Plan on it

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

PLAN ON IT

Matt 26:55-56

55 At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

NIV

We are fairly certain the reason the disciples deserted him and fled was out of fear they too might be arrested along with Jesus. Of course Jesus told them they would desert him. We cannot be sure if Judas and the men the chief priests sent to arrest Jesus would have done anything to his disciples. Nevertheless they ran off motivated by self-preservation. It is also interesting that it seems Jesus is a little sarcastic toward those who came to arrest him. “Am I leading a rebellion?” he asks them. He had been in the temple every day teaching and they never arrested him. Of course we know it was because he was in charge of the whole situation. There were times when they attempted to seize him or were plotting to do so,  but he slipped away.

Matt 12:13-15

 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.

NIV

Now was the time, he was in control of the time of his arrest, the time of his suffering and the time he would be crucified. He was all going according to the plan of God. He tells them exactly this truth. He tells them that all which is happening is so in order to fulfill the prophets. In saying that he was in fact telling them he was the anointed one, he was the Messiah, the one the prophets wrote about. This again proves that man might plan his course of action in his heart, but God orders his footsteps. These men were not here on their own, they were not even sent by the chief priests, they were sent by God in order all this would take place. Surely God did not speak to them, giving them the instructions as to how to go about arresting Jesus or when. But he does accomplish his will in some cases thought the actions of men. It is not that he makes a man evil, but he uses the evil within the heart of man to accomplish his plan. We saw this with Pharaoh in Egypt. We saw it in the evil kings of Israel. We saw it in the evil kings who conquered and dragged the Israelites off to their lands. All was for the purpose to bring them back to the Lord. We saw how Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den to prove God was his provider to a pagan king. We saw his three companions thrown into the fiery furnace only so the king would see Jesus there with them. Over and over again we have seen God accomplishing his plan through the evil hearts of men. This time of the arrest of Jesus is no different. Why should we not think that God will accomplish his plan in our lives? Why should we think that we are in control of our own destiny? Sure we had to make the choice to accept Jesus. Just as he was always about trying to bring the Israelites back to him, he desires that all men come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But some will refuse and by so even then they are not in control of their own destiny once that choice is made. However as we have made the choice to follow Jesus, our destiny is in the hands of God. He will finish the good work he has started in us. We are destined for paradise because of the will of God. Those who refused him are destined to perish because of the will of God. That is the one thing he gives us the choice to make. But our daily footsteps are ordered by him. He directs our path through this life. He brings us to the place he wants us to be. That is our home, the neighborhood, the city and state. He brings us to our place of employment, he brings us to the place of fellowship he wants us to be in. All for his purpose, his plan. Jesus shows us this in his life, death, resurrection and ascension. All went according to the plan of God, his plan. If God works according to his own plan surely he intends for us to work within his plan. So let us plan on it.