While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve,
and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and
the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The
one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and
said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do
what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew
his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then
Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the
sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father,
and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then
should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” At that hour Jesus
said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and
clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did
not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets
might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. (Matthew
26:47-56)
Part of this comes
from spending close to 5 months traveling “down the garden path” of a book
saturated with false teachings about Jesus. And the main focus is to continue
Satan’s question to Eve in the Garden, “Did God actually say…?”
Satan knows what
happens when people rely on God’s word. He knows how unstoppable we are when we
believe what is written, and when we seek “to live by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.” So the thing he must attack is the integrity of
Scripture.
I began my morning
in one of my cyclical “moods”. I have taken great comfort in John Piper describing
it as waking up feeling like he isn’t even a Christian! But this made God’s
word stand out to me all the more as I saw how God was speaking into my
despondency of heart with exactly what I needed to hear from him. I would never
make it through the day if I stayed in what John Bunyan described as “the
Slough of Despond”.[1]
Instead, as I read
God’s word while talking to him about how in the world he would ever get
through to me, he smiled once again and opened my mind to understand the
Scriptures. And what I needed to see was a Savior who would fulfill Scripture
even though it was taking him to the cross where he would drink “the cup” of
God’s wrath against my sin. He would fulfill Scripture even though he had just
told his disciples how this meant one of their own number would betray him, and
how they would all scatter the moment the Shepherd was “struck”.
Now let’s go a few
days ahead in the script and see what Jesus would say to his disciples when he
began appearing to them after his resurrection:
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
That’s the point. Jesus
would not fail to fulfill Scripture, including the ones that spoke of him being
betrayed, abandoned, despised, rejected, pierced, crushed, chastised, wounded,
oppressed, afflicted, judged, anguished, and put to death.
But that is why we
can take hold of this glorious prophecy by faith:
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he
was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us
peace,
and
with his wounds we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:5).
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus appearing to his disciples as the resurrected Savior was the greatest “return to joy” anyone could ever experience. Not only was the crucified Savior alive, but,
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Yes, I am
encouraged because the Scripture has spoken. I have a living Savior who gives
me life. He fulfilled all the Scriptures that spoke of his first coming, he
will fulfill all those speaking of his return, and he leads me out of the
Slough of Despond more often than I wish I needed!
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
[1]
John Bunyan lived from 1628-1688.
While he was in prison for his preaching of the Gospel, he wrote the timeless
allegory of the Christian life entitled, “The Pilgrim's Progress.” One of my
early gifts from my wife was an old copy of this book she had found in a used
bookstore. His description of “the Slough of Despond” captures how many
Christians feel at times as negative thoughts and feelings overwhelm them with
discouragement and hopelessness. I have often found comfort in realizing that
this feeling of depression and despondency is so common that it was written
into a classic over three centuries ago.
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