Sinclair B. Ferguson

And those words also come from Mark's gospel.

Chapter 8, verses 34 and 35.

I wonder if there are what-if moments in your life, or perhaps one in particular that has changed everything.

It's even conceivable, isn't it, that someone is listening to the podcast today who really didn't intend to.

Perhaps it's you, and as sometimes happens, you've no idea how you even got to this podcast on your computer or your phone.

It's a what-if moment.

You're hearing about a man who followed Jesus, and you're hearing about the Lord Jesus and his crucifixion, his death for our sins, his promise of new life.

If that's true, don't let this what-if moment become one that you look back on later and think, I wonder what would have happened if I'd responded to the voice of Jesus and come to trust him.

I want to begin the podcast today with a little quiz.

I think you'll get the answer easily enough.

Here it is.

Next to the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary, whose name is most frequently on the lips of Christians?

It's not Augustine or Thomas Aquinas.

Or even Martin Luther, is it?

No.

Every day in some churches, and every Sunday in millions of churches, billions of Christians say the words, I believe in Jesus Christ, his Son, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate.

Sometimes they try to trap them by the questions they ask.

Sometimes they run stories about an entrapped politician until something or someone else is worth headline attention.

The world seems to love trapped politicians, but loves to despise them too.

Pontius Pilate was the most famous trapped politician in human history.