WHAT IS TRUTH?

Jesus stands before Pilate having been brought there by the Jews. He is accused of blasphemy. See John 18.

Pilate asks Him: "Are you the King of the Jews"?

Jesus explains that His kingdom is not of this world; that His Kingdom is from another place.
This is truth.

Pilate asks Jesus : "What is truth"? but does not wait for an answer. Instead he goes out to the Jews crowding outside and says : "I find no basis for a charge against him."
This is truth.

He asks them whether they want him to release the King of the Jews. Instead they want the release of a prisoner named Barabbas. Barabbas was a rebel, apparently the leader of a rebellion again the Romans, and interesting enough, his name means "son of the father". So in his own right, also a leader with a significant name. It makes for a better understanding why Pilate gave the Jews the choice between Jesus and and Barabbas. (As if there could ever be a comparison between the two.)

So we have the sinless Christ and the rebel Barabbas, being weighed against each other.

Now if we, you and I, have to look at our own lives, our past - who can we compare ourselves to? Jesus or Barabbas?

Never without sin as is Jesus - therefore Barabbas! This is truth!

Before releasing Barabbas, Pilate has Jesus flogged - 39 lashes. By enduring this flogging, Jesus takes upon Himself all our physical suffering. Being exchanged for, and taking the place of the criminal Barabbas, although found without blame, He takes upon Himself all the sin and unrighteousness of us all.
This is truth.

Pilate takes Jesus, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, outside and introduces Him to the crowd: "Here is the man!" He is stripped of His heavenly title and belittled being called just "a man".
This is truth.

                             "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
                             the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be
                             testified in due time." 1 Tim. 2:5-6

This is truth.

He is slapped in the face, spat on, cursed, swore at, scorned, his beard is pulled from his face, and He takes upon Himself all our shame and humiliation.
This is truth.

Three times Pilate confirms that he finds no blame in Christ. This is truth.

Jesus is handed over to the priests and the Jewish rabble and He carries His own cross, which should have been Barabbas's (and ours) to the place of the Skull. Here He is crucified on the cross and hangs naked, between two other criminals. Total degredation!

                       "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
                       for us, for it is written : 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree' "
                       Gal. 3:13

He takes the curse which rests on us for our rebellion against God, our disobedience, our inability to live according to God's laws, our lack of love and respect for God on Himself and in our stead.
This is truth.

He gave His life and died in the stead of Barabbas and of ourselves. This is truth.

Before He died, Jesus said : "It is finished!" He had completed the sacrifice in our stead.
Nothing more would ever be needed. This is truth.

He purchased our redemption with His blood and life. This is truth.

But His death would have been in vain if He was not resurrected from the dead. This is truth.

He rose from the grave on the third day and lives forevermore! This is truth!

                     "Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God
                     through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For
                     such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
                     separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens; who
                     does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for
                     his own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when
                     He offered up Himself." Heb. 7: 25-27

This is truth!

                     "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the
                     heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."
                     Heb. 4: 14

Thank You, Jesus, for sacrificing Your life for all the world, including Barabbas and me. Thank You, that You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Help us to daily live according to Your Truth and to hold fast to our confession.

THE BAPTISM UNTO REPENTANCE

Jesus gets to the Jordan river where John, the Baptist, is baptising all who come to him. We hear him explaining to them in Matt. 3: 11:

                           "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance..."

 - the baptism unto repentance of sin - to become part of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus steps into the water to be baptized and John says to Him:

                            "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
                            Matt. 3: 14

Jesus, the Son of God, without sin or guilt, pure and holy, asks to be baptized with the sinners' baptism unto repentance... why would He do this? It is clear that John, the baptist, also did not understand His actions.

We read in Isaiah 53: 4-5:

                            "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet
                             we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But ,
                             He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
                             iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by
                             His stripes we are healed. "

He became our scapegoat. Took the punishment for our sins on Him. Became us in guilt and status before God.

Jesus had reached the age of 30, which meant that He had attained the age at which He could assume a public ministry or the status of a rabbi. He deliberately chose this, the moment at the Jordan river, to identify Himself wholly with sinful mankind; to take upon Himself the sins of the whole world, assuming our guilt.
Although nobody perhaps realised what was happening, Jesus was in fact publicly declaring, before the people and before God, His Father, His willingness to fulfil the mission for which He was sent to this earth. He was taking the first steps on the road that would lead to His terrible and humiliating death... from this moment on there would be no turning back ... the scene was now set... and this was the first act.

In addition, in allowing Himself to be baptized, He also set the example for each and every person on earth to follow:

Once you have made the decision to turn to God, be part of the Kingdom of God and submit to the will of God and His purpose for your life, once you have repented of your sins, you should make your decision public by identifying with the obedience and submission of Jesus, and die to the old "you" and be resurrected as a "new creation" by following the example set by Christ in baptism . Just as He at His baptism identified Himself as being one with mankind, at baptism in His name, we identify ourselves with Him in His death and resurrection.

Listen to Him replying to John the Baptist:

                              "...Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
                               righteousnesss." Matt. 3:15

So, also, it is fitting for us to fulfill all that Jesus require of us who decide to follow Him.

Many people are "baptized" as babes and not knowing what it meant or was supposed to mean at the time of their baptism, it may never mean anything more to them than believing that they were given a name at that moment; a human name - although they received their names when it was entered into the Birth Registrar of their Department of Inland Affairs, and they have no idea that they were supposed to receive the spiritual name "my beloved son" at the time of their baptism and that they were supposed to be giving the first steps towards the spiritual purpose and mission of their lives.

Listen to Jesus address His disciples before His ascension into heaven:

                      " Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
                      them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
                      Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have comman-
                      ded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
                       age."  Matt. 28: 19-20

But, let us now return to the scene at the Jordan River... Jesus, having been baptised, upon coming up out of the water, hears the voice of His Beloved Father coming from the heavens:

                      "...This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17

Proudly, lovingly, intimately aware and present and part of the proceedings, God the Father, from the heaven above, pronounces His pleasure in His Son, Jesus, whose purpose it is to be the Christ of the world.

What is your purpose? What is mine? How are we able to fulfil our God-given purpose and destiny? We first need to be obedient and submit to His commands...

Thank You, Lord, that we have no reason to ask what your commands are. They are all there, in Your Word, for us to see, to read and to obey. And thank You, that as we obey, you will declare Your love and pleasure in us and lead us to our ultimate purpose and destiny.