An Opportune Time

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Scripture:


Luke 22:1   Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesusa to death, for they were afraid of the people.


Luke 22:3   Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; 4 he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. 5 They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.


Observation:


Luke outlines the time in which Satan chooses to do his mischief. The religious officials were sick and tired of Jesus and wanted to do away with him. At this point, they would be willing to pay a good sum of money for his demise. Also, the feast of Passover/Unleavened bread became both symbolic and influential. Hundreds of thousands of people would crowd the city of Jerusalem and the festival itself would remind the people of national liberation. This was an uncomfortable time for their Roman rulers, and the crowd size, itself, would provide cover for civil disturbance. The symbolism in Luke’s eyes was great, suggesting, “an association between Passover, the celebration of national deliverance, and the death of Jesus, with the former foreshadowing the significance of the latter in God’s redemptive plan” (NICNT, Green). Therefore, the opportune time had approached, all the circumstances had converged, and Satan could pounce.


Application:


The enemy of our souls is cunning and has great patience as he awaits the opportune time. Far too often we fail to realize that we may be setting ourselves up to fall into his trap. 


Satan is looking for the opportune time in our lives to catch us being lazy spiritually, for it is at that moment that we are the most vulnerable. When we fail to spend time in prayer and the study of God’s word, we find ourselves weak spiritually. It’s then that the enemy of our souls tries to slide into our lives and make us doubt our faith. 


These days fewer and fewer hours in a week are spent on the things of God, and more time is spent in our devices. The great influence of our lives is culture, found in our hands. There are voices from society that are luring us away from our faith in God. If there were ever an opportune time to put the people of God to sleep spiritually, it’s today. The enemy has drawn us away from the things of God and deceived us by the things of this world, one video, one download, one social media group at a time. 


The enemy has openly gone to war against God’s children, because this is such an opportune time. All of the circumstances have fallen into place and we are tempted to jump ship and go to the other side, without really knowing it. This is because Satan is cunning, and in this opportune time has found a way to model the messages of this world in such a way that they sound as if they might be a part of God’s kingdom. However, we are hearing kingdom language, without a King. It’s an opportune time for the world to reject Christianity, or more precisely, Jesus, our Messiah, in favor of ourselves. At least, that’s what the great deceiver wants us to believe, for we are not our own savior, but are creating dependencies upon Satan himself. He is using this opportune time to capture the hearts and minds of God’s people and their children. 


The good news is that the opportune time of the enemy is not the end of the story. We all know that this is the beginning, or the unfolding, of the passion week. We know the end of the story. Jesus will be victorious and the power of the enemy will be broken for those who live in Christ. And that is the answer for the opportune time — is to daily live in Christ. We must put on the full armor of God and be prepared day in and day out for what we are going to face in the world. We can’t allow an opportune time to develop. We must stay strong spiritually and keep the enemy of our soul at bay. 


Prayer:


Lord, may your armor protect me today from all that lies ahead. Help me to have the spiritual discipline to follow you faithfully, every single day. Amen. 

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