When Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, Judas came and kissed Him. Then, the people who came with Judas, arrested Jesus and took him to Caiaphas, the high priest and handed him over to Pilate, the governor (Matthew 26:67). How could the Son of God be handed over to a human court? There was only one reason that Jesus was going to die to save humans. These are all things are kind of drama planned by God. God created the heavens and the earth when God spoke (Genesis 1:1-31). At His command, God brings the dead back to life (John11:43-44) and heals the lepers (Luke17:11-14) and walks on the water (Matthew14:28-29).
Try to think you are forced to watch play with absurd story. If you see Jesus, who performed miracles and wonders by His power, are arrested by the Jews and handed over to the Roman soldiers and bleed by being flogged and climbed the hill to die on the Cross by carrying the heavy cross, you will come out of the theater in the middle of a play if the story is too absurd. Who would see the play that doesn’t make sense?
However, God realized the script for salvation for mankind that is not logical at all on the stage, which is this world, by representing a real character. Amazingly, God the Father let Judas Iscariot sell Jesus for thirty silver coins. While Jesus was being sold, he Himself also endured the situation silently.
If the disciples had put the crowds who came to arrest Jesus to the sword, perhaps Jesus Christ would not have died die on the Cross. Who is this divine providence for? This is for us and me. When I think of this, we have no choice but to thank God and Jesus who suffered for us.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #653
