The Script

One of the most common questions people have about Jesus is why, after He has healed people, He instructs them not to tell anyone else what He has done. The answer is that Jesus knows there is a script for His life, as if He is acting out a dramatic play written by someone else.

And, in fact, that's exactly what Jesus is doing. The script was written by His Father. And there are co-authors, those prophets and King David who described events in the life of Jesus hundreds of years before Jesus even set foot on earth.

Jesus is keenly aware of the two main components of the script: 1) the content, the actions and events, and 2) the timing. He knows that the timing is just as important as the content, and so He is careful for events not to take place too early or too late.

The details of the script are quite amazing. The one that I find especially intriguing is in Mark 14:13. Jesus is giving His disciples instructions regarding where they will celebrate the Passover meal. He says to two of them: "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him." That's it. We know nothing about this man, who he is or how Jesus knows that he will be in the city and will somehow make contact with the two disciples. 

There is a script for each of our lives as well. In Psalm 139:15-16, the Psalmist writes as follows:

"When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth, your [God's] eyes foresaw my actions; in your book, all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be."

Especially during Holy Week, it is good for us to reflect on how, like Jesus, we can seek to discern the script God has written for our lives and how we can be completely faithful to that script. We can seek forgiveness for any wrong turns we might have taken and ask God to help us get back on track.