Jesus’ Perspective on His own Death

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Believe
Should Not Perish
3:16
Never, Never
Life, Love, Light
Condemned by Choice
This and That
Seven Expressions of Love from the Cross
Why?
I know, I know!
What?
UGH!
Expedient
Gain Grace?
The Gift
The Hands of God
Immortality
COME UP HERE
Not by Works of Righteousness We have Done
Jesus’ Perspective on His own Death
I AM

Download or order the free booklet “The Gift” here: https://basictraining.org/the-gift/

Thanks to the American Bible Society “The Gospel of John” for the video scenes.

I want to remind us of the perspective that Jesus, our Savior, had concerning His own death. Because I think it helps us appreciate it a little bit more. His death was 1) Purposeful, 2) Voluntary, 3) Joyful, and 4) Glorious.

Well, first of all, His death was purposeful. He recognized that He was going to die. John 12:27 says, “What shall I say, Father, do not let this hour come upon me. But that is why I came.”

The purpose of his death was also voluntary. It was a voluntary or volitional outpouring of His love, and it showed full and true submission to God, the Father. Romans 5:8, “for God demonstrates his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In the garden, Jesus said three times to the Father, “not My will, but Your will be done.” In John 10:17-18 Jesus said, “The Father loves me because I’m willing to give up My life in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes My life away from Me. I give it up of My own free will. I have the right to give it up and I have the right to take it back.This is what my father has commanded me to do.”

His death was purposeful. His death was voluntary. His death was also joyful. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus was fully aware of the pain and the suffering that He would face at the cross, but He had his eyes on the joy, and that joy was purchasing our eternal destiny.

And then finally, Jesus considered death as the path to glory. In John 12:23 He said those words, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to receive great glory.” And this is an amazing verse to me because this is shortly before the passion week. This is shortly before He would go through all of that suffering, the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the piercing of his hands and feet, the crown of thorns on his head, and the gathering up the sins of the world that pierced His heart. He didn’t say the time has come for the Son of Man to be tortured and tormented and suffer for the sins of the world. No, He said, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” He ignored the suffering and kept his eyes on the glory. And if we can grasp the truth of that verse, it would totally change our perspective of the sufferings in our life.

So this is His perspective of His own death. He was born to die.

Gene Cunningham - July 26, 2022

Three Questions

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As always, it is crucial to get the contextual setting. Jesus “departed from the temple” (Matt. 24:1). But this follows His most terrible message to Israel in Matthew 23, in which He announces eight “woes” to the nation for their rejection of Him. He concludes this message with the warning, “You shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Matt. 23:39). Jesus never entered the Temple again. This departure was a fulfillment of the vision of Ezekiel (Ezek. 10:18–19), where he saw the “glory of the LORD” depart from the temple. The disciples’ comment on the buildings of the Temple (Matt. 24:1) results in Jesus’ prophecy of its ultimate destruction. This, in turn, causes the disciples to ask three questions. These questions are vital to all that follows. Jesus’ response is a prophetic overview of future history. Jesus’ Prophecy of the Temple, Matthew 24:1–2 Although this prophecy certainly anticipates the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. (dealt with in Luke 21:20–24), we know that not “every stone” of the Temple was thrown down at this time. The very existence of the western or “wailing” wall is proof of this. Jesus had in mind the total destruction that would precede His Second Coming (Rev. 16:17–21). The Questions of the Disciples, Matthew 24:3 The three questions are related, yet they address separate issues: 1. “When will these things be?” This question has to do with time. The question is answered in the Tribulation portion of the message (Matt. 24:9–28). 2. “What will be the sign of your coming?” This specifically relates to the Second Coming of Christ (Matt. 24:29–31). This does not refer to the Rapture, which is at this time part of the unrevealed “mystery” of the Church Age (Eph. 3:1–10). 3. The final question has to do with “the end of the age,” which I take to mean the “Age of Israel” since the disciples did not yet know about the Church Age. We now know that the Age of Israel has been interrupted by the Church Age (an intercalation). The final seven years of the Age of Israel is the Tribulation period, also known as Daniel’s 70th week (Dan. 9:24–27), which is divided into two portions of “1,260 days,” or “42 months,” or “three and a half years” (see Dan. 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 14; 13:5).