“But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge – to the great amazement of the governor.” Matthew 27:14 (NIV)
The time had come. Awaiting His sentence, He stood silently before the Governor, Pilate. The memories of betrayal, of the rough guards “guiding” Him through the garden, still fresh in His mind. Jesus had actually been arrested.
Jesus knew He’d done nothing wrong. He knew He was innocent. He also knew this was His Father’s plan to reunite humanity to Himself.
Jesus was to be the final sacrifice. Instead of a guilt offering for sin each and every time they disobeyed God, God’s children would have a way directly back to the His forgiveness – just by asking and believing.
But before that could happen, innocent Jesus needed to suffer a criminal’s death.
How did Jesus stand quietly before Pilate and not proclaim His innocence? How did He have the courage, the humility, and the stamina to withstand criminal treatment?
God was with Him.
God was with Him.
He supplied Jesus’ every need: from the courage needed to withstand the accusation and the faith to accept God’s plan over His own will. God gave Him physical and emotional fortitude to face the brutal abuse His haters dished out and the forgiveness necessary to still persevere through the pain to create the path back to God.
Jesus was ready to take a criminal’s death for a crime He didn’t commit because God had also given Him an unfathomable love for humanity and an unwavering commitment to obey the Father.
God supplied exactly what He needed, exactly when He needed it.
Jesus knew who God is and what He could do. Jesus also knew what to ask. And, He accepted the Father’s answer. He trusted in God and His instruction. He knew God would supply and provide.
He trusted God to supply His needs and even in those unimaginable moments, God was there and He met each and every one.
Reflections:
Do I know how to ask God for what I need?
Do I believe He will supply my every need – even if it’s not the solution I requested?
When I feel my faith waver, do I ask, like the boy’s father in Mark 9:24, to supply the faith I need?
Prayer: Dear Father God, Thank You for authoring a way back to You. Thank You for sending Jesus for my guilt, to be my sacrifice. Thank You for showing over and over again that You are there and will meet my needs. Please, supply the faith I need each day as I draw closer to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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