Month: March 2026

“Jesus replied, ‘My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.’” John 18:36 (Common English Bible)

This is a remarkable passage of scripture! Captured here is Jesus’ own denial; Jesus’ denial of sovereign territory, “My kingdom isn’t from here.” From inside the governor’s house, a center of power for a defined territory, Jesus disclaims royal territory. Certainly, Jesus’ denial is on the geographical level, his royal authority lies elsewhere. This confuses Pilate. For Pilate—and for us—sovereignty implies a specific place, such as the British Empire. That empire has clearly defined borders, though the contours have changed over history. Christ denies any claim to this kind of power or rule. Incredibly, Christ seems to be placing his credibility on the line.

Many are well familiar with Peter’s denial. On the night of Jesus’ arrest, Peter denies three times ever knowing the man, Jesus. Yet, that same night, Jesus is also making a denial. The difference between Peter’s denial and Jesus’ own denial is not subtle. Peter’s denial is about self-preservation; Peter fears arrest if he is honest about his relationship with Jesus. Jesus’ denial is something much deeper than self-preservation. Jesus is pointing from the physical world to the spiritual. The exchange between Pilate and Jesus becomes a struggle between political power and spiritual power. Political power exerts its influence on people’s outward behavior. Spiritual power changes people from the inside.

One Easter morning a couple spoke to me following the first service. They said they had lived only a few blocks from the church for years and had never worshipped with us before that morning. They continued by sharing that though they had not worshipped before, they were always grateful that the church was here. Politely and carefully, I asked, “Why?” “Why were they grateful that the church was here?” Their answer, “Each day the church reminds us that there is something more.” They promised to return and then proceeded to walk down the street—presumably to their home. Spiritual power is about something more than the eye can see, “My kingdom isn’t from here.”

Jesus’ denial is all about lifting our eyes above political alliances, carefully defined and defended borders, and self-preservation. Jesus wants, “something more” for each of us. Political power bends a people to the will of the state. Spiritual power molds and shapes a people to the wholeness God once fashioned at creation, but lost through rebellion and estrangement from God. Jesus confrontation with our political systems, in the form of Pilate, suggests that his kingship not only challenges the political state, it judges and calls into question the ability of the state to provide the life God desires for us. It would appear in the crucifixion of Jesus that Pilate won, that the political systems of the day have the upper hand. Nevertheless, the resurrection remains only a few days away.

Joy,

“I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.” Philippians 3: 13b (Common English Bible)

How do you view the past? That is a good question for any of us. Or consider another question – Does the past have power over you? Are there regrets that interfere with your well-being and, consequently, the well-being of those who know you and love you? Perhaps thoughts of hurting someone or betraying someone continue to bobble-up into the present with the unfortunate result of self-recrimination. Have you taken all your mistakes and failures of the past and carefully preserved them in a time capsule that you open far too often. Each time the time capsule is opened you hand power to the past to beat yourself up and interfere with your ability to be your best self. Dwelling on the past offers one thing – self-condemnation.

Self-condemnation influences the way we think and how we live in the present. Self-condemnation gift-wraps and hands us a “loser-limp”—a term I learned from Zig Zigler which simply means that we limp through life as though we have an injury from the past. Those with a loser-limp conclude that the past is responsible for a miserable present and there is nothing that can be done. A limp is a limp, and we must learn to adapt. What many fail to grasp is that punishing yourself for the past does not change the past. And the only thing worse than a mistake or failure in the past is to live poorly into the future. An example would be a young person who once tried a dating website only to experience failure in finding a meaningful relationship. They now choose self-pity rather than, as the apostle Paul puts it, “reach out for the things ahead of me.”

Paul does not indulge in self-loathing, self-pity, or self-recrimination. Remember, it was Paul that held the coats of men while they stoned Stephen, an early Christian, to death simply because of his faith in Christ. Those who stoned Stephen asked Paul to hold their coats so they would have maximum range of arm movement in throwing the stones at Stephen. Paul is now a great evangelist for Jesus Christ. What Paul is teaching the church in Philippi is that he refuses to give power to his past. Paul refuses the “loser-limp” mentality because the work ahead of him is too important to be hindered with baggage from past failures, mistakes, and disappointments. The past cannot be changed. And punishing himself for the past only enables self-destructive behavior. Paul will permit nothing from interfering with him from being his best self for Jesus.

When one sets their eyes upon what is ahead of them—not what is behind them—hope flourishes. That is because we do not heal the past, says Marianne Williamson, by dwelling there. We heal the past by living fully in the present.¹ The past may hold lessons for the present and the future. Wisdom instructs that we visit the past only for what we can learn and then turn our attention immediately to the present. That is when our thinking shifts and our behavior changes. Thomas Edison was found one morning standing before the charred ruins of his laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, after a fire. When condolences were offered, he responded that he was grateful for the fire. Edison continued that a good many of his past failures were destroyed. Now they would not be around to tease him as he continued his pursuits of ideas that would improve life for everyone. Or, as Paul teaches, “I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.”

