Free ? (3)

Saturday 19 June 2021

He (Jesus) withdrew from them a stone's throw away, knelt down and prayed, saying : Father, if you would take this cup away from me ! However, it is not my will that is done, but yours. Luke 22.41,42

He humbled himself by showing obedience even to death, even death on the cross. Philippians 2.8

Free ? (3)

Before beginning his public service, Jesus is tempted in the wilderness by Satan, and he is victorious. He then goes from one village to another to do good and heal all those whom the devil had enslaved to his power (Acts 10:38). But he and hated and rejected. The time of his crucifixion is approaching...

A few hours before being crucified, Jesus is in a garden called Gethsemane. He is in great anguish at the thought of God's judgment which he will take upon himself in place of sinners. Jesus intensely feels what awaits him. The idea of ​​bearing our sins, and of being "made sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21) filled him with dread, the Holy One and the Righteous (Mark 14.33). He begged his Father to spare him that. But there again, he puts aside his will, however perfect, to submit it to the will of his God. He submits and offers himself as a sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). At the end of this terrible fight, where his sweat becomes like lumps of blood, he gets up and, joining his disciples, says to them : The cup which the Father gave me, shall I not drink it ?" ( John 18.11).

Again, in this agonizing moment, Jesus did not assert any free will. On the contrary, "although he was the Son (of God) he learned obedience through all that he suffered. And... he became, for all who obey him, the author of eternal salvation." (Hebrews 5. 8,9).

His perfect obedience led him to offer himself to atone for the sins of disobedient and sinful men that we are. This salvation, he gives it to you if you believe in him.

(end)

Source (The Good Seed)