When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” - Matthew 26:1-5
Lord Jesus, I see the irony in these verses. While you were planning to give the greatest gift for me as the defect-less Lamb of God during the great feast of deliverance, evil men were plotting to take your life. However, they hoped to avoid that feast so as not to cause a riot! Your gift happened when and where you wanted it to. The riot you caused in humanity has dwarfed the one that they feared in Israel. What perfect love! What perfect plan, to die by and for one's enemies all at the same time. I was killed and raised to life in the riot you have caused. And now I live with peace and forgiveness to share with a lonely and selfish race. Help me freely give of myself to stamp out loneliness among sinners as you have freely given to liberate me from my solitary confinement caused by guilt and shame. AMEN
Jesus died to set the world ablaze with a message than cannot be smothered until it has touched every soul with the truth about God’s burning love for all human stubble.
Additional Readings: John 12:20-36, Revelation 5