Week 39 Luke 22
Near the very end of his life the Lord was talking to his disciples about his betrayal and he said: for I, the Son of Man, must die since it is part of God’s plan. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer.
Another version says: the Son of Man will go as it is decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.
Another: the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.
God’s plan was that the Son of Man would die. That’s pretty clear. The death of the Lord was part of God’s plan. Planned. Decreed. Determined. Sounds pretty solid & decisive & absolute.
But then in the second part of the verse Judas the Betrayer slides into the decision-making recipe. The Lord would die because it was planned and decreed and determined. And the Lord would die because he was betrayed by his friend. You’d think that a divine determination would devalue Judas’ hare-brained personal scheme to the point where it had no value or meaning. But that’s not how it would work.
The Lord died because his death was determined to happen.
And he died because Judas had his own deadly plan and took his own initiative to make it happen.
Both-And.
Note: quotes from Luke 22:21 NLT NIV NASB. End-of-month reading report: the year is 75% finished and reading is 85% complete.