Mark Devotionals
[Please read and meditate on the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]
When Pilate examined Jesus who was brought to him on a political charge that warranted death, he saw through the Jewish authorities’ ploy and tried to free him, first by using a Passover custom (that he had initiated) of releasing a prisoner; but the crowd chose a criminal, Barabbas instead. He then tried to appeal to the people’s better judgment, which apparently wasn’t there. And all along, Mark records, Jesus kept silent. So, “to satisfy the crowd”, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. Pilate had no God in his life and therefore no faith, neither did he have any deep convictions which is why he could let an innocent man die. Jesus had both – conviction and faith. His conviction was that he was sent to do his Father’s Will. And he completely depended on his Father to give him the strength to do so. What are your convictions? And who do you depend on to give you the means to fulfill them?
Prayer: Father, I so often trust in my own abilities. I know it is you who has given them to me in the first place, but I fail to understand how to use them when I believe that it’s all up to me. Even you, Lord Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing”. Help me to understand that when I give in to your Will, that I cannot fulfill it purely on my own – I need you. Forgive me for striving on my own – trying to do things in my own strength. Only you can give me the strength and courage to accomplish what you, God, want to accomplish in me, and through me. I submit to you, my Lord. Amen.
