His Encouragement #219

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Then the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!'”
John 12:19 (CSB)

John 12:12-19 tells of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem one week before He was sacrificed for our sakes. Imagine it: a large, excited crowd, palm branches, running towards Jesus, cheering for our Lord and Savior. It must have been a really cool moment filled with hope and great expectation. These people were literally witnessing prophecy come true — prophecy they would have known very well because Isaiah was a beloved prophet and his writings were known by everyone.

As much as this day was one full of triumph and joy, it was also a day filled with whining and complaining and griping. There truly is nothing new under the sun. As happy and joy-filled as the poor, downtrodden majority was at Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem as their King, there was a group of powerful religious leaders who were not thrilled at all.

John 12:19 is one of the saddest verses in the Bible — at least to me. To have been able to walk in Jesus’s presence at this time would have been an amazing, powerful blessing, but those in earthly power didn’t see it that way. All they could see was their earthly power being stripped away because of Jesus. Their riches, their homes, their standing above the masses meant more than their souls. How unutterably sad! God stood before them and they couldn’t even see Him.

What I find so sad is that these humans thought they could plan against and defeat God. They say to each other that they’ve accomplished nothing with all their plans against Jesus. They lament that the world has chosen Jesus instead of them and their systems of power.

Again, there is nothing new under the sun. Today, we live in a world run by some of the most evil, vile humans ever to have lived. They are full of pride. They believe they are smart and we are dumb. They deceive constantly with their false words of peace and love and unity, and cache all their evil actions in fake goodness. They believe they have plotted against and defeated God. These evil leaders are those described in Isaiah 5:20-21: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.”

It’s scary times for sure, but I refuse to be scared. I refuse to let Fear win. God is the Boss ALWAYS. He is never out of control even when it looks like maybe He is. Jesus has defeated evil and death. The plans these foolish, evil leaders are forcing on all of us today have already been defeated by Jesus. In these crazy End-Days when everything looks backwards and gross and evil, remember that the Pharisees who plotted against Jesus LOST. Which means those plotting against Him today have lost as well. Don’t let them fool you with their false light and pretty words. Instead, look up for our hour draws near for sure!!!