7July2009 Luke 22:53

^53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns."

In the very moment Jesus is arrested he points out two things. The first is that this moment is a moment when they are in charge. There will be other moments when He is in charge, but during the arrest, fake trials, and execution, they are in charge. But they are not in charge all the time. In fact, there is a time coming when Jesus' authority will be seen by all. Everyone will know that He is boss. At that moment, everyone will bow before Him. But that moment is not the moment of his arrest. It must have been very hard to not pull rank. Jesus chose to not exercise his authority as God in order to serve us in His death. He needed to die to save us from our sins. He knew the present moment would not last forever, so He endured it. There are times in our lives when we need to keep eternity in our minds and hearts. The suffering we experience is only a momentary happening. Someday all sorrow and difficulty will be history. We will be in heaven with the Lord. The second thing Jesus had in mind at this moment was the fact that the power of darkness was at work. When evil things happen it is evil that is at work. When people exercise their power to chose, sometimes they chose evil. And sometimes when they chose evil, other people get the negative consequences of their choices. In this case, Jesus experienced the negative consequences. He was the one beaten and crucified. But He was not the only one affected. There were those who mourned his torture and death. Their pain and tears were real. Their hearts were broken. They were left empty and questioning at the end of the day. But their tears were turned around. They did not stay in that moment of grief. There were other days of joy ahead. So when sorrow makes a visit, remember, it is just visiting. There are days of joy ahead, if not in this life, then in heaven.