John 19:19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. Many of the Jews read this sign… and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
When we claim that God works in mysterious ways, what do we really mean? To what extent is His sovereignty playing a part in our lives?
When Pontius Pilate nailed the sign, he was merely mocking Jesus and probably relieved that the ridiculous trial was over. So when the chief priests insisted on a change of the sign, he dismissed them promptly. Now, why were the chief priests so adamant about changing how the sign read? After all, their murder plan was already complete with Jesus on the cross.
In the Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Jews, the sign read “Yeshua Hanazorei Vemelek Hayehudim”. The common Jew would have immediately related it to the tetragrammaton YHVH, which was the revered name of God. God the Father was acknowledging His own Son before the majority of the Jewish population just hours before He rent the curtain of the temple!
Powerful as this episode may be, may we learn to rest in the fact that He is watching over His plan for our lives too. If He has set His eye on you and seeks to bless you, nothing can shut the door on it!
As we celebrate National Day in a few days, let’s rejoice in God’s sovereignty in watching over our nation these past 51 years, and let’s continue to pray for our beloved nation, our government and the people, that God’s plans for Singapore will always come to pass! Selah.
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