Friday Retreat....
Prayer: To You, Great God, we lift up our souls. In You we put our trust. Do not let us be put to shame nor let our enemies triumph over us. Show us Your ways O Lord, and teach us Your path. Guide us in Your truth and teach us, for You are our God and Saviour. Our hope is in You all day long. Amen.
Read St. Matthew 27: 62 – 66
The opening words to this scripture are “After sundown, the High Priests and Religious Leaders….” After sundown does not mean anything to us but for the Jewish people, after sundown on Friday meant the beginning of the Sabbath celebration. This would be a time when all families were at home celebrating the Sabbath (Hebrew called Shabbat).
Shabbat was from sundown on Friday to sunset on Saturday.
And where were the High Priests and Religious Leaders on Sabbath after sundown? Rushing to Pilate’s palace…. Breaking the words of the Law. The very words that Jesus had been saying to them that they were following the words of the Law more than the God of the law.
After sundown, the High Priests and Religious Leaders come to Pilate and ask that guards be placed by Jesus’ tomb as they do not want Jesus’ prophecy to come true. At best they thought the guards would capture the disciples trying to take Jesus’ body away so that the disciples could declare a miracle had occurred. This would create huge problems for the High Priests and Religious Leaders. The people would rise up against them.
Jesus is crucified, the Temple
Have you ever had an instance where you were convinced you were correct but as time went by, you discovered that you were wrong? Think of how much more the High Priests and Religious Leaders would be going, “Oh oh. Oh dear. Did we do the wrong thing?”
Prayer: Great God, sometimes the troubles of our heart seems to multiply. Free us from all anguish. Set us upon Your path of love and peace. Guard our life and rescue us when we fall down. Our hope is in You all day long. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Many blessings!
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