Redirected

TITLE: Redirected
DATE:  October 11, 2019
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.

TEXT: Mark 14:56  - ESV - 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
The funeral service had gone longer than expected and Barbara, a distant friend of the deceased, decided to skip the final rites at the cemetery.

As she turned out of the church parking lot, the policeman, who was supervising the funeral procession, slapped a sticker on her car, asked her to turn on her lights and ordered, "Get into line please!"

She did as she had been asked and half a hundred cars fell into line after her.

 Barbara could only think about getting out of that line.

That's why, when the giant Walmart parking lot came into view, she decided this was her chance to escape. As they passed the entrance, she quickly turned her car out of the line and into the parking lot. She breathed a sigh of relief.... until she looked into her rearview mirror and discovered that she had about ½ the funeral procession still behind her.

The Priests had much the same problem at Jesus’ trial. Now here is the situation They, along with all of their friends,  knew that Jesus needed to die... that Jesus was going to die. The only problem was finding a reason, a charge which would stick. It should have been an easy thing to accomplish.

It should have been... but Jesus’ death verdict seemed to be taking  longer than anyone had expected.

The priests had to find some charge that would stick to Jesus and make Him worthy of death. That's why they brought in their false witnesses. All of those witnesses had tried to come up with evidence which would take Jesus straight to the cemetery.

Unfortunately, that is unfortunately from the high-priests' point of view, the perjurers kept taking detours. One after another they turned off and sent the trial in the wrong direction. What an impressive thing to say about our Lord!

His enemies could find nothing wrong with Him. His enemies couldn't even tell a lie that would stick.

 Although Jesus was betrayed by His church, the truth of Who He was, and the value of His mission remained unchanged. He was God's Son, Who had been entrusted with the redemption of God’s fallen children.

Now it’s true there are still some today who, like the Priests of the Jews, tell lies about the Savior. There are those who still try to explain away His miracles; tell us He was misquoted by His disciples; and say He never died on the cross. There are still those who try to reroute believers away from the truth of Scripture.

But those who see the Lord with eyes of faith know, Jesus gave His life and continued directly to the cemetery until the angels proclaimed He had risen.

THE PRAYER:  Lord Jesus, there are many voices raised against You. Use my voice to proclaim the victory You have won on my behalf. Mark me as a witness that remains faithful and true. In Your Name. Amen.

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html