I have been reading a wonderful devotional book for one of my classes. Each day there is a scripture reference and then the author follows it with a 1 to 2 page meditation. I got to one the other night that made me gasp and then….cry. The scripture reference is John 18:12-14, 19-23. It goes like this:
“12 So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.[a] 14 Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”
19 Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. 20 Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people[a] gather. I have not spoken in secret. 21 Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.”
22 Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
So, this was bad enough…reading of an innocent Jesus being sent to his death…being beat upon; taking our sin upon his shoulders. At this point he was getting ready to be beaten beyond recognition. He knew what was coming. His soul was in grief; but not enough to make him stop for we were his passion. So…then I got to the meditation part of the devotion. Now, remember I told you that typically they are 1-2 pages. This one however was simply one line. It read:
“The first hand to strike the savior was a religious hand.” (p. 343)
WOW!!!! Are you kidding me?!!??! I have read this story a hundred times before and it never hit me that the very first hand to strike Jesus was someone of religious stature. I began to weep. How many times do we as “religious” people “strike” the savior when we do wrong? How many times have we neglected to tell someone about him because we didn’t know what they would think? How many times have we revisited something in our past that he died to forgive? How many times have we taken his name in vain? How many times has his spirit told us in the still, small voice to not do something and yet we do it anyway? I don’t know if this line hit you the way it hit me. Ponder it for a few minutes. Read the passage again and picture yourself there. Then read the meditation again. Again…all I can say is “forgive me”….
Gire, Ken. Moments with the Savior, Zondervan Publishing, 1998.
