It is Wednesday and Sunday IS Coming!

Wednesday afternoon, March 19, 2008
Obviously, I cannot be sure but it is my guess that the following passage took place on the Wednesday just prior to what we call Maundy Thursday: “And it came about on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke saying to Him, ‘Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?’ And He answered and said to them, ‘I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ And they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Luke 20:1-8).
Don’t you just love it when Jesus corners the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and beats them at their own game? Oh, they were determined to get Him to say (or do) something that would give them legitimate reason to put Him to death, and the truth is they really thought they had finally cornered Him, leaving Him with no way out. I love this line:”THEY CONFRONTED HIM” (vs. 1b)! Can you imagine being so dim-witted, so ill-advised, so religious, as to confront the One to whom The Creator of the universe had given all authority in heaven and on earth (see Matthew 28:18)? Well, they were just that dim-witted and ill-advised—religious to be precise.
Now listen up: religion will make a fool of you—every time and all the time! It will elevate your pride to such an extent that you will attempt to do the same kinds of foolish things these religious leaders attempted to do! It will propel you into the utter ridiculous, leaving you looking just as foolish, if not more so, than these chief priests, scribes, and elders looked. By the way and just for the record, they knew they looked foolish (which was very humiliating!), as was evidenced by the fact that they reasoned among themselves, finally deciding (and wisely so) to take the easy way out in answering Jesus’ question! Actually, they were concerned with much more than looking foolish; specifically, they were terrified that Jesus’ followers would stone them to death (see vs. 6). What a turn of events!
Notice this: Although Jesus was in the midst of the toughest week of His earthly life, knowing full-well what was in front of Him (not to mention, having to deal with these religious idiots, who constantly harassed Him), we do not find Him whining and blaming; instead, He is preaching the gospel in the Temple! Wow! Incredible!
Now listen up again: please do not allow your religious friends (and you do have some!) to persuade you to become religious during the rest of this week, and get so caught-up in doing what the religious do, that you miss what He is doing and end up looking as foolish as the aforementioned religious leaders looked. His death, burial, and resurrection have nothing to do with colored eggs, new dresses, white suits, lilies, drama productions, musical performances, and Sunday dinners (By the way, I am not against any of these; in fact, I am for them but not if they serve to distract me from celebrating the freedom Jesus purchased for me through His death, burial, and resurrection).
It is Wednesday and Sunday IS coming, so rest in His finished work and celebrate Jesus!