The Plot Against Jesus - Matthew 26
The Plot Against Jesus
26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Reflection:
As Jesus transitions to the week of the Passion, where he would fulfill the ultimate mission God the Father intended for him, we see two things happening. First he confirmed with his friends, the disciples, what was going to happen. He had been briefing them along the way, but now the time was ready for him to leave them. He also ties it into the Passover, where the most high priest took an innocent lamb from the flock, and sacrificed him for the sins of the people. Jesus first had to finish teaching them all things so they would be equipped to teach others when he was gone. Every leader should be teaching and equipping others for when they are gone.
Secondly, we see the Jewish leaders, both secular and spiritual, assembled in the palace of the high priest. What an irony that the most holy place was the location of the scene where they plotted to kill the most holy person. The one and only Most High Priest was going to be betrayed by the very people who were supposed to lead the people to Him. But instead of confronting him in an open and honest manner, they plotted secretly to arrest Jesus and kill him. So jealous were they of the Son of God, and so threatened were they by the following that he was getting that they saw only one way out. But again ironically they don't want to do it during the Passover feast. Why? Not because it is a holy day and they don't want to commit such an act of treason on a holy day. They use the holy day as an excuse because they fear a riot among all those who are gathered. Despite all their scheming, we know God has a bigger and better plan brewing to work all this evil for His good.
The danger of having power, either in the Church or the world, is that we see it as a means of self preservation, or worse yet a tool for self aggrandizement. As the saying goes, "absolute power absolutely corrupts". But yet we know as believers, we have been given power to do what Jesus has called us to do. We have been given the power to preach the gospel, and announce the coming of God's kingdom. We have been given the power to teach others what a disciple of Christ looks like both in what we do and in what we say. And we have been given power to do the works that Jesus did, like healing the sick. We need power to combat the powers and authorities in this world in Jesus name and for His glory. But we must be careful how we use this power.
Where has God given you authority to make disciples in His name? Are you using this power for God's purposes? Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, where Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower them to do all the things He did while He was here. And he said to his disciples in John 14:12, "You will do even greater things than me." Amen.
26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Reflection:
As Jesus transitions to the week of the Passion, where he would fulfill the ultimate mission God the Father intended for him, we see two things happening. First he confirmed with his friends, the disciples, what was going to happen. He had been briefing them along the way, but now the time was ready for him to leave them. He also ties it into the Passover, where the most high priest took an innocent lamb from the flock, and sacrificed him for the sins of the people. Jesus first had to finish teaching them all things so they would be equipped to teach others when he was gone. Every leader should be teaching and equipping others for when they are gone.
Secondly, we see the Jewish leaders, both secular and spiritual, assembled in the palace of the high priest. What an irony that the most holy place was the location of the scene where they plotted to kill the most holy person. The one and only Most High Priest was going to be betrayed by the very people who were supposed to lead the people to Him. But instead of confronting him in an open and honest manner, they plotted secretly to arrest Jesus and kill him. So jealous were they of the Son of God, and so threatened were they by the following that he was getting that they saw only one way out. But again ironically they don't want to do it during the Passover feast. Why? Not because it is a holy day and they don't want to commit such an act of treason on a holy day. They use the holy day as an excuse because they fear a riot among all those who are gathered. Despite all their scheming, we know God has a bigger and better plan brewing to work all this evil for His good.
The danger of having power, either in the Church or the world, is that we see it as a means of self preservation, or worse yet a tool for self aggrandizement. As the saying goes, "absolute power absolutely corrupts". But yet we know as believers, we have been given power to do what Jesus has called us to do. We have been given the power to preach the gospel, and announce the coming of God's kingdom. We have been given the power to teach others what a disciple of Christ looks like both in what we do and in what we say. And we have been given power to do the works that Jesus did, like healing the sick. We need power to combat the powers and authorities in this world in Jesus name and for His glory. But we must be careful how we use this power.
Where has God given you authority to make disciples in His name? Are you using this power for God's purposes? Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, where Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower them to do all the things He did while He was here. And he said to his disciples in John 14:12, "You will do even greater things than me." Amen.
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