He Did It Anyway
Have you ever read a familiar passage of scripture and, for the first time, have something almost “jump off of the page?” That happened to me recently as I was reading John’s account of some of the events which led up to the Lord’s trial and crucifixion.
Specifically, I was reading the portion of John 18 which tells of the betrayal of Judas. As you may remember, when Judas and those who had come to arrest Jesus arrived, the record states:
Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” (John 18:4, ESV)
As the events continue to unfold in this chapter, Jesus identifies Himself twice as the One for whom they were looking. He did this in spite of those words that really sunk in to me for the first time –
…knowing all that would happen to Him…
The following passage demonstrates that Jesus did, indeed, know what would happen to Him in Jerusalem:
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to Him,saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit upon him, and flog Him and kill Him… (Mark 10:32-34)
What made those words mentioned earlier so meaningful to me had less to do with the Lord’s knowledge and more – much more – to do with His dedication. It may be tempting to just “read over” some words without really giving them much thought. Some of the words I have in mind are words like “mock,” “flog/scourge,” and “kill” (which we know was crucifixion).
It might be helpful to do a little research into the meanings of those words and methods used to accomplish those actions. When/if you do, you might be shocked by how horrific those “read-over” actions were.
Maybe, like me, when you do that you will come away from that with a new appreciation for what Jesus did and marvel at the fact that…
He did it anyway.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
