Thank You, Father, for a wonderful day! Your presence in worship was impacting – may Your word resonate without our hearts and may we be motivated to action. Amen!

Matthew 21:23-27 (<<click to read the passage)

Have you ever examined a spider web? We have a spider that has constructed its web in front of the window by our back door. We have an electric candle which sits on the window sill inside and it draws small flying insects to its light. What a great set-up for the spider! God created a wise creature that could put all that together in order to ensure a constant source of sustenance!

For the most part, once an insect gets caught in the web there is no escape from the sticky strands.

Remember this bit of verse? It is actually from a poem written by Scottish poet, Sir Walter Scott in 1513.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!

To my knowledge, a spider can’t get stuck in his own web but that was not the case for the leading priests and elders who tried to trap Jesus in His words in today’s passage. They weren’t after the truth. Their sole intention was to back Jesus into a corner where they could them eliminate Him as a threat to their “power”.

But…they weren’t playing with some naïve novice. They were fighting against the very person who knew them before the world was even created! (Ephesians 1:4) They thought they had Him right where the wanted Him but He was far too wise for their games.

Jesus quickly turned the tables with His own question and they were entangled in their own web of deceit!

Oft times we think we are so smart. We play games and think we can fool God. But we are the fools. We think we can outwit Him – but that, of course, is impossible when we are up against an all-knowing God. We hide behind masks of our own construction but we cannot hide from an ever-present God. In defiance, we stubbornly stand in our supposed strength but all of us will eventually bow before this all-powerful God.

All of the things we do to fight against God are futile. We may think we are winning but until we give ourselves over to Him – to His loving care and compassion, to his grace and mercy – we will be the losers.

Sept 9th, 2018, Sun, 8:26 pm