Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-6 | Psalm 71 | John 13:21-33, 36-38
“BE QUICK”
“Be quick about what you are to do.” - John 13:27
After Satan had entered Judas’ heart, Jesus told him to be
quick. Jesus had already tried to lead Judas to repentance, but after the
betrayer had definitively and finally refused God’s grace, Jesus knew that
Satan would use Judas to torture, brutalize, and crucify Him. Therefore, Jesus
had nothing more to say to him except that he should be quick to get it over
with. Like any human being, Jesus didn’t want to suffer any longer than He had
to.
Even though Jesus was executed quickly (within a few hours of
His arrest), the day of Jesus’ death probably seemed to Him to last forever.
Just thinking about it caused His sweat to become as drops of blood (Luke
22:44). For God, one day can be as a thousand years (II Peter 3:8), the day of
Jesus’ death must have felt like many thousands of years. On the cross, time
almost stopped dead; a second seemed like a lifetime. Jesus’ death was anything
but quick; He refused to take any drugs to kill His consciousness (Mark 15:23).
He suffered not just a slow death but the slowest death. He suffered all this
for love of you.
This is the holiest week of the year. Jesus is calling us to
repent. “Be quick” about it (John 13:27).
Prayer: Jesus, are You slow to return or are we slow to
repent? (see II Peter 3:9)
No comments:
Post a Comment