Sinclair B. Ferguson

There's no escape from it.

It's clear who Jesus really is.

And the question is, what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?

There's a passage in Hebrews chapter 6 that Christians have sometimes found very difficult to understand, but I think it may be relevant here.

And in some ways, Pilate's experience sheds light on it.

It tells us it's impossible in the case of those who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who've shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come.

If they fall away, they can't restore themselves again to repentance, since they're crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt.

I'm sure the author of Hebrews wasn't thinking specifically about Pilate, although you could believe he might have been thinking about Judas Iscariot.

But some of these things apply to Pilate, don't they?

He'd had conversation with the living Word of God, and in a sense, he actually was enlightened about his identity.

He recognized he was the king of the Jews.

At least that's what he wrote about him and refused to change.

In Jesus' presence, he must have been able to taste the goodness and sense the powers of the age to come.

But when push came to shove, he turned away, he fell away, and there was no way back.

Pilate is surely another warning to us to make sure we respond in faith to his own question.

What shall I do with Christ?

I hope what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 6 is true for you.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.

Well, this week's series of podcasts has turned out rather differently from what I expected when we began.

I was actually anticipating reflecting with you on some of my favorite hymns, but we've ended up thinking and talking just about singing itself, not about specific psalms or hymns or spiritual songs that we love to sing.