His Cross Our HopePrimjer

At last, our mother had gone grocery shopping, leaving my brother Steve and me to take care of our baby brother Bill, our mother’s favorite. Steve and I looked at each other, and we executed our plan to throw Bill into the attached garage and lock him in. We sang through the door to Bill, “We hear you knocking, but you can’t come in.” Torture was delicious, and revenge was sweet. Steve and I resented how Bill wrapped our mother around his small finger. We preferred seniority to rule as law.

As our mother’s return grew close, Steve and I dragged Bill back into the house. We stared at him and threatened to kill him if he told our mother anything that had transpired. Luckily, he believed us enough to obey, so we didn’t have to follow through with our promise. Steve and I didn’t like our power ignored.

Self-appointed protectors of the law can be dangerous when they perceive a threat to their power. As Jesus’ popularity increased the Pharisees, teachers of Jewish law, took notice. Jesus began to challenge how they interpreted Jewish law, burdening their people. Pharisees enjoyed their social standing and people’s perception of their power. They felt threatened by Jesus’ teaching. Fear and hatred grew in their hearts until they schemed a plan to permanently remove him. Religious leaders plotted Jesus’s murder.

Jesus knew exactly what would happen. He predicted His death to His disciples. At the appointed time, religious leaders would carry out their plan. It wasn’t a secret to God. God knows our hearts, and any power we have is what God allows. We can pour our hearts out to God. Or we can allow perceived slights to fester into hate within us and take matters into our own hands. We can choose either, and it will be no secret to God.

~Carol McCracken

Author, speaker, and Bible study teacher