Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound Him. John 18:12
We remember the story of Sampson, and the problems that the Philistines had to capture him. Three times the mighty judge gave Delilah false information about the source of his strength, and three times she and the Philistines were fooled. Being bound with green bowstrings, with new rope, and even with his own hair had no impact on him. But the fourth time, Samson revealed the true secret, and was captured. When he lost the visible evidence of his devotion to God, he lost his power. How different was the Lord Jesus, who, like Sampson, was bound by the enemies of God. But unlike Sampson, the Lord Jesus never deviated from obedience and from displaying the true nature of God.
We know what happened after the so-called capture in Gethsemane. The band and captain and officers of the Jews thought they had Jesus of Nazareth in their power. But He retained all of the power He ever had; His submission to the mob was His display of His submission to His Father’s will. The ropes they bound Him with were no more binding than the bonds that the Philistines placed on Samson in his long-hair days. His pathway had always led Him in the direction that the mob was taking Him. Their capture of Him did not foil His plans; it merely accommodated His eternal purposes. For you and me, there is a lesson in obedience. If we maintain our testimony for Him, even the apparent victories of our enemies will be for our blessing and God’s glory.
There are problems that come around us, many of them affecting our ability to witness, to be effective in the Gospel, to contribute to the work of the Lord. We often see these things as reversals, as victories for God’s enemies. But are they? If we had followed the Lord Jesus through the trials and crucifixions, but never made it to the tomb on resurrection morning, we might have thought the enemies of Christ had won a victory. If we follow the whole story, we find displayed the greatest victory ever won on earthly soil. If we trust God through our apparent reversals and trials, we too will experience ultimate triumph. But only if we, like the Lord Jesus, remain within the will of God.
The world’s bonds can have no binding effect on us but what God allows. Submission to Him means certain victory. -Jim MacIntosh