Walking With Jesus: An 8-Day Exploration Through Holy WeekSample

Day 4 | Façade of Secrets

We’re halfway through the week that would change the world. As the week progresses, the plot to kill Jesus begins to take shape. Passover, that high Jewish holy day, was starting in two days, and the religious leaders Jesus had rebuked in the Temple were coming together to discuss what should be done about this problematic man.

“At that same time, the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill Him. ‘But not during the Passover celebration,’ they agreed, ‘or the people may riot’” (Matthew 26:3-5).

The religious leadership knew Jesus had a following—that was part of the problem—and so they didn’t want to remove the beloved Teacher during the biggest feast of the year. The leaders were afraid of the pushback. They didn’t have time for public outcry. They simply wanted to get in, get out, and be done with this Jesus guy.

This group knew that what they were doing was wrong which is why they were concealing their plot and their true motives, but they wanted to do it anyway. They just didn’t want to deal with the fallout.

Judas was the same.

“Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, ‘How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?’ And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus” (Matthew 26:14-16).

Both Judas and the religious leaders worked in secret to accomplish their despicable deeds. The leaders didn’t want the people to riot; Judas didn’t want his fellow disciples to know of his betrayal. They all wanted their desired result without any of the consequences.

How often have we done the same? Yet nothing is hidden from God’s sight. Not our deeds, and not those of Jesus’ enemies.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable” (Hebrews 4:13).

Jesus’ enemies thought they could act with impunity, but they were wrong. Jesus’ disciples thought they would defend Jesus to the death, but they were wrong.

Only God fully understands the weakness of our human heart. Perhaps we would not plot to hang the Savior of the world on a cross, but every day we do things our conscience tells us are wrong. We may do them openly, but often we do them in secret, hoping we don’t get caught so “the people won’t riot.” Or like the disciples who were sure they would never betray Jesus, we have done the very things we know dishonor Him.

Socially acceptable sins, or secret ones, are not always the obvious things we think of, like porn, adultery, or breaking the law. Instead, they can look as small and seemingly insignificant as greed, talking bad about others, arrogance, impatience at home, fudging hours at work to get a bigger paycheck, gossiping, telling white lies, and on it goes.… The possibilities of turning from Jesus to self are endless.

But what we do in secret never stays secret. There are always consequences – even if we haven’t yet seen them fully. God loves us too much to leave us in the dark with our sins – and more importantly, distanced from fellowship with Him by our sins. But here is our chance to learn from the mistakes of Judas and the religious leaders whose secret sins dragged them further and further into darkness – surely much further than they ever intended to go.

But we dear friends, have time to make a different choice.

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:5-9).

We have the opportunity today to check our choices and attitudes against the person God is calling us to become. We can voluntarily step into the light and ask God to help us.

Reflection Question: Finding encouragement in the knowledge that nothing escapes God's sight, reflect on your life: Is there anything you'd prefer God not to witness today?

Have you taken extra measures to conceal certain aspects from others? Are you open to discussing your private struggles with God, recognizing His promise of forgiveness and support?

Take this moment to confess to God, seeking His guidance through the Holy Spirit to realign your heart with His will. Express gratitude for the cross, which facilitates forgiveness.