Today's readings are Psalm 22.19-26, Numbers 23.4-28, and Luke 22.47-71.
When we think of a conflict, or really of any sort of a contest, our assumption is that the victor will be someone who asserts himself, who shows his power and ability. Who is more of a victor than God? As we see in Numbers today God is able to overcome the mouth of a prophet, forcing him to speak God's favor on Israel and God's disfavor on Moab. What, then, do we make of Jesus? Here in Luke 22 God the Son is betrayed. He is arrested, he is denied, he is mocked, and when tried he does nothing but convict himself. Jesus looks for all the world like the most defeated contestant there is.
Let us never forget that our contest is not against flesh and blood. The loyalty or lack of it found in Jesus' disciples and those who arrest and try him is, on one level, irrelevant. These people are acting according to their sinful nature, according to the weakness of their perception, according to their desire to protect themselves. In order to win victory over sin and death, Jesus, the holy and immortal one, needs to take sin upon himself. He needs to be subject to death in order to conquer death. He needs to take sin upon himself to put sin into its grave. And this is exactly what he does.
Our Lord acts counter to our intuition. Yet he is right. He is the one who never fails, and who did not fail in his perfect life, death, and resurrection so that all who believe on him may receive his life. Yes, Jesus is the Christ. He is the victor. Thanks be to God.
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