Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ²⁷  Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”  From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”  John 19:25-27. 

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This Scripture reminds me of the unconditional covenant wherein the Holy Trinity takes the Elect into Their own household, Their family of fellowship.  “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God‘s household,”  Ephesians 2:19

“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  Ephesians 2:12-13. 

In a sense, John (the disciple whom Jesus loved) adopted Mary, the mother of Jesus.  In a sense, we too have been adopted by God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:3-6.

 ²⁴  So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”;  this was to fulfill the Scripture:  “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”  John 19:23-24.

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We see casting of lots in Scripture more than we may think prior to checking it out –  Click here: BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: cast lots  –  Even in the very first entry, we may be surprised to read  that God specifically commanded it for a particular purpose.  “Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.  “Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.  “But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.”  Leviticus 16:8-10. 

I certainly do not maintain that we are generally encouraged throughout Scriptures to cast lots, nor do I maintain that the soldiers were trying to follow God’s will by casting lots.  But, it is interesting to me that we can consider parallels between these Scriptures and meditate upon the purpose of these Scriptures. 

Scriptures talk about being clothed with righteousness.  Here are examples.

 ¹⁸  There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

 ¹⁹  Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.  It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

 ²⁰  Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;  and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.

 ²¹  So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’;  but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.'”

 ²²  Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”  John 19:16-22.

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Yesterday, I quoted the entire chapter of Psalm 2.  Today, I will repeat just verses 6 and 7. 

⁶  “But as for Me, I have installed My King
         Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
    ⁷  “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
         He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
         Today I have begotten You.”  Psalm 2:6-7. 

Concerning Christ’s position as king, The Westminister Larger Catechism states:

Question 45:  How does Christ execute the office of a king?

Answer:  Christ executes the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them;  in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good;  and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.

 ⁹  and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?”  But Jesus gave him no answer.

 ¹⁰  So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me?  Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”

 ¹¹  Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above;  for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

 ¹²  As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar;  everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

 ¹³  Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

 ¹⁴  Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.  And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

 ¹⁵  So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!”  Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”  The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”  John 19:7-15.

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“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”  Romans 13:1.  

“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. ”  Titus 3:1-2.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”  1 Peter 2:13-14. 

^“1  Why are the nations in an uproar
         And the peoples devising a vain thing?
    ²  The kings of the earth take their stand
         And the rulers take counsel together
         Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
    ³  “Let us tear their fetters apart
         And cast away their cords from us!”
    ⁴  He who sits in the heavens laughs,
         The Lord scoffs at them.
    ⁵  Then He will speak to them in His anger
         And terrify them in His fury, saying,
    ⁶  “But as for Me, I have installed My King
         Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
    ⁷  “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
         He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
         Today I have begotten You.
    ⁸  ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
         And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
    ⁹  ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
         You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”
    ¹⁰  Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
         Take warning, O judges of the earth.
    ¹¹  Worship the LORD with reverence
         And rejoice with trembling.
    ¹²  Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
         For His wrath may soon be kindled
         How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”  Psalm Chapter 2.

 ³  and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face.

 ⁴  Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”

 ⁵  Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

 ⁶  So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!”  Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”  John 19:1-6.

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The prophet Isaiah prophesied this scourging and what it accomplished.  “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;  The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:5.

The apostle Peter likewise stated that the scourging accomplished our healing.  “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;  for by His wounds you were healed.”  1 Peter 2:4. 

The Heidelberg Catechism helps us understand this Scripture for today, what was accomplished by the scourging as part of Christ’s suffering even though Christ was innocent, and the following words “He suffered” which are in The Apostles’ Creed:

“Question 37.  What dost thou understand by the words, “He suffered”?

Answer.  That he, all the time that he lived on earth, but especially at the end of his life, sustained in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind:  that so by his passion, as the only propitiatory sacrifice, he might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the favor of God, righteousness and eternal life.

Question 38.  Why did he suffer under Pontius Pilate, as judge?

Answer.  That he, being innocent, and yet condemned by a temporal judge, might thereby free us from the severe judgment of God to which we were exposed.”

Psalm 40:11                                                                                                                      “You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;  Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.” 

Psalm 111:8
“They are upheld forever and ever;  They are performed in truth and uprightness.”

 ³⁰  They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.”

 ³¹  So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.”  The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,”

 ³²  to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.”  John 18:28-32.

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Regarding this word of Jesus that was fulfilled as stated in this last verse of 32,  Jesus prophesied:  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”  Matthew 20:18-19.

Scripture confirms that the word of God is always fulfilled.  Scripture points this truth out many times.  Not one word of God has failed.  Here is a link to the keyword “fulfill”.  In the verses given, not every verse is relevant, and there are also other Scriptures which teach the same truth without using the word “fulfill”, but this will at least give the reader some examples – Click here: BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: fulfill  

One of my favorite Scriptures is Joshua 23:14.  Joshua stated:  “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed;  all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.”

We too, men and women of all ages, can and should declare the faithfulness of God.  It is particularly important that we of old age (elders, literally and figuratively) declare the faithfulness of God.  We have the respect of the congregation and other observers.  We have the most experiences over the years to give examples of God’s faithfulness and to give the most believable conclusion of the faithfulness of God.            

