He Did Not Have To Do It
Seven little words have truly been on my mind in this past year. Think about it for just a second. "Jesus did not have to do it." He was under no obligation. No one asked him to do it. "God did not have to do it." God didn't have to give his only son to the world only to die. He didn't have to give the most precious thing he had for the wretched sinners like us. But he did. And that's something that I have thanked God time and time again for doing, because we truly needed it.
Imagine. God on the throne. His beautiful, precious son at his right hand. They have both seen Adam and Eve sin. Jesus looks up to God.
"I'll do it," he says.
God looks down upon his son, the light of glory shining around him.
"They will reject you."
"I'll do it."
"You won't have what you have now."
"They need me."
God bows his glorious head and nods.
"Yes. And they will never know how much they need you."
God sends Jesus into the world. Jesus takes off his robe of glory and puts on the form of a human babe, within the womb of a virgin girl.
That was 33 years ago. Now he is hanging upon a cross, his mother looking up at him; with John.
Dear John. The one who stayed to watch the crucifixion. The disciple that Jesus loved.
"Mother, take my friend John as your son. And John, take my mother as your mother."
Tears streaming down their faces, they both nod; and John puts an arm around Mary's shoulders. They both watch in silence and pain as the Saviour of the world hangs dying upon a cross.
Jesus can feel his strength waning. The whip lashes across his back that had been burning like fire before; have now gone numb. The crown upon his head, with thorns that dug so deep, now felt like little more that needle pricks. The course wood against his back dug into his open wounds, but he didn't feel it.
No, he was not feeling physical pain now. What he was feeling was a pain that no human has or will ever feel again. The pain of another's sins being cast upon you. And not just one man's sin, but an entire nation: No, an entire world of sins suddenly thrust themselves upon him. And not just the present sins. Every single sin of the past; every single sin of the future. Every single one was laid upon his back that day; your's and mine.
But even then, that pain was nothing compared to what happened next.
God turned his face away from his son. He turned his glorious face away from the sight of sin.
Jesus felt it.
"My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?" he cried out in anguish.
Oh, the physical pain had been hard. The pain of the sins was great. But the anguish of His father's face turning away from him was enough to kill him.
Jesus could feel a single tear course down his face as he felt life draining from him. It was so close now; soon to be over. Just a few more moments, and it would all be over.
Jesus took in a deep breath and raised his eyes towards the sky, now dark and stormy.
"It is finished," he whispered. Then, he gave up his spirit.
Oh, what pain that must have been. What strength he had to have to bear it.
And he did it for dirty, filthy rags as we are. He did it for me. He did it for you. He did it for every single human being on the planet.
And he didn't have to do it. He didn't have to die in our place.
God could have stopped it. God could have sent a legion of angels to rescue his son. But he didn't.
Think of it for just a moment. Every parent wants what is best for their child. But God wanted what was best for mankind.
Think of the waterfall of love that God has for us with that thought. That he loved us so much that he would be willing to let his perfect, blameless, sinless son die the most painful, most shameful, and most agonizing death in the history of mankind.
Think of the pain that Jesus bore. Think of the love that God has for us. But most of all, think about what happened three days later, when a stone was rolled away, the Son rose from the dead, and hope was restored to a hopeless world.
Think about seven little words this Easter. "He did not have to do it."