“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours.’” (Luke 20:14, NIV)
In golf, bad things so often happen to good players.
During Sunday’s final round of the Evian Championship, leader Hyo Joo Kim seemed as if she would hold onto her slim advantage with the steady play she had been showing all week. The win would bring her second major title. But when her approach shot at the par-3 fourteenth came up short, it plugged in the lip of the bunker. Her blast from there did not escaped the sand only momentarily; the ball rolled back into her footprint. She carded a triple bogey and her run was over. The trophy went to Jin Young Ko, whose victory returned her to the top spot in the world rankings.
You may be aware of the same dynamics in life. Safe drivers lose control of their vehicles on icy roads. Prayerful parents lose contact with their wayward children. Upright business owners lose thousands to unscrupulous employees.
It is not wrong to lament the death of the innocent. When we wail at the injustice of the world, we share the heart of God. What we must not do is say he does not understand.
When we unpack the injustices that surrounded the death of Jesus, our perspective necessarily changes.In the week of his passion, Jesus told a parable about tenants who rented the vineyard of a landowner. The owner, we come to know, is God the Father.
Over time, the owner sent representatives (prophets) to collect his portion of the crop. But these agents received increasingly ill treatment from the tenants, until finally the owner said, “I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.”
They did not. Instead, they put him to death. The parable was one of several ways that Jesus foreshadowed his coming betrayal and crucifixion. In the days that followed, his words were fulfilled.
When we unpack the injustices that surrounded the death of Jesus, our perspective necessarily changes. We may still say of this matter or that, “It’s not fair!” But everything is fair in relation to the death of the sinless lamb, our Lord Jesus.
I cannot justify my existence before God. I am not righteous enough to plead my case (in this regard, no “innocent” person ever dies, only guilty ones). I cannot make a claim on my role in the kingdom, for while I have been called to the work that I do, many other saints of far greater kingdom value than I have died in relative youth. I cannot even argue as one “needed” by my wife and family, for God may take me simply to show them how much they can rely on him in their darkest days. What I can do is express my desire to God to live and “to eat and drink and find satisfaction in [my] work” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Whether he will grant my request is his prerogative, for he knows all. May his will be done!
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Jeff Hopper
July 31, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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