Unthwarted
Written by Erin Richer
We’re coming up on Easter.
It was just one Easter ago when Covid struck fear into hearts around the world. All of the sudden toilet paper was gone and we suspected everyone of selfishness and hoarding. We questioned the morality of others based on the number of mask layers they wore—none being the most heinous offense. At the heart of it, we seemed to truly believe that our actions and behaviors could extend or shorten the number of our neighbors’ days. As if we have control over our God-given breaths which are known by Him alone.
This is exactly what the enemy does. We don’t like to talk about it, but we do have an enemy eager to steal all that is good from the world: our trust in our Creator and our love and grace for one another. We can see his work clearly illustrated throughout Scripture. But as we look more closely at the story of Good Friday, we can be encouraged that not one aspect of God’s plan can be thwarted. In fact, even the schemes of the enemy to ruin God’s plan will only fulfill it…
Reading the opening of Matthew 26, I can’t help but notice the stark contrast in scenes. It opens with Jesus talking to the disciples, predicting not only His death but specifically that He will be handed over for crucifixion. In the very next verse we are taken to a new scene in a different location—the home of the High Priest, where he and the elders are conspiring to arrest Jesus. God is gathering and preparing His disciples in one scene and Satan is gathering and preparing his in the next. All within four verses.
Immediately after we see Jesus proclaim His coming crucifixion, we are brought to a scene in which a woman anoints Jesus for burial. This stirs indignation among the disciples for what they view as waste. (John 12:1-7 gives tremendous clarity to this portion of the story for those who love a good cross reference.) Jesus condemns their judgment, asserting that she is preparing Him for the burial He had just warned them was impending. He goes as far as to elevate the woman, saying that she will always be remembered for this good act.
At this very moment, Judas goes to the chief priests and agrees to hand Jesus over to them. Just like that, we have our second juxtaposition. This very good act that will bring eternal fame to the woman who anoints Jesus for burial, is the catalyst for Judas’ treacherous act which will bring him eternal infamy. Where God is doing and preparing good works, Satan is also at work.
My favorite revelation of this entire section of Matthew 26 comes in the closing line in verse 16: “And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.” I love this because the very first line of the passage (vs. 1 and 2) tells us that Judas would betray Him in two days—the night of Passover. Judas was looking for a time that Jesus had already revealed. The story they were playing out had already been written and the times being made known were already known to all involved. This kind of dramatic irony is why I find the Bible so compelling. Judas hadn’t made the decision to betray Jesus when Jesus relayed the details about the time and place.
In the following passage, we will see the Passover dinner play out and Judas will leave early to betray Jesus. (This we find in John’s account—John 13:27-30.) The entire time that the chief priests and Judas should be celebrating Passover, they are planning to slay the Lamb Himself. In fact, while the rest of the disciples are eating the final Passover meal that Jesus is declaring represents His flesh and His blood, Judas and the very highest priest are preparing the fulfillment of the final and perfect Passover meal. Jesus’ actual flesh and blood. Here in this dramatic fulfillment of the salvation of mankind, one thing we can claim for full assurance is this: everything the enemy plans for evil has already been prevailed upon by God.
It is Good Friday. The one day in the year that we set aside to truly meditate on what our sin cost our Father and His Son. And yet we find Jesus had been waiting for this day. He was actually thrilled the hour was here because He knew what was about to come:
And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Luke 22:15-18
What joy there is in knowing nothing can thwart God’s perfect plans. As dark as things may look, the outcomes of all of our lives are known and in the hands of a gracious God who is masterful in His redemptive plans.
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Hello again, Dive Collective! It has been so long since we’ve seen you, studied with you, sent you any news. So much has happened since we decided to take a break, and we will be telling you a lot about that in an upcoming podcast episode!