July 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Ecclesiastes 7:13–18

Devotional

When the time of Christ’s passion drew near He told His disciples about the coming events. He prepared them for the fact that He would be captured, delivered into the hands of wicked people, and killed. This was to be the greatest injustice in world history. Would heaven permit this to happen?

Peter could not accept the path of suffering for Christ. With all his might he tried to keep Christ from the cross. He could not understand how the Lord could say such things. He did not agree. According to Peter, things should be different. He sincerely thought he was doing the right thing in trying to set his Master straight. But Peter was “too wise and righteous over much.” Peter thought he knew better than Christ what should happen. If Christ had listened to Peter, Peter would have perished. Peter became “righteous over much” and “over wise.”

Judas became “over much wicked” and foolish. When it appeared that things were turning out differently with Jesus from what Judas had expected, then he dropped Jesus. He could not gain anything by following Jesus. He took what he still could—thirty pieces of silver— as a reward for betraying his Master, and would have nothing further to do with Christ.

Peter, do not be “righteous over much” and “over wise.” Why would you bring destruction upon yourself? You can only destroy your own soul if you keep the Mediator from His cross. And Judas, do not be “over much wicked,” neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

But all along, the Mediator continued on His way of suffering. He kept going when the road became so crooked that all became offended. He did not ask His disciples what must be done to save them, but He asked His Father what needed to be done to pay the debt due for sin. When the righteousness of His Father made Christ’s way to be so crooked that He had to pass through the agony of hell, He did not try to straighten His way. His immeasurable love for sinners caused Him to go on this crooked path to the end. Who can say or express how crooked and grievous, and how difficult this way was? Yet the greatest injustice on earth satisfied God’s justice in heaven.

Oh Peter, be silent. Be quiet all of you who think you have insight. Your knowledge only obstructs God and yourself. If God were to follow your insight, then it would be to your misery. The way of the Mediator must become your way. His cross must become your cross; His curse must become your curse. Then you will realize that it is you yourself who caused His way to be so crooked. You caused Him to have to go through the gates of hell. You caused Him to cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

We have made things this way. We could fall but we could not rise again. You can never make straight what you have made crooked. You need a Mediator to straighten all the crooked paths you have created. Then nobody has any rights left before God. If we would only realize this, we would be delivered from feeling sorry for ourselves. It is most blessed, not to end in our own sufferings, but to end in the suffering Christ. Then the miracle becomes so great that grace can still be received upon our crooked ways.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.