Matthew 26:4-5 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Sometimes our best plans fail to materialize. We end up failing even when we worked through a great plan, taking into account the many “what if’s” that might happen. Life has many more surprises than we can even imagine.
In the military, we are always planning for battle, not because we love fighting, but because we want to be prepared when the nation calls us to action. And one of the biggest part of planning is looking at the second and third order effects. We are always examining the “what if’s” of the battlefield. We look at weather, history, culture, our enemy’s training and tactics, and of course our own supply lines, training and level of preparedness.
If there is a hotspot in the world today, there is a military plan at some stage of development to protect American interests and those of our allies around the world. That is what the military does best. It plans. Few other organizations do the kind of planning that the military does.
The reason I bring this up is found in our text. The Jewish leaders of Jesus day wanted to kill Jesus. They wanted to arrest Him secretly. And of course we know that this certainly didn’t happen.
Jesus’ arrest became public within hours of His arrest. His disciples probably spread the news among Jesus’ followers as soon as the soldiers bound him and spirited Him away in the night from the garden. The next day he was publicly crucified, having had three hasty and predetermined trials. He didn’t stand a chance at their form of justice.
But what I find even more ironic is that they didn’t want the arrest to happen during the Passover festival. Too many people in town! Too many crowds. Too many eyes and ears that might spread the news.
But what happened to change their minds? Something happened that pushed all their plans aside. Judas! They hadn’t even thought about one of Jesus’ closest circle members being willing to betray Him. From all appearances, Jesus’ disciples and those who were closest to Him were fully devoted for Him and to His teaching.
If you had heard the teaching and seen the miracles, you would probably be devoted as well. But even this, such an obvious conclusion, didn’t turn out to be true. Even the closest people turned and ran. The crowds can be fickle, so when they shout “Crucify Him!” it isn’t too shocking.
But the leaders didn’t expect Judas to hand over Jesus at that moment. They couldn’t let such an opportunity pass them by, so they seized on the chance and all their well laid plans went out the window. They were willing to risk a riot, even though it might lead to a Roman crackdown.
I am wondering how many time our plans get pushed aside by either circumstances or impulse control. I had the opportunity that suddenly arose to purchase two kite boards with all the gear for a very good price. We had talked about the possibility, if we lived at the beach, of getting one only one week earlier. Was this the LORD’s timing?
We didn’t even have plans to purchase one, since we don’t live at the beach. Purchasing wasn’t even one of my contingencies. So we didn’t purchase.
Have you ever gone with an impulse, only to later regret that decision? I wonder if the Jewish leaders regretting taking Judas up on his offer of betrayal? Many of them later became Christians. The Apostle Paul might have been a party to this movement. He persecuted the Church, and then became on of its greatest missionaries. Not what Paul had planned.
The Arnold Journey 