Denial, Dissonance, Devotion
LENT 2025 DEVOTIONAL:
John 19:1-42 (NIV)
(Adriel Loh, Chairperson, Church Governance and Risk Committee)
John 19 tells us the Good Friday story about the trial and crucifixion of Christ. Looking beneath the surface, we see a debate raging on His identity – was He really the Son of God? Within the narrative, we find three actors with three very different responses:
The chief priests – the response of denial. The chief priests refused to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. To accept Him as such would go against everything they stood for and threaten their very position in the religious and political order. Their desire to maintain the status quo created a bias so strong that it clouded their judgment and blinded their minds to the truth. To them, Jesus had to be an imposter and He had to be crucified.
Like the chief priests, many of us refuse to face the truth of who Christ is. This is because if Jesus is really the Son of God, then we can no longer live our lives the way we want. For there is now a God who lays claim over our lives. And so instead we live in denial, insist that God does not exist, and go about our lives unaware that one day, we will all have to stand before Him to whom we must give account.
Pilate – the response of dissonance. Pilate suspected and may have even believed that Jesus was the Son of God. But when faced with threats of political repercussions, he gave in. He had the power to free an innocent man but lacked the moral courage to do so. In short, he lived in dissonance – he believed one way but acted another.
Like Pilate, many of us are living in dissonance. We know what the Bible says and what God asks of us, but we lack the courage to obey. We fear obeying Christ because of the consequences that would bring. We fear offending others and we fear having them reject us. And so, we live in dissonance. But the sad thing is that it tears our souls apart. We will never really be at peace, and we will never truly be happy.
John – the response of devotion. Throughout this chapter, John sought to establish that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, that He was the prophesied Messiah, and that His death fulfilled the Father’s plan of salvation. The narrative reaches a climax as Jesus breathes His last and cries out “It is finished!” The work was done, the sacrifice paid. Yet amidst his agony, we see a tender moment when Jesus asks John to take His mother as the latter’s own. Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, is intensely personal and takes time for each of us. John knew this. He called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. Unlike the priests who lived in denial, and Pilate who acted in dissonance, John responded with devotion. And so should I. My response can only be to fall at His feet, to love Him who first loved us and gave His life for us.
Reflection Questions:
1. Are you living in denial of who Jesus is?
2. Or in dissonance with what you know He asks of you?
3. Or will you respond as John did, with devotion of love for Him who loves us and gave Himself for us?
