Matthew 26:30-31
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. The Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night. For it is written: ' I will strike the Shepherd, and the she sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"
we enter into that period of time between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Between the time when Jesus, upon entering Jerusalem, was greeted with shouts of "Hosanna to the King! Glory to God in the Highest!"and a trial with trumped up charges. Talk about one extreme to the other, this week, in the life of Christ, had it all. But such was necessary and such was all part of God' s plan to open the door for humanity to have real relationship with Him again.
But why would the disciples need to go through such a thing? Why would Jesus tell them they were going to stumble in their belief of Him? Why would they have to go through such a thing a running away in fear when the guards and religious rulers came to arrest Jesus?
Very simple answer to a complicated problem.
These eleven disciples, for Judas had now turned against Jesus, were the same ones who would later be filled with the Holy Spirit. These were the same 11 men who would turn the world upside down, shaking Rome to it's very core with the message about a risen Messiah.
These would be the same men who gave their very lives for the Gospel of Jesus. Each of these men had to put in a situation and place that would reveal their true hearts, so that they could understand the depth of God's love and forgiveness. Not a pleasant thing to go through after you have beat your chest and declared your love and loyalty to Christ, only to run for your own life when He was confronted in the garden. It never is pretty when we see the "Real" us in the light of God's plans. But the one thing that rises above every tragedy that took place during this week of turmoil and darkness that would be Jesus' death and resurrection, was the simple fact that God is a forgiving God.
These eleven deserters received the ultimate pardon.
Wouldn't Peter's story be tragic if it had ended at the point of his denial of Christ?
But it didn't. It only set up the incredible offering of forgiveness and renewal that Jesus offered to Peter and the others.
You see, we need such times in our own lives.
Times when the real "us" comes out and we see ourselves as Jesus sees us.
For only in those moments, can we truly grow.
Only in those moments will grace, mercy and love, become more than just words that the church throws around.
They become life.
They become our connection to God.
The beauty in all of this is one simple fact.
You can't have the cross without the tomb....
And you can pass through Jesus' death without stepping into His resurrection.
From a place of total darkness and despair, comes life and light.
Only Jesus can do this for us and to us.
I know it's not Easter yet, but I'll say it anyway.
He Is Risen!
God on you...
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