Did It Take All Of That?

Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

Luke 18:3

Listen.  On Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 10 a.m., you need to visit St. Luke Baptist Church where the Reverend Eric L. Alexander is my pastor.  Listen….he been preaching.  And with all the world being at a stand still, you have no excuse to miss out on a good Word.  Churches are streaming their services constantly.  My couch has been a great pew, and my cat Fitz has been an okay usher.  The sermon for Palm Sunday blessed my entire soul.  Let’s get on with the sermon recap.

You know somebody is just a flat footed preacher when they can take one verse and make you throw your shoe at the TV.  The sermon came from John 18:3.  Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane when Judas enters with a whole crew.  Like an entire squad.  He comes with anywhere from 300-600 soldiers.  He is also accompanied by officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.  Like I said, he has quite a crew with him.  And my pastor posed the question, “Did it take all of that?”

Thankfully, he didn’t leave me hanging and proceeded to dig deeper into this thought-provoking question.  There may have been several reasons why Judas felt that his entourage was necessary.  After all, Judas was one of the twelve disciples.  He had undoubtedly seen what Jesus was capable of.  Surely many of the soldiers that were gathered, and the officers, had heard of the miracles that Jesus had been performing.  Although they were only there to arrest one man, Jesus reputation had preceded Him.  So yes, it took all of that.

Then pastor proceeded to discuss what the soldiers brought with them.  They brought lanterns to light the way.  The garden of Gethsemane wasn’t an open field.  It was comprised of caves and trees.  This group wasn’t taking any chances.  If Jesus decided to dip out or hide, they wanted light to show them the way.  They wanted to find Jesus.

They also brought torches.  The torches were another resource in their search for the King of Kings.  If the lanterns gave out, the torches would still be burning.  No need to stop the search for Jesus.  The light would show them the way.

It was at this point that I thought about throwing my shoe at the TV because pastor made an excellent point.  What if all the trouble in your life is just lighting the way for you to see Jesus?  If that doesn’t stir something in you, your stirrer might need to be repaired.  I’m dealing with issues that are illuminating Christ in my life.  I wouldn’t know Him like I do now if things were going along just fine.  Trouble is highlighting that Jesus is who He says He is.  And I’m glad about it.

We all need to learn from our troubles.  We war not against flesh and blood.  Our battle is against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.  Satan wanted to kill the Holy Spirit that was working in Jesus.  He wanted victory but ultimately tasted defeat.  Don’t allow your troubles to make you feel defeated.  We’ve already won.  Jesus secured that victory for us and it took all of that.  #wepreach