Verse: Matthew 26:51-54, 56
51 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. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
56 …Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Devotional Thoughts:
This moment in the Garden of Gethsemane came as a shock to the disciples. It shouldn’t have – Jesus had told them repeatedly that he was going to die. Even then, they weren’t expecting it.
The disciples had plans of grandeur. Their questions had revolved more around their titles and positions in the coming kingdom of God, rather than reaching an understanding of how the kingdom would be established. Even just the day before, the disciples had been arguing amongst themselves about who would be the greatest.
It makes sense then – if you consider Jesus to be the Promised Messiah who will overthrow the Roman Empire and establish his own kingdom – to grab for your sword when trouble arises. So this moment in the garden is a big surprise for them. But it’s also really important to understand as well, because it’s the moment where Jesus’ plan becomes apparent, and their plans fall apart.
The death of Jesus put to death their dreams of the way they’d envisioned life going. Their plans fell apart at the cross. But even though that is true, even though Jesus’ death destroyed their hopes, it also gave them more hope than they’d ever had before.
Points to Ponder:
The reality is that the death of Jesus will put to death your dreams too. Here’s what I mean by that – you are no longer your own. You no longer have the right to determine the course of your own life. But the great thing is that even though your plans may fall apart, they’re replaced with something even better – Jesus’ plans. While the death of Jesus will put to death your dreams, it brings you something better – an abundant, purposeful, joy-filled life.
That’s really the kind of life we wanted all along. We all want to live a full, abundant life. We all want a life of joy. None of us want a meaningless life – we want to live a life full of purpose. And through the death and resurrection of Jesus, all those things are available to us.
Jesus’ dying for us reorients us. Life is no longer about us. It’s no longer simply about what I want. We give up our plans because, again, we have something better – the plans our Lord has for us.
How is the Lord using you? How are you following God’s purpose for your life?
