Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Job 31-32
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 17:22-23
Jesus: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day, He will be resurrected, vindicated, newly alive.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
What might we do with these comments if they were made to us today? Who might Jesus be talking about and what might that betrayal mean in the context of our 21st century civilized society? Certainly we wouldn’t crucify Him on a cross as a public spectacle. Certainly we wouldn’t flog Him and parade Him through the streets throwing garbage at Him, spitting on Him, cursing Him, as He made His way to the place of His execution. Certainly we would be much more civil than the barbaric behavior of the Romans as they went through their mock trial and crucified Jesus with no just cause and cruelly abused, tortured, and crucified Him on the hillside on that bleak and awful day.
But then again…
Think back to the scenario surrounding the last days of Jesus’ ministry on earth before His betrayal. His disciples continued to pledge their loyalty to Him. The crowds were flocking to Him in droves. Jesus could barely find time to sleep and eat because of the press of the crowds. Throngs of people came to Him to hear His teachings, receive His blessings, touch His garments. They brought their sick and injured to Him. They brought those no one else could heal to Him because they knew He could do something when no one else could.
If anyone could be said to have a loyal following, Jesus did.
It reminds me of the political games we play today. Trump is our man. No wait, it’s Cruz. Oops, I meant to say Clinton, except she’s not a man, she’s a woman, so let’s change our language. Clinton is our person. That’s not right. Sanders is the one we want. Well, maybe it’s really Kasich that should be in office. Soon the race will be down to two candidates and everyone who rooted for one of those out of the race will suddenly defect. Well, he (or she) wasn’t such a great candidate after all, I really want XYZ to win. I’ll put all my weight and effort behind him (or her).
We are so fickle. We don’t know what we want in this world. We are so sure of something and then suddenly the tides changes and we’re off on something else. That’s why car dealers and IT companies and clothing manufacturers and every other business keeps pitching those ads, you know. The thing that was perfect yesterday and had our undying devotion is suddenly obsolete. Anyone still have an Atari laying around? How about one of those TR 8080s? My first real computer was an Apple IIc. How long has it been since you’ve seen one of those? It had a whole 128 KB internal memory! That’s right for you youngster, I really did mean kilobyte and it was top of the line at the time.
What would I give for that Apple IIc now? Nothing. It’s just a paperweight or a museum piece I don’t have room for. And so it is with so many things in life. We let it take first place and then discard it like so much trash.
That’s what too many people do with Jesus, too.
As long as He was passing out bread, making the lame walk, giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, confounding the scribes and Pharisees, the people around Him praised Him and lifted Jesus up. As long as Jesus did things they agreed with and made them feel good, they went along with His plan. As long as they could sit around and listen to what He had to say without His interfering with their lives in too many ways, they followed.
But when the way got tough. When Jesus started talking about taking up your cross and following. When He began to talking about following the narrow, rugged path, those feint of heart began to fall away. In fact, it got worse. Some began to find ways to undermine His message. They sought for ways to destroy Him. They looked for ways to trap Him. They even schemed to kill Him.
He knew it was coming, though and reassured His disciples that He could not be defeated. His enemies would betray Him, kill Him, and think Him defeated. But the resurrection power of Almighty God would raise Him on the third day to demonstrate His victory of sin and death.
The question for us today is, “What side are we on?” Will we try to betray Him to try to hang on to the temporary pleasures we enjoy today? Or will we take up our cross and follow Him? Which is more important to us? The temporary baubles the world dangles in front of us or the eternal rewards that come for pleasing God and doing His will? There are only two paths we can follow. We choose the path we will take. Which road will you take?
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