Placing God Under Arrest

If in the passages referring to the trials of Jesus one substitutes the title "God" in place of His name, the result is striking. John 18:12 becomes:

"Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested God and bound God. And they led God away to Annas..."

You get the idea. God was in Christ. Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." John says, "The Word was God."

The thought of puny man being given the opportunity to control his Creator is at once startling and sickening. But, yes, God is still being arrested and tormented in our own day. Totalitarian governments have unknowingly placed the Deity in custody countless times. For Jesus promised to come to His disciples in the form of His Spirit. The church is truly the very body in which the Lord of Creation lives in our day. The house of God. To arrest church members is to arrest God Almighty.

We want them to be set free so desperately. But all of our prayers cannot be directed to "Get them out of there! " for Jesus suffers willingly for the people of earth. Those that he uses to suffer are those that he makes similarly willing.

So we also say, "Lord give them grace while they are there. May they faithfully bear their cross without complaining. May they in fact be faithful until death, for we know You have said we will never be tested above what we are able to bear."

And after we finish such prayers, we look in a mirror and see if there is a cross on our own back.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.