So Pilate [asked], “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You over to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. …” Then Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” 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.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
(John 18:33-36a, 37-38 ESV)
This part of Jesus’ story makes me want to cry. Because Jesus is usually silent during His Passion. But here, for once, He’s talking—quite a lot, too! Why?
He tells us: It’s “to bear witness to the truth.” Jesus is evangelizing Pontius Pilate, the man who will condemn Him to death. He cares for him that much.
And if Jesus loves Pilate that much—cares that urgently about his life, his salvation, his blessedness—then there’s no way I can avoid another fact. Which is that Jesus cares just that much about me and about you. We are not faceless bits of humanity to Him. We are individuals He urgently loves—people He died and rose to save. He came for just that purpose, to make you His own.
We Pray: Lord, since You want me that much, I’m Yours. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
• Are you ever tempted to think Jesus can’t possibly be interested in you?
• How can you be certain that He is?
• Jesus has deliberately tied Himself to you for all eternity. Why would He do that?
Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on March 15, 2026
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved