Wednesday of Holy Week - April 4, 2012
Matthew 26:14 - 25
One of the Twelve went to the chief priests. His name was Judas Iscariot. He asked, "What will you give me if I hand Jesus over to you?" So they counted out 30 silver coins for him. From then on, Judas watched for the right time to hand Jesus over to them.
It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The disciples came to Jesus. They asked, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?"
He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover at your house with my disciples." ' "
So the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do. They prepared the Passover meal.
When evening came, Jesus was at the table with the Twelve. While they were eating, he said, "What I'm about to tell you is true. One of you will hand me over to my enemies."
The disciples became very sad. One after the other, they began to say to him, "It's not I, Lord, is it?"
Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will hand me over. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands over the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Judas was the one who was going to hand him over. He said, "It's not I, Rabbi, is it?"
Jesus answered, "Yes. It is you."
Yesterday, the passage for Tuesday of Holy Week was John's account of Jesus being handed over, betrayed the last week of his life.
The passage for today is Matthew's account of this "handing over." That term, also translated "betrayed" in some versions, occurs several times in the passage.
Later, the Apostle Paul wrote in Rom. 8:32 that God handed Jesus over: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
I have to admit that I don't get this. I don't understand how this kind of betrayal or handing over was God's design for Jesus, but somehow it was. If I can see that God was at work in this handing over of Jesus, then I can begin to fathom that any situation can be one in which God is at work.
No matter how difficult, God uses everything to shape and mold toward a greater design. Nothing is beyond God's reach. Nothing is wasted. Nothing goes unused.
If I had my way, I would only find God in the glorious and the spectacular. I would love to see God in the way many disparate parts of something come together . . . in the beautiful molding of a life that has emerged from the shadow of the valley . . .
in the healing of a besetting affliction.
I am not nearly as thrilled to see how something that seems wrong, even dastardly, can be used for good.
Obviously, God's design is not Jerry's design. God's ways far exceed and stretch beyond Jerry's ways.
For today . . . think about something you have gone through in life that seemed very difficult, even tragic, at the time you went through it. You may have been wrongfully accused or slandered. You may have found yourself in a hole you couldn't pull yourself out of. In the days since that time, perhaps God has given you a different perspective. The situation may continue to sting, but now you see how God was shaping your life in that difficulty.
One of the Twelve went to the chief priests. His name was Judas Iscariot. He asked, "What will you give me if I hand Jesus over to you?" So they counted out 30 silver coins for him. From then on, Judas watched for the right time to hand Jesus over to them.
It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The disciples came to Jesus. They asked, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?"
He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover at your house with my disciples." ' "
So the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do. They prepared the Passover meal.
When evening came, Jesus was at the table with the Twelve. While they were eating, he said, "What I'm about to tell you is true. One of you will hand me over to my enemies."
The disciples became very sad. One after the other, they began to say to him, "It's not I, Lord, is it?"
Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will hand me over. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands over the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Judas was the one who was going to hand him over. He said, "It's not I, Rabbi, is it?"
Jesus answered, "Yes. It is you."
Yesterday, the passage for Tuesday of Holy Week was John's account of Jesus being handed over, betrayed the last week of his life.
The passage for today is Matthew's account of this "handing over." That term, also translated "betrayed" in some versions, occurs several times in the passage.
Later, the Apostle Paul wrote in Rom. 8:32 that God handed Jesus over: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
I have to admit that I don't get this. I don't understand how this kind of betrayal or handing over was God's design for Jesus, but somehow it was. If I can see that God was at work in this handing over of Jesus, then I can begin to fathom that any situation can be one in which God is at work.
No matter how difficult, God uses everything to shape and mold toward a greater design. Nothing is beyond God's reach. Nothing is wasted. Nothing goes unused.
If I had my way, I would only find God in the glorious and the spectacular. I would love to see God in the way many disparate parts of something come together . . . in the beautiful molding of a life that has emerged from the shadow of the valley . . .
in the healing of a besetting affliction.
I am not nearly as thrilled to see how something that seems wrong, even dastardly, can be used for good.
Obviously, God's design is not Jerry's design. God's ways far exceed and stretch beyond Jerry's ways.
For today . . . think about something you have gone through in life that seemed very difficult, even tragic, at the time you went through it. You may have been wrongfully accused or slandered. You may have found yourself in a hole you couldn't pull yourself out of. In the days since that time, perhaps God has given you a different perspective. The situation may continue to sting, but now you see how God was shaping your life in that difficulty.
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