April 4 | John 19

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DAILY READING

John 19

REFLECTION

What we can learn about responding to evil from Jesus’ passion

By Todd Marti

The dynamics underlying John 19 are distressingly familiar. Leaders lying to maintain their power. Officials who have the power to set things right lacking the courage to do so.  Innocent people being grievously hurt. How are we to respond?

Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us to look at how Jesus responded to similar circumstances. Read together, the four gospels give us a lot of information about how Jesus responded to the confluence of evil John 19  describes.  His responses illustrate three principles we too rely upon.

First, Jesus viewed the circumstances through the lens of scripture. All four gospels record Jesus quoting or paraphrasing Psalm 22. See Matthew 27:46;  Mark 15:34; John 19:28. That psalm describes how the righteous will suffer, but also how God will ultimately save His people. Jesus seemed to draw on that to help Him understand and deal with what was happening around Him. He did something similar when he was tested in the desert; He responded to the evil one’s thrusts by drawing on scriptures addressing similar things. Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.

We can respond to the evils of our day in a similar way. More specifically, we can measure what we see around us against the benchmark of Jesus’ teachings. That will give us clarity about what we are dealing with and how to respond as He would.

Second, Jesus prayed about it. He prayed intensely before His arrest, pouring His heart out to the Father, seeking guidance and help getting through what He knew was coming. Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-45. He prayed during His most extreme suffering, when the temptation to quit must have been its greatest. Matthew 27:46;  Mark 15:34; John 19:28.  Those prayers bore fruit. Jesus was able to regain His composure to masterfully handle His arrest and strength to endure to the end of His passion. John 18:1-11;  Matthew 26:47-56;  Mark 14:43-49; Luke 22:47-53.

We can do the same. We too can freely bring our fears and uncertainties to God. Philippians 4:6-7; James 1:5; and Jesus’ example all reassure us that God will give us the calm, wisdom, and strength to handle the evils we face.

Third, Jesus did specific things to meet others’ needs, even though those things did not stop the larger evil unfolding around Him. Jesus protected His disciples during His arrest. John 18:8-9.  He healed someone injured during that incident. Luke 22:50-51. He extended forgiveness to His executioners. Luke 23:33-34. He comforted the good thief on the cross.  Luke 23:39-43.  He saw to His mother’s needs. John 19:25-27. His disciples also followed that pattern, tending to His (temporarily) lifeless body. Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47;  Luke 23:50-55;  John 19:38-42. This is admittedly surmise on my part, but I think He and they did those things because they provided some relief in the midst of their suffering. Indeed, Psalm 37:1-3 suggests the same approach: doing the good we can when faced with seemingly overwhelming evil.

Once again, we can do the same thing. Everyone of us can extend ourselves in some way to help others, despite the evil in the world. There are LOTS of ways to do so, some of which are described here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. We (and the folks we help) will get significant respite if we do that.

PRAYER

Jesus, we praise and thank you for going through what you did. Holy Spirit, we ask that you help us to follow Jesus’ examples as we deal with the evils of our day, and that you help us remember that evil will NOT have the last word.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TODD MARTI

I have been connected to UALC since 2000 in various small groups and as a co-manager of the UALC Community Garden. I’m married to Kelly Marti, and the proud father of Sarah Marti. I am happy to be writing these devotions.