The Plots and Schemes of Men

 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”
(Mark 14:1-2 ESV)

 

The chief priests and the scribes had been planning for awhile now how to arrest and kill Jesus. They had plotted and schemed and now plan to make sure the timing worked best for them. They wanted to ensure that it did not happen while the Passover and the Feast were going on. They wanted to get rid of Jesus quietly. They wanted to make sure that the people were not there to cause an uproar so they planned to wait until the city had cleard of the worshipers.

 

We know that there plans did not come to fruition. For Jesus was condemned and killed during the feast and the passover. He was crucified when the city was at it's busiest and when all would be aware of what was going on. As to thier planning on the time of the arrest and crucifixation their plans did not succeed. It ended up happening exactly the time that they did not want it to happen. They wanted to do this quietly; to make Jesus disapear with out another thought about him.

 

This shows clearly that man can plot and scheme and make thier plans, but the Lord is still in control. He is still on his throne! God can use the wrath of man to praise and honor Him!  

Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
(Psalm 76:10 ESV)

 

 

 The kings of the earth set themselves,
  and the rulers take counsel together,
  against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
 “Let us burst their bonds apart
  and cast away their cords from us.”
 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
  the Lord holds them in derision.
(Psalm 2:2-4 ESV)

 

Man may have a plan, but it is God that allows or thwarts those plans. How does knowing that God is Sovereign encourage you to trust Him more? What schemes and plots do you see around you and will you take them to God knowing that He is in complete control?