Spy Wednesday: A Place Prepared
This Wednesday has a very strange name. It’s called Spy Wednesday because it’s the day one of Jesus’ disciples turned into a spy. The chief priests were plotting to have Jesus killed, and Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ own disciples, decided to offer to help them out — for a price! They paid him thirty pieces of silver to hand Jesus over to be killed, and from that moment on, Judas was a spy, on the lookout for a moment to betray Jesus to death.
Judas was one of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. He had spent the last three years with Jesus, seeing His miracles and hearing His teaching. And yet, Judas became a spy and a traitor. Jesus might have had some place in Judas’ heart, but not the ultimate place. For 30 pieces of silver was enough to get him to hand over the Lord of life to be put to death.
What place does Jesus have in your heart today? Do you have an undivided heart for Him, or have other things crept in to take His place?
Judas was one of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. He had spent the last three years with Jesus, seeing His miracles and hearing His teaching. And yet, Judas became a spy and a traitor. Jesus might have had some place in Judas’ heart, but not the ultimate place. For 30 pieces of silver was enough to get him to hand over the Lord of life to be put to death.
What place does Jesus have in your heart today? Do you have an undivided heart for Him, or have other things crept in to take His place?
For today’s meditation, however we’re going to skip ahead a bit in the story to John 13...
Reading: John 13:36-14:6
We’re skipping ahead today from the start of Holy Week towards its end. For these words come from the night Jesus was arrested. Jesus warns Peter about the fact that he’s about to deny Jesus. And then suddenly, we read some very famous words. Often we let chapter divisions get in the way, and so we read the famous words at the start of John 14 as if nothing has come before them. But Jesus speaks these words in light of the warning He’s just given Peter. Peter has been asking Jesus about where He’s going. And now Jesus says “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).
Where’s Jesus going? He’s going to be arrested. He’s going to be crucified. He’s going to be buried in the grave. And then He’s going to be raised from the dead on the third day.
So how does Jesus prepare a place for us? He prepares a place for us by going to the cross. He prepares a place for us by going through death and resurrection for us. This is how Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. He hasn’t gone to do some redecorating in heaven! No! The way Jesus prepares a place in His Father’s house for us is by dying our death on the cross of Calvary — by paying the price for our sins when He hung and bled and died for us on the Tree. The way He prepares a place for us is through His death.
Thomas says “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” And Jesus answers, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
How do we come to the Father through Jesus? We come to the Father through Jesus as the one who bore our sins for us — the one who went down into death for us, the one who rose victorious over the grave for us. This is the Way! This is the Truth! The only way to the Father is found in the crucified and risen Saviour. The only way to the glory of heaven is seen at the Cross. The one who bore our death for us is the only one in whom true life is found.
If you want your heart not to be troubled, trust in the one who has gone to the Cross for you. Cast your cares on the one who has gone through death and back again to bring you true and lasting peace.
We’re skipping ahead today from the start of Holy Week towards its end. For these words come from the night Jesus was arrested. Jesus warns Peter about the fact that he’s about to deny Jesus. And then suddenly, we read some very famous words. Often we let chapter divisions get in the way, and so we read the famous words at the start of John 14 as if nothing has come before them. But Jesus speaks these words in light of the warning He’s just given Peter. Peter has been asking Jesus about where He’s going. And now Jesus says “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).
Where’s Jesus going? He’s going to be arrested. He’s going to be crucified. He’s going to be buried in the grave. And then He’s going to be raised from the dead on the third day.
So how does Jesus prepare a place for us? He prepares a place for us by going to the cross. He prepares a place for us by going through death and resurrection for us. This is how Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. He hasn’t gone to do some redecorating in heaven! No! The way Jesus prepares a place in His Father’s house for us is by dying our death on the cross of Calvary — by paying the price for our sins when He hung and bled and died for us on the Tree. The way He prepares a place for us is through His death.
Thomas says “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” And Jesus answers, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
How do we come to the Father through Jesus? We come to the Father through Jesus as the one who bore our sins for us — the one who went down into death for us, the one who rose victorious over the grave for us. This is the Way! This is the Truth! The only way to the Father is found in the crucified and risen Saviour. The only way to the glory of heaven is seen at the Cross. The one who bore our death for us is the only one in whom true life is found.
If you want your heart not to be troubled, trust in the one who has gone to the Cross for you. Cast your cares on the one who has gone through death and back again to bring you true and lasting peace.
Previously in this series: