The Story of Easter – Day #6
(Devotional by Pastor Ben)

Peter, to his credit, follows Jesus when almost all His other followers scatter. But, we are told he follows Him at a distance, and then he warms himself at the fires of His enemies.

 “And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked at him closely and said, ‘This man was with him.’ But he denied it. ‘Woman, I don’t know him,’ he said.

    “A little later, someone else saw him and said. ‘You are also one of them.’ Peter replied, ‘Man, I am not!’ About an hour later, another asserted, ‘Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.’ Peter replied, ‘Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!’

    “Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
    (Luke 22:55-62)

Jesus could have been anticipating this moment years earlier. Read Mark 8:34-38.

The interchanges between Pilate and Jesus are fascinating interludes in this nightmarish night. Pilate, Rome’s political envoy to Jerusalem, is perplexed by the amount of fervor this apparently innocent man has stirred up. As he digs deeper and discovers more, he moves from confusion to alarm to frustration. When Pilate mistakenly asserts that he is the one in the room with authority and power, Jesus sets him straight

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they slapped him in the face.

    “Once more, Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.’ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’

    “As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify! Crucify!’ But Pilate answered, ‘You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.’ The Jewish leaders insisted, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.’

    “When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. He asked Jesus, ‘Where do you come from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate said, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have the power to either free you or to crucify you?’

    “Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
                            (John 19:1-11)

The actual answer to Pilate’s question, “Where do you come from?”
Is found in John 1:1-5. Read that passage (the term “Word” refers to Jesus.)