Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

How do you think Jesus delivered these statements? How would you deliver them facing humiliation, injury, false accusations, and a tortuous death? How would you treat those you knew would cheer your name one day, only to turn on you a few days later?

What is incredible, so unbelievable, and remarkably hard for me to fathom about Jesus … is that he knew all of this ahead of time and he responded as he did! 1) When faced with superficial praise from the crowd shouting “Hosanna”, he was at peace. 2) When faced with a fake friend in Judas who would steal from him and ultimately betray him, he loved him anyway. 3) When faced with a people who needed a Savior for their sins and who rewarded said Savior by persecuting him — he treated them kindly and he was willing to die for them. 4) And when addressing these very disciples who would leave him in his most critical moment (especially Peter who would betray him) he would reconcile with them and lead them anyway.

All of these actions were decided on beforehand. We see it in this passage, the pre-thought of all that was going to happen to him. He was preparing the faith of his disciples to be reawakened later, even before they abandoned him!

This is the type of crazy, incredible love Jesus had for them and he has for us too! He knew his disciples were spiritually weak. And he loved them anyway. He knows we are broken people too, and he continues to reach out for us to bless us, heal us, restore us and use us for his glory!

When I think about this prediction of all that was to happen to him, the phrase that comes to mind is PREMEDITATED LOVE!

This is how we fight our spiritual battles going forward, my friends. Some try to dismiss any bad thing from their minds in order to implement the “power of positive thinking.” This is a path full of deceit. Others live in fear of all of the potential bad things that could happen to them. This is a life lived under spiritual oppression. Jesus acknowledged the evil in the world, but he used the love of God to premeditate how he would respond. And he used the power of God to actually respond in this loving way. It is the model for us to follow — the model of a holy way to live!

Today, we must decide to show PREMEDITATED LOVE amidst the evil attacks of this world. We can do it with the power of God!

Lord, thank you for renewing my mind so I can pre-plan to love those who persecute me, plan against me, and intend all types of evil against me. Only by your power can I complete this mission!