Daily Devotional Saturday 18th January 2020
by William Moody
Luke 22:1–6
The Plot to Kill Jesus
22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.
Judas to Betray Jesus
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
(ESV)
The feast of unleavened bread would be drawing great crowds to Jerusalem (v1-2), which would have meant it was very difficult for the religious leaders to arrest Jesus publicly, due to His popularity. A public arrest could have started a riot.
The religious leaders were not the only ones conspiring here, Satan was also (v3). Satan entering Judas meant Judas in his sinful thoughts had opened up the door of his life.
Sin is not something we can control and if we open up the door to sin, we do not know what we will end up doing. We mustn’t trust ourselves with sin.
Judas and the religious leaders conspire to get rid of Jesus (v4-6). The religious leaders were motivated by envy, Judas was motivated by greed.
Our sinful desires if left unchecked can bring about terrible actions. Sin must be put to death, crucified and certainly not played with. Prayerfully consider if you’re being too casual about some sins in your life.
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