Labor Day is a holiday where many make plans to spend the day at the pool, spend time with family and friends, spend time resting, and make plans to eat foods like barbeque, hamburgers, or hot dogs. Whatever you have planned for the day, reader, take some time today and join me in reading about a crucial step in Jesus’ plan in His journey to the cross found in Matthew 26:47-56. Matthew writes,
“While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.’ And he came up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?’ At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples left him and fled.”
There is a lot happening in these ten verses in the Garden of Gethsemane, which will be unpacked over the next few posts in my Lessons in the Garden series. For today’s post, we will focus on verses 51-56. Jesus tells His disciples His betrayal and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane is all part of the plan (verse 54 and 56). A plan foretold by Jesus Himself at the Last Supper and prophesied about by prophets such as Isaiah and Zechariah in the Old Testament. Jesus’ betrayal and arrest is the first step in His journey to the cross.
Even though Jesus’ betrayal and arrest were part of the plan, there is a tension between God’s plan and one disciple accepting it. In verse 51, one of the disciples cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Who was this disciple? In John 18:10, we find out Peter is the one who cut off the servant’s ear. Why would Peter do this when he was told this would happen? Could it be Peter was wrestling internally with how could this be part of God’s plan? Can you relate to wrestling with God’s plan for your own life?
The reasons we may wrestle with God’s plan varies. Fear, impatience, pride could be factors. Whatever is causing you to wrestle with God’s plan, know the wrestling could be revealing two things:
- A need to surrender to the Lord your fears, impatience, pride, etc.
- Trust (and confidence) in who God is needs to grow.
When Peter cuts off the servant’s ear, it is noteworthy how Jesus uses the moment to calm Peter and remind Peter of who He is. Jesus is allowing this to happen because He is in control, and this is the plan.
In the moments when you are struggling to accept God’s plan to wait on Him for the desires He has put within you, know that because He is asking you to wait on Him, you can be confident waiting on Him is worth it. So, trust He knows exactly what He is doing in you and through you as you wait.
All Bible verses are from Holy Bible: English Standard Version