HOLY WEEK MEDITATIONS | Monday: "The Plot to Kill Jesus" Matthew 26:1-5 | Monday, April 11, 2022

Matthew 26: 1-5
26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

Moment of Reflection: Isn’t the gospel supposed to be good news? That’s what the word gospel means! This seems like bad news for the disciples, but we know that Jesus is counter-cultural. He is letting his disciples know what is going to happen. He wants them to be prepared, but what seems like a future full of death is not what was truly in store. His death is going to be brutal and highlights the brokenness of people and the world, but that is not where the story ends. Jesus knows that life is going to come out of his death. Jesus is going to show that strength comes out of weakness. God is at work even amid brokenness.

Questions for Reflection: In what areas of your life have you experienced or are experiencing brokenness? Have you been able to notice where God has been at work even in the brokenness?

**Prayer: **Holy God, we know that you will never leave us or forsake us. There is nowhere we will go that you will not also go. Help us to see where you are working in our lives and to have confidence that you are at work when we cannot see it. Amen.