When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
The forces of darkness were building to a crescendo of attack. Following these words of Jesus, the chief priests and the elders were plotting how to safely dispose of Jesus. As life as the disciples knew it was about to unravel, Jesus reminds them that He knows what is coming and that His Father is the authority in the story. Despite the dark forces at work, the purposes of God will prevail.
It’s hard to understand the dynamic of the will of evil and the will of God. How can evil seem to prevail using the tools of death and destruction and yet God still comes through with the actualization of His purposes?
In the life and death of Jesus, evil was a pawn used for its own undoing. The more evil came against Jesus, the more Jesus stepped in and walked in His Father’s will. The persecution and death that the enemy planned to silence the mouth of Jesus played into the will of the Father that His Son would die to take away the sins of the world.
In life, it can feel like evil is winning, and it can feel like there is nothing that we can do about it. Jesus shows us that when we obey God through the most difficult and painful of journeys, God will use it all to propel His purpose for our life into completion. What can we do about evil? We can do exactly what God is telling us to do today: obey His words.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember once again the one thing He told you to do that has been left undone. Perhaps God wants you to see the pain and persecution you are enduring as something that He can use for His purpose in your life that will result in resurrection. Maybe today God wants you to remember His promises of the good that is to come.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 642–645, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt Mt 26:1–2).) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).