#DailyDevotion The Lord Had A Plan.
Luk 20:19-20 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. (20) So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
Well the scribes and the chief priests were not so happy that Jesus had spoken the parable of the wicked tenants against them. The only other course of action for them would have been for them to repent and follow Jesus. But Jesus had a destiny. Some of them may have repented after Pentecost. But for now, Jesus must die. So they did not repent. Instead they sought to lay hands on him and kill him, just as the parable said they would. However Jesus had a good following and a lot of the people really liked him. Fearing the people’s reaction if they laid hands on him they went and devised a way to get Jesus out of the way at a later time. They sent spies to follow Jesus, try to set theological and political traps for Jesus in hopes of bringing him before the governor. As you read on through the rest of Luke you will see some of those spies at work. However, their work never really pans out like they would like and they eventually had to bring Jesus up on false charges and arrest him in the dead of night and hold a kangaroo court against Jesus.
It’s good for us that they did this to Jesus. If they could have found real charges then he wouldn’t be the Messiah. But as the Messiah he is falsely charged and is crucified, dead and buried. It was necessary for our salvation. As the prophet Isaiah says, Isa 53:4-8 “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (5) But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (8) By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”
It was God’s plan that his son would be stricken, smitten and afflicted. Through this our sins and the sin of the world were atoned for. The greifs and sorrows our sins cause he bore for us on the cross. As the thorn of crown pieces his head, the nails pierce through his hands and feet, and spear goes through his side, the son who has been rejected is making a propitiation for our transgressions and iniquities, even those who did this to him. This is why we have the cross everywhere. It is an emblem of shame, but for us it is the glory of Christ. By the cross, by his rejection, God is reconciled and we are accepted.
Heavenly Father, you do not do things the way we would have them done yet wisdom is proved right by your actions. Grant us faith to accept your ways and understanding that we may see through them your great love for us. May the cross of Christ always be honored in our hearts as we bear the crosses you lay upon us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.