“When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him.” Matt. 26:1-4
Devotional Thought For The Day
The contrasts as to mindset, goals, values, and objectives is rather stark and dramatic. Jesus had delivered a lengthy sermon on the conditions that would prevail in the end times, before the coming Day of Judgment and His glory, including a clear description of what would transpire before His throne on that day. He quickly brought his disciples back to a clear focus on what was immediate, what would very soon be taking place. He revealed again that His mission was that of the Lamb of God, Who would be sacrificed in accord with Isaiah’s prophecy, to “take away the sin of the world.” His Deity is revealed in that He fully knew and understood exactly what was going to happen, including His suffering and death by crucifixion. Blessed are all who embrace Him by faith and rejoice to receive what He freely supplies to us in His atonement, His renewing and re-birthing love. The “chief priests and elders of the people” – students and teachers of the Old Testament Scriptures, who should have known all about Jesus and should have celebrated His coming – gathered together and “plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him.” Which group would you have preferred the company of, the disciples or the religious leaders of Judaism?
This is the precise attitude of all religions of law and their adherents – they reject what God has freely given us and try to get rid of it, either by killing Christ’s followers and servants [which is happening each day in many parts of the world] or perverting Christ into a disciple of Moses and a new lawgiver [which is also a daily mission of many]. It is also generally the attitude of all unbelievers, even those who are nonreligious. If one does not receive the gracious mercy, forgiveness, and salvation of God provided for all people in Christ Jesus, he opposes it, considers it worthless and useless, perhaps even unproductive and dangerous, and this too is an attempt to eradicate it. There is no neutrality when it comes to Jesus, and there is no one who does not proselytize when it comes to their religious beliefs; and one’s religious beliefs always compel a moral component. This can be contrasted even today. In the flood response here in Colorado, it is almost exclusively Christians who are coming and donating millions of dollars in volunteer labor and funding for the recovery. I’ve yet to hear of any “atheist” or “agnostic” or “new age” or other religious groups coming in or donating. The contrast is no less stark today. What the unbelieving advocate is the butchery of unborn infants and the sadism and masochism of sexual perversity. They also advocate the greed of unbridled capitalism which enslaves and dehumanizes the poor, or the laziness and injustice of misguided socialism which seizes what some have legitimately earned by hard work and toil, and gives it to those who have done little or nothing. And we have to ask ourselves today, which group we prefer the company of.
If we are to be genuine Christians, it all begins with Jesus. First, with His self-sacrifice, His suffering and death on the cross which takes away all of our sin and guilt, reconciles God to us, and brings the free gift of eternal life to us which we grasp and rejoice in by faith, if we are willing to be reconciled to Him. If we are captured by His love, we are also renewed in love. “We love because He first loved us.” [1 John 4:19] The nature of love is self-sacrifice for the good and welfare of others, and a commitment to doing no harm to others. “Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” [Rom. 13:10] It is our faith that compels a corresponding moral ethic, one of love, work, fairness, decency, goodness, kindness, care and compassion, and commitment to protect the life and health of all other people. It is faith in Christ’s redeeming love for us that makes all “wrong” repulsive and sickening, including the moral perversions of our culture. And in that we are all infected with the weakness of our sinful nature, only God’s ongoing and continuing mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus will suffice to keep us focused and on track in our quest to love one another, and all people. Legalistic religion can only promote hypocrisy and self-righteousness, and harsh and perverse judgment – like that which the Jewish leaders laid upon Jesus. So if we are to participate in a fellowship of love, decency, goodness, and service, we need to be with Jesus, the One Who laid down His life for our redemption and salvation.
This is the real purpose of the life, fellowship, and worship of the church – to be with Jesus, to receive His blessed gift of forgiveness and assurance of His eternal and perfect love for us. This is what comes to us through His Word, through the absolution He instructed His servants to pronounce, through the Sacrament of His body and blood “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” [Luke 22:20; Matt. 26:28] It had better be a fellowship of love, kindness, compassion, care, and service to one another – for this is what Christ’s love compels. If it is not, there is deficiency in faith, or perhaps even an absence thereof. It is a pitiful perversion when the life of the church resembles the gathering of the “chief priests and elders of the people.” So let us take care in our faith, and take care to be with Jesus, to receive His gifts freely given in His crucifixion, that we may truly follow Him.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, with great difficult and tact You draw us away from our misguided and perverse mindset, and into the warmth of Your gracious love and salvation. Remove all our desire to remain within the gatherings of those who are ignorant of Your love, or who actively repudiate Your love. Continue to help us along in both our willing and our doing of Your good pleasure, a life of love and service to others. Keep us firm and strong in our faith and trust in Your ongoing forgiveness and love. Amen.