“Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.” (Mark 12:12 NIV)
We are continuing to follow Jesus throughout His last week. Turns out, Tuesday’s Temple teaching had pulled back the wool for the priests and Pharisees. Jesus had spoken about tenant farmers on a leased vineyard. The renters mistreated the owners servants and ultimately murdered his son. Jesus was quite clear with His audience, He knew precisely what the Temple leadership was plotting. He called them out on it, right there in their rental plot.
Note the priests response: they sliver off into the shadows. They didn’t deny Jesus’ words or even attempt to change their course. They seem to be too far gone to alter their intent: the deed is all but accomplished, they couldn’t imagine a path forward that left Jesus living.
The religious leaders spent the rest of Tuesday in the Temple; sparring with their Savior. The Pharisees and Sadducees tagged in and out, like some sort of macabre spiritual death match, but Jesus won every round. He landed the final blow when He spoke about the master of the house coming home. He warned, “therefore, be alert.” Tuesday came to a close and everyone returned to their respective corners.
Wednesday dawns and we have very few details of the day. Mark is mostly silent about how Jesus spent His midweek moments. I suspect He pulled away in prayer, as He often did before a trial. He was fully aware of the preaching marathon He would embark upon and the cross loomed just after that. I picture Jesus pacing the remote hills surrounding Bethany, head bent in prayer. Surely He walked, worshiped, and waited on words of encouragement from His Father in heaven.
Meanwhile, the priests don’t seem to spend so much as a minute pursuing the presence of God. Sin will do this to us: separate us from the One who can set us back in the right direction. Sin pushes us out of relationship with our heavenly Father and it eats away at our soul until we are destroyed completely. I’m taken aback by, how, during the busiest ministry week of the year, the leadership is utterly preoccupied with killing Jesus. Check out the scripture:
“Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” (Mark 14:1-2 NIV)
Their hatred had hit a fever pitch. The Temple leadership team was so consumed with their jealousy and insecurity that they wound up advancing their plans and crucifying Jesus as part of their festivities. They slayed the Passover Lamb in full view of the people.
I wonder, what would have happened if they had followed Jesus’ example that Wednesday? What if they had gotten alone, apart from the consensus, and sought God’s presence? Would they have had opportunity to acknowledged their sinfulness? Envy? Pride and error? Surely God would have spoke into their stories if they’d only taken time to seek Him.
Jesus always shows us a better way.
So often we are like these priests, rushing through days that the Lord has laid aside for waiting. Instead of sitting in the discomfort of our own stillness, we push on ahead with our plans and agendas, ignorant of how disastrous they might be to our spiritual formation.
As a pastor, I am well aware of the pressure to perform amidst passion week. Busy is the badge of the good minister, isn’t it? And where exactly in scripture can we cite this example? What in life is ever made better by rushing? Ann Voskamp’s words come to mind, how hurry makes amateurs of us all.
Doesn’t Jesus give us a better example? Don’t we see Him stepping away more and more often as His ministry expands? What if we busy ourselves to a point that we miss God’s intent entirely? We can become so concerned with programs and performances and reaching people, but maybe all God longs for right now is our full attention – at least for a few moments in this precious stretch of holy week.
I get it. We all live in the real world with jobs and commitments and calendars cluttered with appointments. But we have idle hours. At least moments where we can step aside and listen for the Lord’s leading. What if we prioritized prayer? If we gave God time to weigh in on our choices? What might He say? Where might He lead?
Last thought; Wednesday was the day when Jesus was anointed in Bethany. (Mark 14:3-10) His slower pace allowed time for the woman with the alabaster jar. She fell at His feet and poured out her perfume. Jesus was blessed by this extravagant time of worship. Waiting with God makes room for anointing. Jesus was far more prepared for Friday’s crushing because He chose to spend Wednesday waiting on His Father. Waiting makes way for anointing. Anointing is what will sustain us within the crushing. Let’s refuse to waste our opportunities to wait.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14 NIV)
Lord, it’s hard for us to wait. Forgive us for our inattentiveness to You and our commitment to busy-ness. Help us identify our opportunities to step away with You this week. Let us find moments of communion amidst our common hours. Draw our hearts toward You even in ordinary affairs. May we worship and discover the anointing the next season will surely require. Amen.