From Matthew 26:57-68

I think it’s a little funny that the scribes and elders go through all this effort to line up false witnesses to try and convict Jesus so that they can put Him to death, and the charges that end up condemning Him are the ones that are entirely true.  Two men accuse Jesus of saying that He will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days – which is one hundred percent something that Jesus said in John 2:19. Then they ask Jesus if He is the Christ and He accepts that title.  That isn’t a problem if they believe Him but as far as they are concerned, Jesus was a man who claimed to be God.  For these reasons, the council convicts Jesus and condemns Him to die.  Both of these “crimes” have an answer later; however, in the accomplishments of Jesus.  First, after His resurrection the connection starts to get made that the “temple” Jesus was talking about was His body – which was destroyed on the cross and restored on the third day.  Second, Jesus comes back from the dead under His own power – something only God can do. So in hindsight we can say that the council convicted Him because of their own lack of understanding about who His was and what He came to do.

This is one of the instances where we can look back and learn from the mistakes of others.  The men who put Jesus on trial wanted so badly to convict Him that their desires shaped their interpretation of His Word.  The Word of God will always be right in how reality works out though, and trying to wade against the current does nothing but put us at odds with wear God wants us to be.  It takes humility and discipline to say, “it doesn’t matter what I think, God’s Word is right.” It can be so tempting to, how shall we say, creatively interpret the Bible to align with what we want.  Let’s learn from Caiaphas and those who followed Him, lets take Jesus’ words as He meant them, reading them in the fuller context of the rest of Scripture, and striving for the faithful interpretation instead of the comfortable one.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously gives us His Word.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to allow the Bible to speak without trying to manipulate what it’s saying.

Topics to Pray About:                                                              

• Thank Jesus for all of the wisdom and guidance in His Word
• Confess to God times where you ignore or ‘creatively interpret’ the Biel for your own desires
• Ask God to lead you into more faithful living

In His Service,

J. LeBorious