10/29/2023
Do you think that Jesus gave His life for us out of sympathy for our plight alone? Do you think He saw our sin and set about to relieve us of it because of empathy or simply out of mercy? No, Jesus gave His life out of obedience to the Father, and He agreed to pay a price without knowing how much it was. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus came out of absolute obedience to God. By saying this I am not inferring that He didn’t have compassion or love for us; I am simply saying His first and foremost motivation was to obey God, and to do His will. Jesus was here at the Father’s bidding. There is no place that this is more evident than in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”
Luke 22:41-43 ESV
This was no trivial undertaking. However, the worst of it was not the physical suffering, but the spiritual suffering. Jesus was beaten to within an inch of His life, and as a matter of fact He was beaten so severely that He was barely recognizable as a man, and yet this still wasn’t the worst of it. The pinnacle of His suffering came when the perfect and sin-free Jesus took on the sins of the world.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
It is hard for us to possibly understand this because we live in and out of sin ourselves, and most of them are less than horrific in our eyes. In an effort to understand this enormity, imagine yourself assuming the sin and evil of Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, or Jeffrey Dahmer. How about all of them at once, and all the others that have ever existed? Are you beginning to imagine the enormity of His suffering? This is a man who didn’t take on more sin... He took on sin for the very first time in His life, and its breadth, width, and depth, was immeasurable.
A very interesting thought regarding sin and Jesus is that he didn’t just come to redeem us... He first had to convict us. Jesus had to open our eyes to the very sin we already had inside us, and show us that we were committing it every day. Until we realize we have a problem, how can we possibly address it? Do you remember that moment of conviction at the instant you first believed? Jesus knew this, and He knew why Men hate Him; it wasn’t because of who He was, but because He revealed to them who they were.
“But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.”
John 15:21-24 ESV
We try to understand the sacrifice of Jesus, and yet it is so enormous that knowing its entirety is impossible. We attempt to personalize it because that helps us comprehend, but it is far greater than just you and me. Oswald Chambers tried to communicate this when he wrote these words:
"That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that ‘He died for all’ (not—He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness." - Oswald Chambers
It is more than God asking Jesus, His Son, to assume my filthy but relatively puny sins, and die to redeem my rather insignificant life. No, He asked Him to take on all sin, and to become the sacrifice for all of creation. For all time... and all at once.
Have you ever been slapped in the face? Have you ever been struck suddenly in any way? Remember the shock of it? When my father first retired from the military, we lived in an apartment while my parents looked for a house. The outside doors of the apartment building were glass, and one of them had been broken out. It was pointless to open just the frame, so people would simply walk through it. One afternoon I ran down the steps at full tilt and proceeded to run through the empty door frame... but workmen had installed new glass while I was inside.
The impact was immediate, and severe. I remember a flash of light, an enormous BANG, and then intense pain. All of this occurred simultaneously. Thankfully I wasn’t hurt nearly as bad as my pride! The instant shock of that moment, despite its intensity, was pale in comparison to the shock that Jesus, the man, must have felt when He ran headlong into sin. For a man who was without sin He couldn’t have possibly seen it coming. He couldn’t possibly have known the total price of the bill He was about to pay... yet He said “your will be done” when the Father asked. There is no account of Him resisting, just as there is no account of Isaac resisting Abraham.
What amazing trust Jesus had in God, the only thing close to this was the trust of the boy Isaac in his father Abraham, and yet even this pales in comparison. What incredible obedience Jesus showed us... are we as trusting in God? Are we ready to obey Him and do His will as Jesus did? Can we begin to see and feel the sacrifice and love that was shown us?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your love, mercy, and grace, and I thank you also for the love, trust, and obedience that your Son Jesus Christ demonstrated for us. I ask Father that you give me the faith and strength of Jesus when you call to me. I ask that you provide me with the perseverance it takes to not just begin to do your will, but to accomplish it. Holy Father, I realize that you don’t just want me to say that I will do your bidding, but to actually do those things you ask of me, and I pray for the strength it will take in that hour. All things of you are good, and this is the beginning of my trust and obedience. I serve you in respectful fear Father, but not in terror. You called Jesus your Son, and you call me your child, and your friend. Hear me always, as I say “Here am I” as I answer your call, and know that I will do as you ask.
Rich Forbes