Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll investigate the attributes hidden in people of today’s headline of ‘conspirers versus inspirers’.

In today’s scripture, Matthew 26:1‭-‬4‭, ‬14‭-‬16 (NLT), Jesus puts the spotlight on the conspiracy to crucify Him…
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him… Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Consider…
I am a big fan of reality crime tv shows. I specifically enjoy seeing how the authorities solve the mystery of how and why the crime was committed. In some of the shows there are co-conspirators of a crime. According to Cambridge dictionary, a co-conspirator is someone who plans secretly with one or more other people to do something bad or illegal.

In my search for the co-conspirator definition I found that legally the conspirators are ‘jointly liable’ for the crime committed.

In today’s first scriptural passage we read about religious leaders conspiring to have Jesus crucified. We also read about the more infamous Judas conspiring to hand Jesus over to these religious leaders. These actions meet the criteria of co-conspirators and makes Judas jointly liable for Jesus’ crucifixion.

But what would you say if I told you that there are present day accomplices just as guilty of Jesus’ crucifixion as the co-conspirators exposed today. Hebrews 6:4‭-‬6 (NLT) states…
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

The Holy Spirit is warning us that unrepentant backsliders, or apostates, are ‘jointly liable’ for Jesus’ crucifixion with fellow co-conspirators, Judas and the religious leaders. To better identify these apostates, I looked up the verb backslide in the Cambridge dictionary, and here’s what I found. Backslide means, to go back to doing something bad when you have been doing something good, especially to stop working hard or to fail to do something that you had agreed to do. That’s what many of Jesus’ followers did when He told them that needed to partake of His suffering in John 6:53-66 and it’s the same thing many people do today.

Before we harshly judge the conspirers, we should be honest with ourselves:

• Being Holy like God is difficult (1 Peter 1:15-16)
• Loving our enemies goes against our nature (Matthew 5:43-45)
• And hating, by comparison our family, friends, and our own lives to follow Jesus. (Luke 14:26)
• Then there’s forgiving others over and over, which seems like lunacy (Matthew 18:21-22)
• And suffering for doing good is easier said than done (1 Peter 2:20)
• If we’re being completely honest, the cost of giving up our lives for God seems prohibitive (Matthew 10:38-39)

I believe that why Jesus tells us to consider the costs before choosing to be His disciple. Being a living sacrifice for and to God is not for the faint of heart.

More unexamined truths of Jesus’ co-conspirators include…

• They knew, but didn’t fully understand who He was. (1 Corinthians 2:8).
• They preferred to rid themselves of who they didn’t know, rather than fill themselves with knowledge of Him (Philippians 3:8)

*** It is fascinating to me that religious people who met, and meet Jesus and reject Him, are actually abandoning God.

Speaking of meeting and knowing Jesus, let’s transition to the ‘inspirers’ with this familiar story in Matthew 26:6‭-‬7 (NLT), which reads…
Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

I confess, I used to only focus on the woman Jesus said would be famous for modeling worship to her Lord and Savior (Matthew 26:13). But today I saw a hidden gem at the beginning of her story, which is that Jesus was eating at the home of someone He previously healed of leprosy. That’s a big deal because lepers where considered unclean and quarantined from society, especially the church. Yet, Jesus touched and healed this once unclean person and is now dining with Him at his home.

Thinking more about Simon, I was inspired to read…

• Luke 17:11-19 and ponder could Simon have been the only one of the ten who came back to thank Jesus
• And Luke 19:5-10 where Jesus ate at the home of a hated tax collector
• As well as Matthew 9:10-13 where Jesus at the dinner party thrown for Him by His newest disciple Matthew. Matthew’s guest list included fellow scum sinners like himself.

As I recalled these, and myriads of other examples of people who had redeeming encounters with Jesus, I realized they were forever changed and eternally grateful.

I also noted, that those who think they have everything won’t appreciate anything. However, those who feel like they don’t have anything, appreciate everything. And nobody’s appreciate anybody that makes them feel like somebody.

Which brings me to some questions that today’s inspirational people inspire us to answer…

• Has Jesus done anything for you?
• Is He fellowshipping in your home? (Revelation 3:20)
• Do others know Jesus is hanging out with you?
• Are you pouring out everything you have to, on, and for Him?

So today’s headline ultimately reveals that when we encounter Jesus, we will either conspire to rid ourselves and others of Him, because we don’t truly know and understand who He is, or we’ll be inspired to be openly and unashamedly devoted to Him.

Here’s one final unspoken truth. The conspirer or inspirer decision is a daily one. Actually it’s a moment by moment decision. So, which will you choose today?

By the way, we answer this question with our walk, not our talk. Conspirers walk away from Jesus, but inspirers walk in lock step with Him. That suggests the more appropriate question is which way are you walking? Oh, and for my smart-alecky saints, standing still is not an option.

If you know Jesus, walk accordingly.

Today’s song is…
Alabaster Box

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)