Luke 22:1-13
22:1 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. [1]
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The two incidents in today’s passage present a very interesting contrast. On the one hand Judas and the chief priests are conspiring to betray and capture Jesus, obviously thinking that they are in control. But in the second passage, the planning of the Passover which will become the Last Supper, shows that Jesus is absolutely in control. Nothing is going to happen to Him that is not in His Father’s will.
And of course we have the benefit on knowing how it all plays out. On the one hand, the plotting of the chief priests and Judas turned out just the way they wanted. They got Jesus and Judas got his money. But ultimately even that became rolled into God’s plan. And by resurrection morning, all of the evil done to Jesus had become part of the story of God’s great redemption of all creation. Isn’t it fascinating that even when evil people exercise their free will to choose evil, God still gets His will done in the end.
And this is what’s on my mind this morning. Bad things happen. Like earthquakes. But also people doing sinful things, the fallen world asserting itself, our own weaknesses flaring up and harming ourselves and others. But evil is not in control, despite its plotting. The fallen world doesn’t get the last word. The good news of the resurrection is that all of it will be used by God to bring His mission to fruition.
This does not excuse us for wrong actions or inaction. God calls us to follow Him that we might play a part in his work of bringing redemption to a fallen world, whether that’s earthquake recovery or repairing relationships in our lives, or sharing Jesus with a neighbor.
So my prayer today is simply that on this day I might follow wherever Jesus leads, trusting that He is Lord of all, even of those things that are fallen, broken and sinful. And I pray regarding those fallen, broken, sinful things in my own life that Jesus might show me His will regarding the part He would have me play.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 22:1–13). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.