Matthew 26:2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
Dear God,
Thank You for being my God and caring for me. I am thankful also for the presence of the Holy Spirit being here this morning, for He is essential in my everyday life and in all I do; for I need His strength and wisdom all the time. I have found that my life seems to be made of nothingness and futility, unless I ask Him to come and lead me to Jesus, filling me with love for Jesus, as well as for all Jesus created. It is a marvellous wonder, that Jesus loves us all, though we are undeserving of His love. Praise His holy name!
Jesus when here on earth, always went about His doings, in the wisdom, love, strength and power, and in obedience to You, His heavenly Father. He is always my example.
In Matthew 26, there is this illustration from the life of Jesus as He was nearing His betrayal by Judas, and was trying to prepare the uncomprehending disciple group about what was ahead for them all. This was complicated by always having nearby, the future betrayer with the other disciples; a pack of priests bent on His death; numbers of people who had been healed by Him, and others who were interested, but did not understand who He was or His mission and purpose. Patiently and lovingly Jesus continued with His ministry of healing and teaching, never changing His attitude or actions. Most probably, if it had been one of us from this sinful earth in a similar situation, we would have become much stressed and maybe impatient under such a heavy work load, along with the people clamour and provocation taking place around Him.
This was our precious Jesus in action, near to His death, in the power of the Spirit!
Do I even now allow Jesus to be in me and for me in the fullness available in my individual life and mind? Today that is my question to myself. I want it to be so, and pray again it will be so, and believe You have heard and will answer my prayer, as I allow.
The woman, whom Jesus had helped so much, came to Jesus at Simons feast intent on anointing His feet with very expensive perfume, for she needed to show that she had truly accepted Jesus and knew what He had done for her. She gave Him absolute love and a transformed life, as well as much of her wealth. The perfume was very expensive and would have taken much of her store, but that did not matter to her, for it was the best she wanted, to honour her Saviour.
Alternatively, for eventual betrayer Judas, his heart had remained untouched by Jesus, even though he lived close to Him and saw and heard all the acts of love that were part of a day in the life of Jesus. Jesus did not conform to his idea of what a leader for the Jews should be, and Judas amazingly remained unconverted, clinging instead to his pride and critical spirit, even thinking he was justified in paying himself from the group’s meagre store of cash.
Today I again choose You Jesus, and desire to grow in love and grace, so my heart will not remain untouched by Your love, answers to prayer, my blessings received; as did the heart of Judas.
Amen