesus brought about true happiness for others. The all-sufficient Savior created this incredible commodity by undergoing an agonizing death for the sake of all humanity. His death upon the cross is a horrid tale, which begins with our Lord's arrest.
John 18:28-33
The mockery of a trial–in which a select group of Jewish leaders rendered a judgment of death upon the carpenter from Galilee–had passed. Yet those wanting the death of Jesus had not the courage to lift a sword with their own hands. Instead, they manipulated the political system for their gain and took Jesus to Pilate. He could give the order of death, and their hands would be clean, or so they thought.
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After questioning the validity of the Jewish leaders, Pilate enters his headquarters. There, he speaks with this carpenter from Galilee, and a most unusual dialogue ensues. From the lips of a Roman consulate, the world listens in, as a question on which history is hinged is posed. Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
John 12:12-29
On hearing that question, Jesus' mind might have instantly thought back to earlier in the week when those coming to the festival gave him such a welcome into the Holy City. On the back of a young colt, Jesus traveled into the city with the faithful waving palm branches, placing them on the road before him. As their king rode through the town, they shouted: “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord–the king of Israel!”
The people were so close to believing. They had seen the miracles he had performed. They had heard the sermons he had delivered on the hillsides. They knew there was something special about this Galilean. Some even thought him to be the long-awaited messiah. On the streets of Israel that day, they shouted for their hopeful king, but some of their shouts were laced with political aspirations and military strategies.
The Jews wanted a king, but a king that would restore the earthly kingdom of Jerusalem. They had no idea the King of Kings was uninterested in establishing earthly empires but was choosing to lay his life down for their sake to establish an eternal kingdom with the Father. For that, the shouts of “Hosanna” would give way to the shouts of “Crucify Him!”
John 18:34-40
After a brief exchange with Pilate, Jesus launches into an explanation of his kingdom. He says: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
Jesus is the King of Kings, yet his kingdom is not of this world. Many people in the world today still are trying to understand Jesus and his kingdom from an earthly perspective. People still want political advantage. People still want to use faith for means of political power. Whether that power is political from the standpoint of human relationships or foreign policies, the world still does not understand that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world.
The kingdom of Jesus was brought to the world through humility and sacrifice. He was king not because of earthly conquests, but because he chose to lay down his life for the sake of others.
John 19:1-16
Pilate knew Jesus had not committed a crime worthy of death, but if those Pilate governed wanted his death, he would not get in the way. Instead, he offered a compromise, sending out a common thief by the name of Barabbas. Pilate tried to bargain with the crowd, offering the release of Jesus or Barabbas. The crowd chose the thief.
Pilate then sent Jesus away to be flogged. Roman floggings were notorious for their brutality and ability to break a person's spirit–not to mention one's body. The Roman guards especially were harsh with Jesus, for what use did a pacifist preacher offer them. A crown of thorns was placed on his head and a purple robe wrapped around him, mocking him as king. Jesus, most assuredly beaten beyond recognition, was brought back to Pilate.
Returning to Pilate's headquarters, the crowd began to shout: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Those words must have caused Jesus more pain than any of the floggings he had just received. His own people–people he loved–wanted his death. They loved the things of this world more than their own king.
John instructs that Pilate tried to reason with the violent crowd, but when they accused him of being no friend of the emperor, he had no choice but to give in to their wishes. He too was more concerned about earthly rewards.
Discussion question
It is often said that a person's checkbook shows their priorities. Would a person's calendar fall in that same category?
Are eternal rewards things to be pursued, or are they collected as they present themselves?
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