December 15 – Jesus Arrested – Matthew 26
In the second half of this chapter, we read the account of Jesus being betrayed and arrested. It began with Judas Iscariot leading a multitude to Jesus with the intent of pointing Jesus out to be arrested. Judas identifies Jesus by coming up to Him and addressing Him as “Master” then kissing Him. Immediately the armed group of people grabbed Him and began taking Him away. Peter grabbed his sword and swung at one of the men trying to arrest Christ. Peter was only successful at cutting the man’s ear off. Jesus heals the man by placing his ear back on his head. Jesus then addresses Peter’s actions. Jesus reminds Peter that all He had to do was to call upon the Father, and He would be sent 12 legions of angels (between 72,000 to 144,000 angels). Jesus understood that in order for the greater picture to be accomplished, He had to endure difficult times. I think one of the hard things to do is to focus on the greater picture when we are personally going through difficult times. If we could only see through God’s eyes and see His perspective, we would be more eager to take on our difficult times with more of a purpose. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
