Day 28 – He is Good & Holy

As we continue our countdown to Lent, I want to take a look at what was happening just before Passover. I am surprised by the outrage that people in power can have to someone doing good, speaking truth, and loving people. It’s right there in all 4 gospels in the section called The Plot to Kill Jesus. Jesus had a way of either drawing people to Him or repelling them because of their hard hearts.  In a secret, backdoor meeting we are told what the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the council are saying about Jesus in the gospel of John. It’s a discussion of how to get rid of a problem.

John 11:47-48 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

It floors me everytime I have read through the gospels that these were the authorities of their day. These men were the representatives of God, the rulers of the nation, the great teachers of the day, and the wise counsel in their times. Yet, nearly all of them looked at Jesus and saw a threat to their personal power. There was no giving the benefit of the doubt and no praying to God for revelation, just visceral reaction to a threat. From that day on this group of men made plans to kill Jesus. They had to figure out how to do it so that they looked justified. They had to get it done before the Passover feast. They didn’t want the people in an uproar during their holy days. The high priest said, unbeknownst to him, a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation. He in his limited wisdom said, “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  They just wanted Jesus gone. He was a threat. Jesus was drawing people who needed a Savior. The multiple numbers of people seeking to see Him and hear Him speak, they feared that if He continued on, they would lose their influence and power. Fear has a way of blinding us from the reality of what is good and holy. – Tweet That!

PRAYER: Lord, reveal my heart today. Help me not to be like the hard-hearted, who in fear, lash out at what they can’t truly see. I want to embrace people, not fear. I want what is holy and good in my life!

God the Father has put people into our lives to help us grow and to strengthen us. Sometimes, we see a threat when indeed, the Lord of Heaven has sent an answer to prayer. Have you been jealous of someone? Are afraid of their influence? How can you step into what God is doing and partner with Him and them, instead of slipping behind closed doors to figure out how to stop what you fear is happening? It really is a heart issue! How we see is filtered through the heart.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla