Month: April 2025

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The Book of Revelation depicts the grand finale of human history. The last thing that will happen before our Savior establishes His kingdom on earth is the final judgment, where we will all be held accountable for how we have lived our lives. After that, heavenly existence enters, with the wonderful promise from the Lord Himself: “He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son” (Rev. 21:7).

But there is also something very encouraging in the Bible texts regarding this. To “overcome” is not just about having faith deep in your heart. As crucial as faith in the heart is, it is meant to go hand in hand with confession in the mouth: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Jesus is actually even more pointed when he speaks about this. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” he says. “But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33). And in another place: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Continue reading “Fear of man and cowardice”

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Before the Passover feast, and in the darkness of the night, Jesus is captured by the Pharisees (the priests). They want Him crucified and put to death. The reasons are many; they don’t believe in everything that Jesus says, and Jesus is confronting and questioning their character. There is also the jealousy of the Pharisees, who were looking for a another kind of savior, a Messiah, and Jesus proclaimation of the Kingdom of God wasn’t well received at all.

Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, who has the authority to put Jesus to death, the Jews don’t have that legal right. When Pilate questions Jesus, he finds the accusations harmless and believes there should be no charges against him. But the Pharisees are determined to put Jesus to death, so Pilate are pressured to avoid an uprising and therefore agrees to punish Jesus with 39 lashes and torture. After Jesus is severely beaten, he is shown again to the Pharisees and a crowd of people. Pilate who has sympathy for Jesus, wants to release him and tells the people that they can choose to free Jesus or a captured murderer called Barabbas. The Pharisees shout; Jesus, crucify Jesus! So Pilate is forced to decide that Jesus should be sentenced to death when the Pharisees incite the crowd to demand Jesus be crucified. Then Jesus carries the cross to Golgotha, the place where he is crucified next to two thieves.

Continue reading “Good Friday – Jesus is crucified”