“¹²  The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
         He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
    ¹³  Planted in the house of the LORD,
         They will flourish in the courts of our God.
    ¹⁴  They will still yield fruit in old age;
         They shall be full of sap and very green,
    ¹⁵  To declare that the LORD is upright;
         He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  Psalm 92:12-15. 

“²³  The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
         And He delights in his way.
    ²⁴  When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
         Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.
    ²⁵  I have been young and now I am old,
         Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
         Or his descendants begging bread.
    ²⁶  All day long he is gracious and lends,
         And his descendants are a blessing.”  Psalm 37:23-26.

 ²⁷  Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.”  John 18:17 and John 18:25-27.

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Peter tends to get all the blame, but we remember Mark 14:27-31 which contains both the prophecy of Jesus that not only Peter, but also the other disciples, would fall away and scatter after the arrest of Jesus.  “And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’  “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”  But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”  And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”  But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.”  Mark 14:27-31.

What hope is there for us if all of Jesus’ disciples, who saw with their own eyes Jesus’ miracles and heard His teaching and were in His presence, fell away and scattered?

The hope for all of us is not based on the strength of will-power of man or strength of faith of man.

The hope for all of us is based on God and that we receive faith as a gift of God.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

As there is unity between the disciples in falling away and scattering, there is unity in the disciples and all of us receiving that gift of faith, that wisdom of God, that righteousness, that sanctification, and that redemption.

“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”  1 Corinthians 1:9-10.

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Jesus did speak in parables.  “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”  Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”  Matthew 13:10-11. 

But, Jesus also spoke openly as he states here.  And, we should think about how we can follow Jesus’ example here.  Moreover, we do not know who are the elect and who are not, so as to be able to effectively use parables at least to the extent Jesus did.  The call to us is to preach and teach openly and broadly and clearly.

We speak openly.  “Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.  You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.  Now in a like exchange–I speak as to children–open wide to us also.”  2 Corinthians 6:11-13. 

We speak broadly.  “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”  Mark 16:15. 

We speak clearly.  “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  Romans 1:20. 

Who can speak as openly, broadly, and clearly as we should?

But, there is hope!

2 Corinthians Chapter 3 contains the hope of the Holy Spirit within us.  Here is a powerful and beautiful description of who we are.  This chapter compares us to a letter “known and read by all men”.  Following the link to the entire chapter, I will quote a few of the verses.  Click here: 2 Corinthians 3 – Passage Lookup – New American Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com

^“You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;  being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.  Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  2 Corinthians 3:2-6.

“Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,”  2 Corinthians 3:12.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

 ⁹  to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”

 ¹⁰  Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.

 ¹¹  So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath;  the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”  John 18:7-11. 

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Regarding the fulfillment of His word, it is likely that Jesus was referring to what he said in the prior chapter, John 17:12:  “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me;  and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” 

Many, including myself, use John 17:12 to teach eternal salvation such as taught in the “P” of “TULIP” which is “Perseverance of the Saints a/k/a Preservation of the Saints”. 

And yet here, in John 18:9, the fulfillment was not some eternal salvation such as taught in the “P” of “TULIP”.  Here, in John 18:9, the fulfillment was an earthly deliverance from being arrested along with Jesus at this time.

There can be double fulfillment, and I do believe that is the case here.  But, we should not ignore the earthly fulfillment.  I think there is also an important lesson to be learned when we focus on the earthly fulfillment in today’s Scripture.

We want to do God’s Will while we are on earth in addition to be eternally saved.  The disciples likewise intended to be able to be faithful and loyal to Jesus and to stick by His side.  Jesus told them many times that He would be arrested, suffer, and die. 

In Matthew 26:31-33, we read about Peter’s intent:  “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’  “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”  But Peter exclaimed:  “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”

Likewise, “the sons of Zebedee” were confident that they also would be faithful and loyal to Jesus.  In Matthew 20, 22-23, we read:  “But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”  They said to Him, “We are able.”  He said to them, “My cup you shall drink;  but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”

And yet, here we also see the fulfillment of the Word quoted by Jesus:  “‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED”.

However, rather than Jesus using this “scattered sheep” Word at this time in the face of His disciples to rebuke or shame them, Jesus turns the focus on Himself and fulfills another Word by staing:  “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”

Likewise, when Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus did not condemn him by saying:  “I told you so!”.  Rather, Jesus let the rooster do the crowing.

But, much more important than Jesus’ gentleness with His disciples, there is hope in this passage that the disciples too could drink the Cup that their Father gave them.

There may be times in our earthly life, like this one in the disciples’ life, that we think is most important.  We too may think we totally blew it.  But, we must have faith that Jesus will not lose us too.  We can remember verses such as this Scripture for today (John 18:9), other verses such as Ephesians 2:10, and Philippians 1:6.  

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10.         

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6.

And, we also know that in addition to our Sovereign LORD accomplishing His work through us;  we have a Sweet Savior Who will not condemn us when we fall, but instead, Who will intercede for us and love us. 

“³⁴  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

 ³⁵  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 ³⁶  Just as it is written,
         “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
         WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

 ³⁷  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

 ³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

 ³⁹  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:34-39.