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God's Perfect Plan All Along

9/25/2022

  “And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:2) The only thing that Jesus says in the first 15 verses of Mark 15, “Thou sayest it.”  A little research reveals that the chief priests were pushing to have Jesus executed.  When they dragged him off to Pilate Jesus was accused of “perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.” (Luke 23:2)
          Apparently, Pilate hadn’t just fallen off a turnip truck.  After some questioning of Jesus, he comes to the conclusion that the priests delivered Jesus to him out of envy (Mark 15:10).  In most circles envy is considered one of the seven deadly sins.  This would make one believe that is true given what happens to Jesus.  He is crucified.
          One of the Ten Commandments is:  Thou shalt not covet (Exodus 20:17).  Envy and covet are synonyms and jealousy is akin to them.  God saw it as worthy enough to be part of the commandments.  Why?  Because Satan uses covetness as a way to steal man’s soul from him.
          Satan was working overtime in the hearts of the chief priests.  So much so that they, the chief priests, blinded the people they incited, Pilate, and the soldiers to the truth of who Jesus really was.  Satan was clever that day.  He got the chief priests to do his dirty work for him.
          But, not entirely.  Barabbas enters.  He is a murderer and Jesus takes his place to be crucified.  Jesus is the substitute for sin.  Satan forgot a lesson back in Genesis 50.  It’s verse 20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”  Thank God that we have a loving God.  John 3:16.  Read it.

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Warnings

9/18/2022

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   For the Pharisees and Sadducees, the final straw was when Jesus ran the moneychangers out of the temple (Mark 11:18).  From that point on, they were out to get him.  Jesus knew it was coming and try as he might, he couldn’t quite seem to get it across to his disciples how bad it was really going to be.
          Enter Peter.  He’s the one who walked on the water with Jesus, who said that Jesus was the Son of the Living God, who was so certain that he would never fail Jesus.  Would it have made a difference if Peter had heeded the warnings Jesus had given him?  You decide?
          Warning number 1:  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat (Luke 22:31).”  Peter responded by stating that he was ready to go with Jesus to prison or death (verse 33).
          Warning number 2:  When they were all at the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be offended by him and will scatter.  Peter objects and says that he will not be offended by him.  Jesus responds by telling him, “…before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice (Mark 14:30).”
          Warning number 3:  Jesus took Peter, James and John  to the garden to pray and keep watch.  Jesus finds them sleeping and says to Peter, “Simon, sleepest thou?  couldest not thou watch one hour?  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation (Mark 14:37,38).”
          There it is.  Three warnings.  A disciple, a man of faith who didn’t heed the warnings.  Was he devastated when he heard the cock crow the second time?  Yes, but Jesus also said something else to him.  It’s in Luke 22:32.  “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
          A story of faith and failure.  It’s not the end of Peter’s story.  He goes on to serve his Lord, Jesus.  First Peter 5:8 is Peter’s warning, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  A timely lesson for all of us.

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Scattered Supporters

9/11/2022

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  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (I Corinthians 15:58).”  What a verse!  To live that way is to have faith.  Faith that is able to withstand anything that the devil throws our way.
          All of humanity has a supernatural enemy.  Ephesians 2:2 refers to him as the prince of the power of the air.  Jesus calls him the prince of this world in John 12:31. A sidenote here, notice he is referred to as a prince, not the King.  Jesus is the king.  But, as long as we’re here on this earth, we have an enemy that we will do spiritual warfare with.
          It’s always good to know the ending.  Somehow it provides an inner strength  when one knows that, in the end, the devil loses and has his part in the lake of fire.  Unfortunately, this may not have been available for the disciples of Jesus.  We have been covering Mark 14 for the past several Sundays and again this current Sunday.  What we know is the following.
          Jesus and all twelve of the disciples shared in the last supper.  With the exception of Judas, eleven of them went with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  He took Peter, James and John to keep watch for him as he prayed but they kept falling asleep (verses 33-41).  At the end of verse 41 he says that he is going to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.
          Shortly after that Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.  The sinners are obviously the chief priests and scribes, the temple guards and roman soldiers.  Under dark of night, in a garden of prayer, they rush in and arrest Jesus like a common thief.  Only a devil would conspire to do such mischief.
          The devil had already taken up residence in Judas.  Now, with all the hubbub and commotion Peter, who had boasted that he was willing to die with Jesus, takes a swipe at a chief priest’s servant and cuts off his ear.  Jesus then touched his ear and healed him (Luke 22:51).  Peter’s willingness to fight to save Jesus is not part of the plan, God’s plan.  The devil spotted his weakness and used it to add to the chaos.
          Now we have the rest of the disciples.  Seeing all that was taking place was enough to break and run which they did.  The devil was able to capitalize on the weakness of their faith to use it to his own advantage.  Now, he was in a position to get rid of Jesus once and for all.  That isn’t God’s plan either.  That’s why First Corinthians 15:58 is so important.  Faith, stedfast and immovable, is what it will take to stand with Jesus in the last days.

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Communion

9/4/2022

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  “This do in remembrance of me.”  It’s part of a verse in First Corinthians 11:24.  It has to do with the Last Supper.  The one that Jesus and his disciples had shortly before he was betrayed and crucified.  Nowadays it’s referred to as Communion.
          An account of it is given in Mark 14:22-31.  Jesus and the twelve are together one last time.  Jesus begins by taking the bread, braking it, and giving it to them.  He said, “Take, eat: this is my body.”  Then he takes the cup, give thanks, and gives it to them.  When they had drunk, he said, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.”
          God’s grace is at work even during this evening.  After all, Judas has already slipped out and gone to the chief priests to arrange the betrayal of Jesus.  He was there at the table eating the same bread and drinking the same cup as the others.  He heard the words.
          Jesus goes on to say that all of them at the table will be offended at him before the night is over.  But his grace was still there.  They ate the bread and drank the wine and heard their Master’s words.  The evening had to look pretty grim for our Lord and Savior.
          Peter jumps in and protests.  The others may be offended but he won’t.  Jesus warns him that before daylight and the cock crows, Peter will have denied him three times.  He ate the bread and drank of the cup, too.
          Even Thomas, after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples except for Thomas because he wasn’t there, wanted proof before he would believe that Jesus had risen. (John 20:24-29)  He had also eaten of the bread and drank from the cup.
          There you have it.  All twelve took off like a covey of hunted quail when the tides turned against them.  But Jesus was gracious and loving in spite of what lay before him.  That is why Paul warns all of us to be introspective.  “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”  First Corinthians 11:26-29 points out in detail why it is so important to examine ourselves.

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God's Perfect Plan All Along

Warnings

Scattered Supporters

Communion

Linda Johnson

Andrea Strong

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