Luke 22:1-6:God-haters and men – pleases.(please click here for todays passage)

These religious leaders hated God and feared men (2). They didn’t realise they were haters of God. But they were. This was revealed in their attitude to God’s Son. (What a person feels about Jesus shows what they feel about God.) The flip side to being a man-pleaser is to be a man-fearer. You fear their frowns, their disapproval, their dislike, their adverse reactions. This is a terrible way to live – hating God and pleasing/fearing people. To be a man-pleaser is a form of slavery. You need emancipation. It is never okay to be inconsiderate, insensitive and rude. It is important to take the thoughts and feelings of others into account. But you must be ‘your own person’ before God. Your backbone is not formed from jelly.

The world system is always looking ‘to get rid of Jesus’. It does not want this Man to reign over us. I note that they were not afraid to do wrong; they were just scared of being found out (and yes, of public opinion.) Judas helped them get what they wanted. ‘They were delighted and agreed to give him the money.’ This says to me that  you always pay a terrible price for the removal of Jesus from your life. It costs and no-one can afford it.

The mention of ‘Passover’ (1) underlines the truth that there was a higher power operating and God was in charge, not men. Even more to the point, ‘Satan’ (3) was not running the show. The Lord would work out His great purpose to deliver the world from sin in and through the death of Jesus. It was no accidental tragedy, in spite of outward appearances.

Prayer: Lord set me free from the tyranny of men-pleasing.