Scripture

While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not stretch out your hands against Me, but this hour and the authority of darkness are yours.

~Luke 22:53, LSB

Quote

We are reminded daily of the reality of evil and the presence of sin in this world and our only hope of overcoming this darkness is Jesus.

~Janowski

I don’t like darkness or evil. I try to read the gospels four times each year and all four gospel writers tell about the crucifixion. I just finished Luke in the LSB and verses 63-64 in chapter 22 got my undivided attention. Jesus was totally innocent. He had committed no wrong. Not one person on the face of the earth could convict Him of any sin; then or now, yet he was treated like a vile criminal. We don’t like to see a Lamb lead to the slaughter. Our heart cries out for intervention…someone stop this…He is innocent…this is wrong. The only person, at least on the right side, who could stop the crucifixion was Jesus Himself. It was Jesus who granted the vile and corrupt chief priest an hour of darkness. He knew exactly what they were going to do. They hated Him and had been conspiring to kill Him for months. Yet Jesus allowed them their hour of darkness so they could sacrifice the Passover Lamb which was Himself. These evil priest were doing God’s will, at least fulfilling God’s redemptive plan and the poor fools were not even aware of what they were doing.

Had I been a bystander that day, I would have cringed in horror. I might have even cried out in a loud voice, “This is not right…the man is innocent…He does not deserve this.” No doubt we would have fell on our knees and begged God to stop it. But now we know, He would not have stopped it no matter how fervent our prayers. It was God’s will for Jesus to suffer. How do we relate this painful truth to what’s going on today. We Christians, true Christians are hurting. Once again our LORD’s name is being dragged through the mud. The elites who control the power, Hollywood, the media, higher education, courts have disdain for the Bible. They despise the word of God and true believers are deplorable. They have demonized the church and are making Christians the scapegoats. We are haters, bigots, intolerant and we stand in the way of progress. If it were not for the avid followers of Jesus, Marxism would have no resistance. I am not pretending that I know what is going on but it seems apparent to me that darkness is having another hour in world history. The good news is this: God is allowing it for a reason and it has an end in sight. It’s only an hour. Judas was among those who came to arrest Jesus. He had his hour. Turns out, it wasn’t much more than an hour. You see, the hour of darkness will end and when it does, Jesus will be standing above the fray.

Extra

Praise the LORD for the thunder and then 30 minutes later we got a good shower. It rained enough that you could hear it hitting our metal roof for about 10 minutes. We still have mud at 1120 Iron Man PTL. We also have cloud cover which is a blessing. I hope you have a good day and a HAPPY JULY 4TH. June and I have an empty nest this weeks; the kids are on a cruise. All except JD’s bunch. Pray for Willowdean Sandlin. June is going to check on her later this morning.