“It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him” – Mark 14:1
This week celebrates the week that changed the world! At the beginning of the week, Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph, hailed as the new king of Israel. By the end of the week, Jesus would be crucified, dead, and buried. Then came that glorious Sunday morning when the resurrected Jesus left the grave behind, victorious over sin and death!
By the middle of the week, the plot to kill Jesus was underway. His clear claim to be Messiah, His brilliant answers to every challenge, and His direct condemnation of the religious status quo in Jerusalem was simply too much to bear! Those in power needed Jesus dead before the people turned on them or the Romans crushed the city’s messianic fervor. Rather than embrace the possibility that Jesus really was who He said He was, the leadership just wanted Him dead.
Jesus was, and remains, a threat to entrenched structures of religious power. Jesus was, and remains, a threat to those accumulating riches in the name of God. Jesus was, and remains, a threat to those who talk about holiness but don’t live it themselves. Jesus was, and remains, a threat to anyone who claims to be a leader but won’t lead in a godly manner. People will always oppose those walking in the way of Jesus.
Ultimately, however, we must remember that the death of Jesus was the eternal will of God. This is why Jesus came to earth – to die on the cross. And so, God used the wickedness, pettiness, greed, and jealousy of these false teachers and priests to send His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This is the path Jesus had been walking for a long time, the one leading to the cross. This is also the path He invites each of His followers to walk.
Jesus is inviting you to walk the path of authentic faith and obedience to Him. He’s inviting you to walk the path of personal holiness, vulnerability, and humility. He’s inviting you to walk the path that leads to your own cross each day. Will you #FollowJesus?