Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 23 before reading the devotional below.
When everything starts going horribly wrong and people start wrongly accusing you of things, keep your mouth shut. This is Jesus’ example and I wish I were better at this. As I read Luke 23, I imagined what might have happened if Jesus had argued back with Pilate or the crowd. We already know from his engagement with the Pharisees that he was more than able to silence a crowd with a solid argument. So what would have happened if he had laid into them one more time?
My guess: he would have won. And so he chose to “lose” for the moment. Pilate didn’t want anything to do with prosecuting his case. He passed the buck to Herod Antipas as fast as he could. Herod wanted to see Jesus perform his “tricks,” but Jesus wasn’t going to entertain. Herod was just as quick to toss the matter back to Pilate and the two of them bonded over their desire to get rid of this situation in whatever way possible. Give the crowd what they want? We don’t get it, but if it gets us home in time for dinner then might as well.
As Jesus is executed and placed in a tomb, only the women hang around to make sure they know what happens to him. And can you even imagine as your world is seemingly collapsing around you and your leader is dead having to stop doing everything because the Sabbath begins? I would find a whole bunch of reasons to work on the Sabbath that day. Rest? Hardly. I can’t sit still for 3 seconds when I have a problem to solve. And yet these women, who had just witnessed the horrific and gruesome death of a person they had come to believe was God himself, continue to worship in the way they always had.
Here’s your freedom for today: intense situations often require restraint, silence and rest. Jesus maintained intense restraint in order to avoid winning the argument so that he could proceed with his mission. He remained silent and accepted the events as they unfolded. The women chose to demonstrate restraint and rest when everything in them was probably screaming in horror. We can find great healing and solace in the midst of hardship when we stop trying to make it better and quietly rest in the love of God who is ahead of us working out the victory.