LUKE 23
In Luke 23, the people, the secondary characters caught my attention. First, in verse 8 it talks about Herod being elated (TPT), delighted (MSG) and greatly pleased (NIV) to have an opportunity to meet and see Jesus. Apparently Herod had heard about him and was hoping to see him do something spectacular- a miracle of some sort. He wanted to be entertained. Imagine Herod’s mood when Jesus not only did not perform a miracle but didn’t even respond to his questions.
Later on in verse 27 it talks about a large crowd gathering as they led Jesus to the cross. It was common for a crowd to gather to witness the weekly crucifications, but this time it states the crowd was large. What was the agenda of these people? Had they heard about Jesus? Were they present and part of the crowd that called out “Crucify him!” and “Released Barabbas!” just a day ago? Were they thinking something miraculous might happen? Maybe. In verse 35 it states that this crowd stood watching. They were curious. However, in verse 48 it says even this group of people were disappointed and walked away when Jesus had taken his last breath and died. The miracles they imagined happening - had not.
But listen to verse 49 in the Passion Translation:
“But standing off at a distance were some who truly knew Jesus, and the women who had followed him all the way from Galilee were keeping vigil.” Those who truly knew Jesus stayed after his physical death keeping vigil. They kept watching, alert - waiting with expectation. They knew that even though their earthly understanding told them it was over - it wasn’t. They learned to expect the unexpected. I don’t think they were waiting out of curiosity or to be entertained -they were waiting with expectation for something good to happen because they had seen it before. They had witnessed miracles.
This left me thinking - How do we wait on God? Do we pray, watch and wait with curiosity, waiting to be entertained OR do we have faith in our good and powerful Saviour? Do we limit Jesus with the boundaries of what we can imagine or do we wait patiently knowing he will do more than we can ever ask or imagine? Ask yourself these questions and then you may want to pause and reset. I know I did. Pray with me...
God, I trust you. I want to wait on you with expectation. I trust your timing. Coming to life after three days was way more miraculous than climbing off the cross in that moment. Increase my expectation and trust in you Jesus, in your power and in your goodness. Increase my faith.” - Amen
Submitted by Kelly Beitz