Matthew 27:40-43 (TLB) “So! You can destroy the Temple and build it again in three days, can you? Well, then, come on down from the cross if you are the Son of God!” And the chief priests and Jewish leaders also mocked him. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So you are the King of Israel, are you? Come down from the cross and we’ll believe you! He trusted God—let God show his approval by delivering him! Didn’t he say, ‘I am God’s Son’?”
I have a friend who I sometimes question her method of reinforcing good values in her children. I unlike her will “baby” mine because to me they are just that babies in my sight but she on the other hand will allow her children to fall and pick themselves up. I have come to respect her method as hard as it is; I now realize that she is seeing beyond the here and now and that in the long run it will be of good to the child because it teaches independence among others things. It brought to mind the above passage and how God had to allow a difficult thing to happen to His only Son Jesus Christ for the greater good. The fact that Jesus had to trust God’s plan becauseit was about seeing beyond the here and now.
Sometimes it is not what we want but it is what is necessary at the time. In the passage above Jesus had to go through what he did because he knew it served the greater purpose of us all having the opportunity (if we desire) of eternal life. He easily could have saved himself as the soldiers and people jeered him.
Seeing beyond the here and now can be difficult at times; we are always ready to prove to people when they try to show us up in whatever situations as the scribes and pharisees thought they were doing to Jesus. Jesus saw the big picture, not what was happening at the time and so we also have to see that big picture. Is it worth satisfying a moment of discomfort to prove to people or should we be seeking to satisfy God by doing His will and allowing us to have a greater impact for His kingdom and maturing in the process.
In Matthew 16:22-23 (NIV) when Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” This passage of scriptures further speaks all too well of the above. The scribes and pharisees were speaking for the devil at the time (Matthew 27:40-43) just as Peter was doing in this passage.
The enemy uses people, situations and our feelings against us and keep us in the here and now preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. At the same time trying to prevent God’s words from coming to fruition. We, however, need to be like Jesus as hard as it is and see what the bigger picture and the bigger accomplishment our decisions and actions will have on the people we impact, just as Jesus was able to. After all, are we not striving to be like Jesus?
Let us pray that God will open our minds, our spiritual eyes and spiritual ears so that we will be able to act according to his will in all situations (from our children to everyone else we interact with). In so doing the greater good can and will be manifested. Jesus reigns!!!