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
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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

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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 - June 17, 2022

WHAT?

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In John 11:28, the focus shifts from Martha to Mary. "When she said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary, her sister, saying," "The teacher has come and is calling for you." It's very interesting to methat Jesus was always identified to Mary as "the Teacher." And one of the reasons for that is every time she came to Him,she was at His feet listening. "As soon as she heard that, she rose quickly and came to him, and Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. The Jews were there with her in the house, comforting her when they saw Mary Rose up quickly and went out. They followed her saying, 'she is going to the tomb to weep there'." Then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet."Could I suggest to you that a lot of us are like Martha impressed with what we know but lacking in surrender?Others of us are like Mary and we have all the surrender in the world, but we lack the knowledge. It takes both of them plus something else -- a hunger for God's word. "...she fell down at His feet..." We see her at His feet in Luke Chapter Seven, Luke Chapter Ten (at the end of the chapter), and again in John Chapter Twelve. I don't know if you noticed this, but every time we see Mary in the Bible, she's at His feet. Isn't that amazing? A person with a surrendered heart.What does she say to Him? "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." I almost think Martha and Mary must have talked this over. How many times might they have said to each otherin those four days, "if the Lord had come; if only the Lord would have come; if only He had been here, what a difference He could make." And we say the same thing in our own lives when we question "Why?" Could I recommend that you not use that word when things are difficult? Because God's not going to give you an answer. "Why did God allow this?" "Why did God permit this?" "Why didn't God do this?" He's not going to answer you. You might remember there was a guy in the Bible who askedwhy for a long time his name was Job. God didn't answer him. Even when the Lord spoke to him out of the stormat the end of the book, He didn't answer his question. Why?I'd like to recommend that we start thinking about asking a different question. "What?" "What would You have me to do?" "Not my will, Thy will be done." "What would You have me to do in this situation that I'm inas a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, surrounded with angelic protection everywhere that I go, knowing that I am in Christ and He is in me,knowing that in Your perfect plan, nothing can touch me, but by Your permission... What would you have me to do with what I'm facing today?" It makes things a lot different.Jesus doesn't carry on a conversation with Mary. It says, "When he saw her weeping and the Jews that came with her weeping, He groaned in spirit and was troubled. And He said, 'Where have you laid him?' And they said, 'Lord, come and see'." Then comes some people's favorite verse -- easy to memorize -- "Jesus wept." Why do you think He wept? He wasn't weeping for Lazarus. He knew He was going to raise him from the dead. Is He weeping because of compassion for the people, for what they're going through? Maybe. We know that He had boundless compassion. The next couple of verses, give me a little bit different opinion."Then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him?' They look at him, He's weeping. "See how he loved him?" Oh, He must have loved Lazarus so much. "...And some of them said, 'Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind even have kept this man from dying?" "Jesus groaned in Himself." Twice we're told that "He groaned." Once we're told that "He was troubled,"and, once we're told that "He wept." The word for groaning is a very interesting word. It means to "snort with anger," and I never heard that before. If you want the long version "embrimaomai" is the Greek word meaning "to snort with anger or frustration." The word "troubled" means "to be agitated." Now, why would the Lord Jesus snort with anger and be agitated? Could I suggest to you that maybe He wept because of their unbelief. No one here is saying, "You're in charge." No one here is saying, "Not our will; Your will be done." Not anyone here is saying, "God has a plan for each and every one of us. God had a plan for Lazarus."Do we think about these things when we go through difficulties? "What would you have me to do?" I would suggest that maybe sometimes our lives, our doubts and our unbelief may cause Him to groan.