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Wasted Opportunities - Matthew 27
Wasted Opportunities - Matthew 27
Many people have longed to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn about true life. There were those who got the chance and didn’t recognize what a blessing it was. They, in the end, failed at life. They failed because of wasted opportunities.
Pilate was one of the unlikely people. I say unlikely in that as a ‘minor politician’ stuck in an out of the way province with little hope of improving his position in the Roman Empire, it would seem unlikely that he would meet and talk to the most important person ever to walk the earth. He got to talk face to face with Jesus. He even asked some religious questions and then dismissed them. He KNEW that Jesus was not guilty of the things he was charged with. He weakly attempted to do the right thing by letting Him go, but out of fear for his political job and career, he had Him crucified. What a wasted opportunity.
Judas had even more time with Jesus. He was part of the ‘inner circle’ who walked, ate, slept in the presence of Jesus. He was favored with the privilege of hearing the teaching of Jesus and being in on the private explanations that Jesus would give to these apostles. He betrayed the Son of God for money. Judas then failed further by committing suicide instead of repenting. Jesus had even warned him that in the end it would have been better if Judas had never been born. What a wasted opportunity.
The Jewish leaders had listened first to John the Baptist and then to Jesus. They had observed the miracles that He had done. They were corrected by Him concerning the wrong thinking and teaching they were involved with. They responded in anger and envy and demanded that He be crucified. What a wasted opportunity.
People are still wasting their opportunities with Jesus. While we no longer can listen to him in person, the apostles have preserved His teaching. Many generations before us had no opportunity read these gospel accounts as the printed bibles were just not available. Many of those generations had neither the ability nor the time to spend reading. We, on the other hand, have plenty of bibles that we could read. We have them in print. We have them on our smart phones and iPads. We have them on our computers. We have them in mp3 format that we can listen to. Yet, many make no more use of such opportunities than did those in first century. What a wasted opportunity.
While we cannot listen to Him in person, we can let ‘the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another’ (Col. 3:16). Brethren, we have one life to live, let us not waste it.
Hugh DeLong
