I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 19-21.

    When Pilate asked the Jewish leaders if they wanted him to crucify their king their answer was very revealing. They answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Their answer was political, intending to force Pilate to do what they wanted. However, this revealed much the same thing as when Jesus asked them to show Him a coin in response to their question about paying taxes to Caesar. In both cases they indicated that their sovereign was not God, but Caesar. I feel that a lot of professing Christians took a similar position in this election and I saw that among those supporting both candidates. All too many Christians have put their faith in government, whether that is to protect the unborn, or to care for the poor (to list just two issues from either side of the aisle). We owe our loyalty and devotion to God, not to the political masters of our nation. God will place the person of His choosing in the places of governmental authority. Caesar was not a man of God, but he was the man God had chosen. I thought I had a much more profound thought when I started writing this

    I was not going to cover this because I covered it before. However, according to John, it was Mary Magdalene who discovered the empty tomb. It was Mary Magdalene who was the first to encounter Jesus after His resurrection. It is this which tells us that the Gospel of John is not a made up story. If John was making up this story, the first witness to the Resurrection would have been someone other than a woman out of whom Jesus cast seven demons.

    Peter had denied Jesus three times the night before His crucifixion. After His resurrection, Jesus gave Peter three opportunities to affirm Him. Peter was hurt by Jesus asking him repeatedly if he loved Him, but Jesus knew that Peter needed that threefold affirmation to cover his threefold denial. When we have let God down, He gives us further opportunities to make it up to Him, but it is not enough to affirm our love and faith once. We need to affirm our love and faith repeatedly, both to demonstrate to those around us and to demonstrate to ourselves that this time we really mean it. I understand the hurt Peter felt when Jesus asked him again and again if he loved Him. I sometimes feel that same hurt. However, there is a beauty and compassion in the way Jesus did this, giving Peter a chance to affirm his love once for each of his betrayals of that love.