Holy Week Resource

April 16, 2025

holy week resource - wednesday

Jesus was not what I imagined when I think back to the scripture about the “a King who will reign” (Jeremiah 23:5). He certainly did not dress or live like a future king. He did have a lot of followers at first. I always imagined when the time came that His followers would be prepared to fight for their future king.

Though Jesus allowed me to be a part of his twelve chosen disciples, those closest to him, I always felt like an outsider. They were all from Galilee while I was from Judea. The Galileans were not exactly our friends or close companions.

I was chosen to handle the money given to us for our ministry. Honestly, I was happy to be in control of the money. The others did not want to have anything to do with it. I was not comfortable when Jesus asked us to go out two by two with “no bread, no bag, no money in our belts.” Going to places that might not welcome us, he wanted us to preach that people should repent. (Mark 6:7-12)

One day I bought some new sandals and used some of the money. I thought I deserved some pay for taking care of it. I started stashing some money away just in case people stopped giving money to the ministry. With so many people in authority not liking what Jesus was preaching, people were bound to stop contributing to the ministry. I never wanted to be dependent on others for my daily living.

As the ministry progressed, some days we would have thousands of followers trying to get close to Jesus for healing or to hear His preaching. Other days we were just trying to keep Jesus from being arrested. Jesus was angering a lot of people because he was claiming to be the Son of God (Matthew 27:43). I could not understand why Jesus seemed determined to anger the church leaders without gathering his followers to demand His kingdom.

One day I overheard some church leaders discussing ways to arrest Jesus. They were concerned with arresting Him during the Jewish Passover due to the crowds of people expected to be there. I started to question why I continued to follow Jesus. I started to believe that He was not the “King who will reign”. I was confused, conflicted, frustrated, discouraged—and lots of other feelings and thoughts began to flood my mind. Sometimes I even felt like evil thoughts that were not my own were trying to take over me. (See Luke 22:3, John 13:27) I began to wonder if I could quietly turn Jesus over and make some money in the process. Surely if Jesus could heal people and perform all the miracles, He would be able to escape imprisonment.

Your Response:

The Lord knows we may have doubts sometimes, just as Judas doubted despite being with Jesus daily. As we ponder Judas’ decisions and how Satan was a part of it, let’s be aware of the enemy’s deceitful ways and keep our armor on! And let’s thank God for loving us enough to die in our place knowing all our doubts. Pray that God will erase your doubts and make you strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

by Brenda Mathis, Higginson, AR
Body & Soul® Spiritual Impact Team

Body and Soul® Fitness is an international Christian fitness organization that trains and equips instructors to lead a variety of group fitness programs including choreographed aerobics-style Cardio Strength & Flexibility™, cardio dance style Dance Blast™, free-weights-focused Power Strength™, boot camp style FIT360™ and Longevity FIT360™, and GOLD™ - lower impact programming for participants that are pregnant, have weight challenges, injuries, or other medical conditions. These exercise classes meet in church gyms, community centers, gymnasiums, parking lots, schools, etc. across the United States, Europe, and Africa. In-person and virtual fitness classes are available.

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Holy Week Resource - Wednesday