Do You Not Know Me At All

It left her wondering whether her colleague really knew her at all.

Mark 14:43-72

Reference:  v.43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared.  With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. (NIV Bible)

Explore:  My friend Jane was telling me about a conversation she was having with a colleague.  Her colleague was having a difficult time planning a special family get together.  She was explaining to Jane that her family were just presuming that she would do all the cooking and not understanding how much stress this had caused.  She said to Jane, "You'd understand what that's like.  You're like me, you know how stressful it is for people like us to plan these kind of events."  Jane just let the comment go but reflecting upon the conversation afterwards she realised that her colleague had made a huge assumption that was in fact incorrect.  Jane takes very seriously any event she is organising but she actually really enjoys planning such things and does not find them stressful.  It left her wondering whether her colleague really knew her at all.

Application:  When Judas came to betray Jesus he came with a large crowd of people many who were armed with weapons.  I wonder whether Jesus looked at the crowd and thought, 'Do you not know me at all?!'  Jesus was the rabbi who taught about peace, blessed the children, touched lepers, ate with the tax collectors and constantly stood unarmed before the religious leaders.  And yet the chief priests felt they needed a large crowd with many weapons to contain Him.  I guess in many ways they didn't know Him at all.
As Christians it is our aim to be Christ-like.  Therefore, if we are to be like Christ we need to know Him.  You can not replicate someone else's behaviour if you don't know them well. The more we find out about our amazing Lord and Saviour the more we will know and the greater our replication of His Godly actions will be.

Prayer:  Lord, we are so fortunate to have the Bible as it gives us so much understanding of who You are and how You responded to others.  May we learn how to apply your actions into our own lives.  Amen.

How well do you know Jesus?

Mark