It is time for the Super Bowl. The coach is going over the game plan one last time. He assures his team they have a worthy opponent and it is going to be a very tough game; but if they will stay focused on their goal and play as a team he believes they will prevail. As soon as he pauses the team begins to squabble among themselves. Several players assert that they are in top form and aren’t intimidated by the opponent. The coach again tries to give the team a reality check; this is going to be a very tough game. Again, the team misunderstands and goes off on a tangent. Finally the coach says, “Enough!” He’s done all he can to prepare the team.
That is pretty much the way it was in the Upper Room with Coach Jesus. When the disciples took literally his obvious metaphor about swords all he could say was, “That’s enough.”
As Jesus prepared to lead his team out of the Upper Room he was clothed only in his humanity. The divine powers he used to calm storms, raise the dead and heal the sick are left on the table. He’ll go before his adversaries armed only with his trust in God and thus will model for his followers the leadership of a Suffering Servant of God. The prophecies about the Servant Messiah in Isaiah 52-53 will be fulfilled in the next few days. The disciples are also very vulnerable to the adversary of God and will scatter in all directions after Jesus’ arrest.
Yet, in the midst of such human failure around the table Jesus grants the disciples entry into the Kingdom of God. All people who accept God’s call for Christian leadership will at some point in their journey follow Jesus on a very lonely path. Just when you need your people to grasp your vision, to see God’s hands at work, they’ll turn away. Even so, God’s sheer grace is bestowed upon His church and the Kingdom is destined to move forward, in spite of our failures.
The Tax Collector’s prayer seems appropriate here;
‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
Luke 18:13
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
10-Feb-12 Luke 22:39-62
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