Devotional - April 1, 2026

Scripture: John 38: 37-38  “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 

Happy April Fools Day!  Honestly, it should be named Happy How To Tick Someone Off Day.  Let's face it, this is the day when people pull tricks and then say April Fools, only to meet the glaring stare and silence of the other.  Pilot may feel a bit like this with Jesus.  Remember, this is occurring at two or three in the morning and he is not ready for what has exploded in front of him.  Out of nowhere, an angry mob has formed.  They are pressing him to execute someone...  Pilot, on the other hand, does not stand with the crowd or Jesus, he stands with Rome.  If his decision sets off an even bigger riot, ...and Rome finds out about it, not good.  Jesus obviously does not measure up to what Pilot sees outside.  He is so disarmed by Jesus' presence that he shows a bit of his soul by admitting truth is irrelevant in his life.  It doesn't exist.  This is Holy Week.  We too are confronted by the truth of Jesus of Nazareth in our lives.  Do we try to shape our interpretation of Jesus to pacify and fulfill the needs of the world and God?  In some ways that is what we see Pilot doing here between the crowd and Rome.  How do we interpret and understand Jesus and how does that translate into our lives?  For some of us, when we get down to the brass tacks we find that Pilot haunts our faith more than we would like to admit.  We allow a lot of influences to affect our life and faith in God.  But we don't have to continue doing so, we can change.

Pray with me ..., Holy God, bless us during this week.  Help us realize who You are more and more.  Help us to live out the truth that You are the Lord of our lives.  You are the Lord of all.  We ask Your blessing upon our loved ones during this festive season.  We ask Your blessing upon our church, so we can be the church You call us to be, in Jesus' name, Amen.

God's peace,

Pastor Brian