Surprise

TITLE:  Surprise
DATE:  November 9, 2019
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.

TEXT: John 18: 37-38 ESV - Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Most of us, who have been around for a while think that we've pretty much heard and seen it all.

We’re smart enough to know if something seems too good to be true, it usually is just that.

Well, if you think you’ve heard it all, here's a new one

Do you remember the movie Singin in the Rain? Remember the graceful tap-dance of Gene Kelly who manages to slosh and slog his way down a rain- drenched city street?

I bet you didn’t know that after those scenes were filmed, the director found that the sounds of Mr. Kelly's splashing feet hadn't come through on the sound track. What was the Director’s solution? He had two young ladies put on their tap shoes and prance around in buckets of water.

Their feet produced the sounds that you hear on the screen. Surprised?
In the story of Jesus’ passion, there are a lot of surprises going around.

• Pontius Pilate, sophisticated Roman governor who had seen much of the world, was seriously surprised he couldn’t find any guilt or wrongdoing in Jesus.
• The Jews were surprised to find that Pilate was not ready to condemn Jesus to death just because they said he should.
• The disciples are surprised that the crowd which welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Sunday was now calling for His death.

Only Jesus, the suffering Lamb of God, dying for our salvation, remains  unsurprised. He knows the Truth. He knows that He is destined to die on a Roman cross. No, Jesus wasn’t surprised; He was prepared to be the sacrifice which would bring about forgiveness and salvation to all who are called to faith.

Which takes us to us.

It is my hope that you will not be surprised to hear that the Savior’s resurrection did not put an end to Satan’s lies. We still see his work in our courts, in our schools, in the media and the entertainment industry.

There are even times when his lies seem to have permeated entire church bodies.

Which is why I encourage you to look to Scripture where, by inspiration Isaiah(5:20-24) tells us:
Woe to those who call evil good  and good evil, who put darkness for light   and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet  and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,  and shrewd in their own sight! 2 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,  and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,  and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,  and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel..”

So, my friends, I have no doubt you will encounter many surprises in your life... but I pray you will never be surprised by the audacity of Satan’s lies and the wonder of the Savior’s truth.

THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I give thanks there are no unknowns to those who follow You. I give thanks my faith is built on nothing less than Your blood and righteousness. Amen.

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html