Injustice and Betrayal (Matthew 26:57-75)
When we read about the trials against Jesus we are filled with indignation. The system was rigged! They held a sham trial! We love to hate the bad guys, and the leaders of the day were clearly the bad guys of this story. The problem is, however, that the way we often read the gospels causes us to miss the point.
Too often, we fall into the trap of looking for ourselves in the story. And, even worse, we find ourselves in all the wrong places. As Christians, we clearly are rooting for Jesus. But we cannot identify ourselves in His place in the story. If we are honest and self-aware, we are the bad guys in this story as well. We are the ones who rigged the system. We caused a sham trial. We sent an innocent man to die in our stead.
As if to emphasize the point, Matthew frames the account of Jesus’ trial with the story of Peter. Peter has already promised to die fighting for Jesus, but just as Jesus foretold, Peter does nothing of the sort. He repeatedly denies that he knows Jesus. Fearing for his own life, he betrays Jesus.
We must never become so numb to the reality of the Gospel as to forget this point. We are the reason Jesus died on the cross. We deserve the death that He suffered. We are the enemies that sent Him to the cross. And it was for the love of us enemies that He willingly went there.
Righteous indignation can be a fun feeling to entertain, but we have another responsibility. We are commanded to love our enemies as Jesus loved us when we were His enemies.
Too often, we fall into the trap of looking for ourselves in the story. And, even worse, we find ourselves in all the wrong places. As Christians, we clearly are rooting for Jesus. But we cannot identify ourselves in His place in the story. If we are honest and self-aware, we are the bad guys in this story as well. We are the ones who rigged the system. We caused a sham trial. We sent an innocent man to die in our stead.
As if to emphasize the point, Matthew frames the account of Jesus’ trial with the story of Peter. Peter has already promised to die fighting for Jesus, but just as Jesus foretold, Peter does nothing of the sort. He repeatedly denies that he knows Jesus. Fearing for his own life, he betrays Jesus.
We must never become so numb to the reality of the Gospel as to forget this point. We are the reason Jesus died on the cross. We deserve the death that He suffered. We are the enemies that sent Him to the cross. And it was for the love of us enemies that He willingly went there.
Righteous indignation can be a fun feeling to entertain, but we have another responsibility. We are commanded to love our enemies as Jesus loved us when we were His enemies.
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