Joy,

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¹ Marianne Williamson, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do. (New York, NY: William Morrow: An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2017) p. 129

The following meditation was written by Dr. Aaron Janklow, senior pastor and head of staff of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength.” Ephesians 1:18, 19

One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:31, “Those who hope upon the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” This verse is extremely meaningful to me because it describes how hope in God encourages and shapes us in the current moment. Hope entails a desire for something more than our current circumstances and grants us the strength to persevere as we wait for what we hope for to be realized.

As demonstrated here in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, prayer and hope are intertwined. Hope is a powerful trait that enables us to live more fully into the promises of God through faith. Hope, as expressed in the Bible, is not just desiring and wanting something more or different, it is having reason to believe that it can actually come to be. Ultimately, hope is rooted in the character of God, and it is the love and power of God revealed in Jesus Christ, that gives us our basis for hope. Afterall, as we see in the crucifixion and resurrection, if God can overcome the cross, then “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

While their immediate context did not match the promised, hoped-for reality in God, Paul seeks to encourage the church in Ephesus to remain steadfast in faith by acknowledging “God’s glorious inheritance among believers” and “the overwhelming greatness of God’s power.” His message is not much different from Isaiah’s message to the Israelites about hoping in the Lord, which gives me great strength. Paul believes that hope for the future promises of God will give “power” to the church today.

Returning again to my favorite Bible passage from Isaiah 40:31, “Those who hope upon the Lord will renew their strength,” some translations use the word “wait” instead of “hope.” While I prefer the word “hope,” I believe both translations point to the same truth—that as we wait for what we hope for, we must draw upon the strength that comes through faith in God. Paul states elsewhere in Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” When we pray for what we hope and long for, we acknowledge the difference between our current reality and God’s promise. Rather than letting that difference or the “tribulations” we face lead to resignation, hope strengthens us to persevere and live with the assurance of God’s love no matter the circumstance, even as we may need to wait.

When we pray for what we hope for, we are ultimately making a declaration of faith. Rather than surrendering to the status quo, no matter what that may be, or anything shy of the full realization of God’s presence, love, and grace in our lives, in prayer, we acknowledge that there is more to us and this world than we currently experience. Prayer is the powerful act of sharing our hopes with God and acknowledging that we need help beyond what we can provide for ourselves, and that God can answer that need. Prayer is a statement of faith that “with God all things are possible.” Perhaps, more than we can even imagine. In other words, prayer helps us to live by faith. Prayer keeps us rooted in the hope and character of God and reminds us of the “glorious inheritance” that is ours as believers, helping us to navigate the world before us with purpose and hope.

Joy,

The following meditation was written by Dr. Aaron Janklow, senior pastor and head of staff at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.

“In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will.” Romans 8:26,27 (Common English Bible)

Several years ago, I was invited to preside at the wedding of a former youth group member in northern Michigan. One evening, my wife and I were walking along a dark forested path from the rehearsal dinner to our hotel room along the shore of Lake Michigan. We could only see some of the path in front of us, as we heard gentle waves along the shore. As we were nearing the hotel, there was a clearing in the trees, and we looked up and saw a sky filled with more stars than I could count. It was an incredible, awe-inspiring experience. It felt as if I could see the curvature of the earth by looking up. As I recall this experience, I’m reminded of God creating a “dome” and calling it sky (Genesis 1:8).

Having spent most of my life in major metropolitan areas such as South Florida and now New York City, I’d never seen a sky so full of stars, and it was incredible. As my wife and I stood there looking up at the stars, my wife remarked, “This might be pretty close to what Jesus saw when he looked up.” This remark amazed me. With all the changes in our world, except for the space station and satellites put into orbit by humanity, the sky remains mostly untouched by the advancements of our world, and what I was looking at might have been very close to what Jesus, Abraham, Ruth, and others from the Bible saw.  

Looking up at the magnificence of the stars gave me the same feeling I have when looking out at the ocean, which is again captured by a psalm, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Instead of feeling inferior by the immensity of the universe or ocean, as Psalm 8 describes, how amazing it is to feel known and loved by God who created it all.

Rather than awe leading a humility that realizes our shortcomings and renders us silent before the One who made it all, may it move us to a deeper relationship through prayer. Paul tells the Romans, “We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans.” Indeed, filled with awe at the work of creation, we may realize how far short our words come to the glory God deserves, but we are not called to remain silent. Instead, we are called to adoration, worship, and as Jesus instructs and demonstrates, prayer.

In addition to the stars being drowned out by the lights of the city, there is so much to occupy our thoughts, sometimes worthwhile, sometimes distracting, and sometimes incredibly concerning, that we fail to notice the blessings of our lives, the presence of God. In other words, we become so encumbered by the immediate world around us that we fail to “look up to God.”

Amid all there is to keep our hearts and minds distracted on the “horizontal,” the world immediately before us, prayer refocuses us on the “vertical,” reminding us of God’s love for us. It is all too easy to be overwhelmed by life’s immediate concerns, but an awe inspired prayer helps ground us in the full reality of who God is. The God who created the heavens, who sent Jesus Christ out of love for the world, and who maintains relationship with us throughout all the vicissitudes of life.

Despite all the passing generations, the same God who created the heavens and the earth is the same God we pray to. Moved to prayer through a feeling of awe isn’t to escape our immediate needs or concerns, or those of the world around us, but to be strengthened in our knowledge of God’s grace so that we can navigate the world around us with the assurance of God’s love for each of us.

Joy,