Many people have crucifixes on their walls, in their pockets, in their purses, or around their necks. Usually at the top of this crucifix are the letters I. N. R. I. This stands for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” On Calvary, hardly anyone believed this inscription. In fact, “the chief priests of the Jews tried to tell Pilate...‘This man claimed to be King of the Jews’ ” (Jn 19:21).

What about you? Do you believe the letters on your crucifix? Or are the letters I.N.R.I. just an inscription to which you’ve never paid any attention? If you decide to take your crucifix seriously and be a faithful subject of King Jesus, you must:

• be rescued “from the power of darkness” (Col 1:13),
• repent,
• contradict leaders, soldiers, criminals, and the many people who continue to mock His kingship (Lk 23:35, 36, 39),
• be willing to be persecuted,
• worship King Jesus, for He is the King of kings (Rv 19:16) and God Himself, and
• tell everyone about the perfect King, Who is God and Love (see 1 Jn 4:16).

Are you willing to accept Jesus as your King? If so, kneel down before Him now and give Your most precious gifts to Him (see Mt 2:11). Give your whole life to King Jesus. Start talking to Jesus. Ask Him to show you Who He is. Begin to repent. Keep talking to Jesus until you can again honestly see or carry a crucifix not out of habit but out of love.

Only those in heaven can sing the new song of the Lamb. Only those baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit can sing the new song (Mt 28:19). They alone sing the new song who are so immersed in the Holy Trinity that they are branded on their foreheads with the names of the Father and the Son (Rv 14:1). Only those begotten and owned by God sing the new song. They “are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rv 14:4).

To sing the new song means to live the new life in Christ, to love Him with all our hearts, and to “bless the Lord at all times” (Ps 34:2). To sing the new song means to be a people of praise because we are a people of love. To love and to praise the Lord means that we have been purified by obedience to the truth (1 Pt 1:22). This means we have been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8) and have been created “to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance” (Eph 2:10).

Forever sing the new song of salvation and live the new life of love, praise, purification, and obedience. By faith with good works (see Jas 2:21-22), accept the grace to sing the new song.

It is possible to read Scripture for years and completely miss what the Word of God is saying. The Sadducees, who attempted to trap Jesus in today’s Gospel passage, were a strict sect of Judaism which accepted only the first five books of the Scriptures, called the Pentateuch. The Sadducees also “claim there is no resurrection” (Lk 20:27). Jesus in His wisdom used a Scripture passage from the few books the Sadducees did accept (Ex 3:6) to show that there is a resurrection (Lk 20:37).

The Sadducees, who had spent their lives reading the Pentateuch, never noticed this connection to eternal life and resurrection. So they steadfastly maintained that there was no resurrection. The Sadducees put their religious ideas first and attempted to make the Scriptures support their ideas. Jesus therefore told the Sadducees: “You are badly misled, because you fail to understand the Scriptures or the power of God...You are very much mistaken” (Mk 12:24, 27).

If we honestly seek the Lord, Jesus will open our minds to the understanding of the Scriptures (Lk 24:45). Are we open to God’s Word? Or do our ideas come first, and we thus pick and choose Bible verses to support them? If so, we may be in danger of being “badly misled” (Mk 12:24). Let the Living Word (Heb 4:12-13) speak to you. Allow God’s Word to form your mind.