Who Do We Become When the Pressure Builds?
John 19:1 · Witnesses: Encountering Jesus When It Matters Most
“Then Pilate had Jesus taken and whipped.” — John 19:1 (CEB)
The passage opens with a single brutal sentence. No explanation, no justification—just state-sponsored violence against an innocent man. John doesn’t dramatize it. He doesn’t need to. The simplicity is the point.
Violence is ordinary. It happens in boardrooms and break rooms, in policies and casual conversations, in what we do and what we choose to ignore. The passage we’ve explored this week asks one central question: Who do we become when the pressure builds? The crowd answered with shouts. Pilate answered with washing his hands. The chief priests answered by abandoning their faith. But the story didn’t end there. Resurrection followed.
Tomorrow we gather to hear again that violence is not the final word. Come and discover how resurrection people choose differently.
God of new beginnings, thank you that the crowd’s shouts were not the final word. We gather tomorrow to hear yours, trusting that resurrection still makes all things new. Amen.
Worship at McPherson First United Methodist Church
Join us tomorrow for Palm/Passion Sunday—March 29, 2026—for a single combined service at:
9:00 AM · Online at youtube.com/@mcphersonfirst
Come as you are, with your questions and your faith, with your palms and your griefs. This is the beginning of Holy Week—the story that changes everything.