SINFUL PLOTTING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, He said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Matthew 26:1-5

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

Mark 14:1-2

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 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.

Luke 22:1-2

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been the victim of an evil, sinful plot?

I know I have and frankly they have been going on since creation began. We certainly read of more than a few in biblical times.

We know there was a problem with wicked scheming because the scriptures talk about the transgression. I want to provide just a few of the verses found in the Old Testament:

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Proverbs 6:16-19

The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming. Psalm 37:12-13

In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. Psalm 10:2-4

Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with those who are bloodthirsty, in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. Psalm 26:9-10

Why do I mention these verses (and there certainly are a lot more)?

Because as we are going to see in today’s scriptures from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the top Jewish religious authorities, those who were seen as the subject matter experts in God’s word and thus elevated to highest levels of spiritual stature among the people of Israel, those who should represent the most godly of people in the times of Jesus, THESE people were the ones responsible for plotting the death of God’s one and only Son, Jesus. And yet as we see many times, in and out of the Bible, no one is immune from Satan’s influence if they turn away from the Lord and instead rely on their own will and way.  

Look again at these two passages here:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, He said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” Matthew 26:1-5

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” Mark 14:1-2

At the opening of Matthew’s account, we find Jesus setting the background around which the Jewish religious officials would be doing their evil scheming. As we have seen in devotions leading up to this, Jesus had been teaching on Tuesday, three days prior to Him being falsely accused and convicted, brutalized by Roman soldiers, and then crucified on a cross at Calvary, an event Jesus tells of Himself in the opening two verses of Matthew 26.

But note that before Jesus would be handed over to be crucified, He ensure His followers that He will be with them to celebrate one final Passover feast, a feast also referred to as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This celebration would happen on Thursday and typically, there would be upwards of 100,000 people flooding into Jerusalem, obedient to God’s call to observe and participate in the remembrance event.

As we see, the assembly of evil plotters was a veritable who’s who of Jewish religious officials. In fact, it would seem to be an easier to make a list of who wasn’t present to plan the secret arrest and subsequent execution of Jesus.  

First, you had the chief priests, elders, and the teachers of the law. The chief priests were typically in their positions because of heritage, descendants of priestly families, while the elders were more community leaders who were elevated to special positions within the Sanhedrin of which the chief priests were also members. The teachers of the law were just that. They were men who dedicated themselves to the study and instruction of the law, stringently enforcing the letter of that law.

And then there was Caiaphas Himself, the high priest and head of the Sanhedrin. He was the main man in charge and so with much responsibility comes much accountability. Ultimately, he possessed the authority and influence to shape whatever actions the Sanhedrin took. In regard to this plot, we read where he was totally complicit, even hosting the meeting to conspire against Jesus in his own palace.

As they plotted, the scriptures tell us that the Passover celebration (Feast of Unleavened Bread) had a bearing on the plot being contrived. Had the celebration not been going on with the masses filling Jerusalem, we might have found Jesus’ crucifixion happening sooner than it did. But as we know, God’s time is always perfect and so events played out just the way He wanted to.

So what was the big concern about Passover?

Well, keep in mind that at this point, Jesus had been engaged in ministry for three years and so He had a huge following, inside and outside of Jerusalem. And so the chief priests, elders, teachers of the law, and of course, their host to ploy their scheme, Caiaphas, the high priest, were concerned because if they arrested Jesus during the Passover, they could incite a riot as people assembled in protest against the religious authorities in support of Jesus.  

And so, they waited and while they did, they sought someone on the inside, someone within Jesus’ inner circle, to serve as an accomplice. As we’ll see soon, they found just the person in Judas, one of the twelve disciples hand selected by Jesus Himself.

We’ll also come to see where all this wicked scheming failed to accomplish its intended purpose. For yes, Jesus would be arrested and then crucified and then buried. But unlike a normal human being, Jesus didn’t stay in the tomb. Rather, He was resurrected and is still very much alive today.

As the scriptures remind us, evil can be overcome by good and when God is at the helm, this will always happen because He, God, is perfectly good. All parties present in Caiaphas’s palace thought they were in control but what was really happening was that God was in control all along and the Jewish religious authorities were just players in His amazing plan of salvation.

In the end translation, no amount of evil or sinful plotting would eliminate Jesus. Instead, He ended up magnified, glorified, and placed in authority over all things in heaven and on earth, something the men gathered with the high priest just before Passover would have never imagined possible as they were blinded by their wicked hatred for God’s Son.

As others may plot against you, know the same God who watched over His Son is watching over you and take comfort in knowing you have no greater ally in life against wickedness than Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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