It is a Psalm kind of night!
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand! Psalm 139:1-6
Mark 14:53-65 (<<click to read the passage)
As the portion of the Psalm above states, God knows “everything about me”. And I am a firm believer that God does all kinds of things through and for us when we are striving to be in the center of His will for our lives. But along with that is the fact that when we are outside of His will for our lives, I believe He limits what He does through and for us. I am not saying he won’t do those things but if we are out of sync with Him, things just don’t come together.
As we move on through this passage in Mark 14, we see this whole idea fleshed out pretty well. The religious leaders are literally drooling in anticipation of bringing this troublesome (putting it mildly!) young prophet’s life to an end. They have bided their time and, at least in their eyes, it is way overdue and He is going to get what is coming to Him.
You would think they would have had their act together. They’ve had ample time but, nope, it is one huge mess of contradictions. They can’t get their story straight – mainly because they can’t really make a case for execution for getting your feelings hurt and having your toes stepped on. It’s hard to make an argument for not playing the game the way they deemed it necessary to play.
Jesus clearly knew what was what. He knew the players – “everything about [them]”. He knew their thoughts. He knew their plans. He even knew their confusion. He also knew that He had to be given up as a sacrifice so that sin and death and hell – all of it – could once and for all be defeated. So, He did what He does best. He stepped in and put things into order (He excels at that!) for they certainly were all a jumble. He said what He needed to say to get the result that needed to be gotten. When asked, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” He said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
And with that – His fate was not sealed because fate had nothing to do with it – God’s plan…the plan He had put into place long before humanity had even come into being…with that plan, Jesus crossed the threshold. Jesus’ time had come. And He would reclaim His own. He would pay the price, that only He could pay, so that we, His beloved, could be redeemed.
Aug 19th, 2019, Mon, 8:41 pm
