Daily Dose of Hope

November 12, 2025

Scripture – John 19

Prayer: Holy God, You are a God of order and a God of purpose. The world may seem chaotic, but you are not. You have ordered your world with perfection. Help us trust you. Lord, fill us with your perfect peace. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. As most of you know, we have been walking through the Gospels and will soon walk through Acts. Today, we begin John 19.

Our passage begins with Jesus before Pilate. Even Pilate, the Roman official, recognizes that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Pontius Pilate is an interesting guy. He knows that Jesus hasn't done anything wrong, certainly nothing worthy of execution, and he truly wants to free Jesus. The text indicates that Pilate is somewhat scared of Jesus. He tries to placate the Jewish leaders. He has Jesus flogged. He offers to release Barrabas, a noted insurrectionist, thinking for sure they would rather have Jesus set free rather than a murderer. But that isn't what happened. And Pilate isn't willing to stand up for what he knows is right. His own role in Jesus' death lands him a mention in the Apostle's Creed, the most famous and oldest Christian Creed. Think about it, for two thousand years, Christians around the globe have been declaring that Jesus died under Pontius Pilate.

Bottom line: The Jewish officials are desperate to get rid of Jesus. They are blinded by fear, jealousy, and contempt. In an attempt to get Pilate to cooperate with their plans, they threaten to report him to Caesar. After all, Jesus claimed to be king and anyone who made such a claim would be considered a threat to the emperor. The great irony here is that the Jews are essentially presenting themselves as better Roman citizens than Pilate, the Roman official. When it's convenient for them, they are happy to use the pagan Roman government to get their way. They will sacrifice their own ethics to ensure that Jesus is killed.

The thing about sacrificing our ethics is that it's a slippery slope, is it not? These Jewish officials were probably very pious men. They thought they were doing the right thing. Afterall, Jesus was saying blasphemous things and he didn't follow their rules. They needed to step in and take care of it. But gradually their dislike of Jesus became hate. They so badly wanted him gone that they were willing to do anything, break their own laws, disobey Torah, simply to get rid of him. They were willing to do anything, no matter how shady it was or low they had to go.

Has your hatred of another person ever made you compromise your own values? We think we are so much better than these Jewish officials but I think sometimes we are just like these Jewish officials. Dig deep today, friends. Examine your own heart.

The remainder of the chapter is pretty powerful. Jesus carries his own cross to the place of his execution. The soldiers cast lots for his clothing. He breathes his last breath without any of his bones being broken by the soldiers. They pierced his side with a spear. Lots of prophecy being fulfilled here.

Finally, two faithful Jewish men, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, take Jesus' body and place it in a tomb. Not a lot can be done to prepare the body for burial because it's Friday afternoon and the Sabbath is upon them. Things will have to wait. But things may look a lot different on Sunday morning.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

November 11, 2025

Scripture - John 18:19-40

Prayer: Lord, Let us start by thanking you for a new day. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who was, and is, and is to come. You are all powerful and all knowing. We give thanks for your love and wisdom. We give thanks for your presence. Help us, Lord, gather our scattered thoughts. Help us set aside distractions and listen to what you have for us today. In these next few moments of silence, hear our prayers...Jesus, we love you. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional/podcast that goes along with the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. We have been doing a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we are finishing up John 18.

Jesus has been before the Jewish high priest and the Jewish ruling council. They can't stand him. They not only feel threatened by him, but they are appalled about how he speaks of forgiving sins and being like the Father. They physically assault him. They want him to die but they don't have the power to execute him under Roman law. They have to take him to the Roman governor, who happens to be Pontius Pilate. As you will see, Pilate does not find Jesus to have done anything worthy of death at all but he is scared of the Jewish leaders.

We could go in a lot of different directions with this. But I want to focus on a portion of verses 37-38, ...Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."

"What is truth?" Pilate asked...

Jesus came to testify to the truth. Pilate questions if there can be truth. The Greek word for "truth" is aletheia, and it means something like "divine revelation." It literally means "what can't be hidden." The Hebrew word for "truth" is emeth, which means firmness and immovability.

This is such an important discussion because we live in a world in which people are still searching for truth and meaning. There is an idea that it's okay for you to have your truth and me to have mine. But yet, that only works up until a point, until our disagreements become really fundamental.

Here is some truth for you: Truth is not relative, nor does it change from person to person. Truth can be offensive to some because they simply don't like how it makes them feel. The reality is that many things can have some truth but there is only one TRUTH. For believers, TRUTH is Jesus Christ. John 14:6 reads, Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." When Jesus says, "I am the way," he doesn't say "I am a way." How the Greek sentence is constructed makes it absolutely clear and irrefutable that Jesus is making an exclusive claim here. He is basically saying, don't go looking to anyone else to point you in those directions, because I am the only one who can!" Jesus is the map that leads us to all truth.

If we really believe this, this fundamentally changes how we think about the world. If Jesus is truth, then everything he said throughout the Gospels is true. It means he came back from the dead and will return to judge all people. It means he is God. Do you believe this? Do you? I'm pressing this point a bit, I know. And it's for a reason. Because if we really, really believe Jesus is truth, then this one fact will inform every other piece of our life.

It will affect how we treat others.

It will affect how we worship.

It will certain affect our priorities.

It will change how we spend our money.

It affects what we think about during the day.

It will change how we talk to people.

We will think about sharing Jesus a lot more.

We will think about Jesus a lot more in general.

We will pray more. We will read the Bible more. We will become more deeply devoted to God because he is Truth and nothing else in the world is.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

November 10, 2025

Scripture - John 18:1-18

Prayer: Holy God, We come before you today in humility and awe. You are a good God. You, who put the stars and planets in motion, also created us. You care about the most minute details of our lives. You have numbered the hairs on our head. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for caring so much. Help us be put even a small reflection of your love toward those around us. More of you and less of me, Jesus. Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. We are currently in the book of John, as we walk through the whole of the Gospels and the book of Acts. Today, we start John 18.

We start in the Garden. Unlike Mark's Gospel, Jesus does not plead that the cup be taken from him. Rather, he steps forward and boldly declares that he is Jesus of Nazareth, the one they are looking for. The Garden of Gethsemane is a common place. He is not hiding and he is not apprehensive. He offers himself in place of his disciples who are there with him. He affirms the anti-violent path given to him by God and rebukes Peter when he cuts the high priest's slave's ear off. Jesus will not allow anyone, including Peter, to deprive him of his role in God's victory. Jesus knows he is innocent, he knows this is unjust, but he also knows it is necessary so he will do what must be done, not for his sake but for ours.

I always wonder what Judas is thinking in this moment. Does he have a sense of satisfaction? Or, is there part of him that has regret? Does he see Jesus' innocence and begin to see what he has done? I don't think we will ever know but I can't help but wonder. Judas was a complicated character and if we are honest, we've all been Judas at one time or another. We have all betrayed Jesus.

Speaking of betrayal, we also get to read about Peter's first denial of Jesus to the servant girl in the high priest's courtyard. The first of three, of course. What was going on in Peter's head? We know he had to be scared to death. Was he praying? Had he forgotten everything Jesus taught him? Was he trying to figure out how to just get out of the situation alive? I mean, he was Jesus' very best friend.

More tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki