Why Did Jesus Come? / Part 6

Series – Januart 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Why Did Jesus Come?
Part Five: He Came To Die

“Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” —John 12:27 ESV

Zhuazhou is a Chinese custom – not a biblical one – that dates back to 960 A.D. In this event a family places different items in front of their child on his or her first birthday; then the various members wait earnestly to see what he or she picks. The articles represent the possible future interests of the child, his inclinations and possible future career. If the child picks stamps, it will be assumed he would grow up to be a government official; if he picks an abacus then he would be a financial expert; if he picks a cake or a toy that means he would be an expert in enjoying the pleasures of life. If the child is a girl, then she might choose spoons or sewing items, suggesting she would be a good housewife.

In essence, the Zhuazhou custom is a way for the family to express their good wishes for a bright future for the child. The custom does not include any items indicating the child will be jailed, get ill or die at a young age. That would not be any parent’s wish list for their children.

A Mission From Birth
When Jesus was born there were many indications to tell his parents their Baby was special. His name was revealed by the angel of the Lord to be “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21); He would be the Savior. He received royal gifts from the wise men, which meant He would be a great king. Although there were other signs as to the uniqueness of this Child, there was little indication that He would save His people by laying down His life.

When Jesus was brought to the temple for the purification ritual according to the custom of the law, He was met by Simeon, a righteous man. It had been revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he saw the Lord’s Anointed, the Messiah. Simeon carried the Baby in his arms and opened his mouth in a prophetic utterance that praised God (see Lk. 2:22-35). Mary must have been excited when she heard the great prophecy about her Firstborn. However, Simeon must have surprised Mary when he said to her, “... And a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (v.35). What kind of sword would that be? If the Boy was expected to be great, why would there be any pain or agony related to Him?

A Mission With No Supporting Team
When Jesus started preaching He invited 12 men to be His disciples (Mt. 10:1-4; Mk. 3:14-19; Lk. 6:13-16). These men became His very close friends, and Jesus shared with them most of His time and teaching. Their relationship lasted more than three years. Because of that amount of time one would expect these 12 to be able to understand His character, thoughts and desires.

One of the weightiest thoughts that must have occupied the Lord was His mission to go to the cross and die. He must have been thinking about this crucial event and wanted to share it with His beloved friends. In The Gospel According to Mark we read three times that Jesus shared the news about His going to die on the cross. What was the disciples’ reaction to such big and surprising news? Were they good support for Him on His mission? Did they have questions to ask? Did they have words of encouragement?

The Disciples’ Reaction
“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man’” (Mk. 8:31-33).

The first time that Jesus shared the news of His upcoming death was after an incident in which Peter made a heavenly confession that Jesus is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah (v.29). As a Jew, Peter’s expectation of the long-awaited Messiah was for Him to rule as a king (Mt. 2:6), with all power and glory. The Jews expected a political Messiah who would free them from their enemies (Acts 1:6), not save them from their sins (Mt. 1:21). That motivated them to even try to make Him a king by force (Jn. 6:15, 12:12-19).

Peter rebuked the idea of the suffering Messiah because it conflicted with His expectation of a glorious Messiah. The narrator, Mark, included a very interesting remark: “But turning and seeing his disciples ...”. Why did the Lord rebuke Peter when He noticed the disciples? Peter may well have thought, “Wouldn’t the Lord desire glory for Himself?” The Lord would get His glory at the right time, but there was no way for Him to skip His dying-on-the-cross mission. Among other reasons, it was necessary for the sake of His friends. Jesus also knew Peter’s comment was a satanic idea, and that prompted Him to rebuke Peter for such an awful thought. What an amazing turn! After being praised by the Lord for a great heavenly proclamation, Peter was rebuked for advocating Satan’s ideas. Instead of supporting His master in such a tough mission, Peter was trying to hinder Jesus from progressing in this critical mission that would change the whole world.

“They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And He did not want anyone to know, for He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And when He is killed, after three days He will rise.’ But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask Him” (Mk. 9:30-32).

The disciples’ reaction was surprising in this second incident. They did not show any empathy to what the Lord was saying about His future suffering or challenge Him as Peter did the first time. The disciples simply did not understand; hence, they did not show any reaction. Can you imagine the Lord’s feelings when His closest friends did not understand what He said? Have you gone through suffering while those dearest to you expressed no concern for your suffering?

The more challenging portion is the incident that follows. After the Lord expressed His very deep emotions and shared the critical mission ahead of Him, the disciples were occupied with who among them was the greatest (v.34). The Lord simply directed them to the fact their own value is not in themselves, but in the fact they were sent by Him: “Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me” (v.37). He also gave them the key of true leadership: Be a servant to others. This was a lesson that He had to elaborate on in the third incident, as we will see next.

“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 on Him, and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise.’

“And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.’ And He said to them, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And they said to Him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your glory.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?’ And they said to Him, ‘We are able.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at My right hand or at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many’” (Mk. 10:35-45).

In this third incident we see Jesus again talking to His disciples about His being delivered to the chief priests and suffering shame, agony and death. What was the reaction of the disciples? Did they promise to protect Him? Did they say they would support Him as He went through this tough mission? Alas, the previous verses indicate they did not care at all. On the contrary, we see John and James asking for a glorious position in the Messiah’s kingdom, ignoring all what was said about His suffering and death.

Jesus gave them another chance when He reminded them of the suffering that He would have to go through and challenged them if they were willing to take part of this bitter cup. Their positive answer of accepting the challenge confirms the fact they did not understand the question in the first place, and that is what the Lord observed from the beginning, when He said, “You do not know what you are asking.” Maybe they thought the Lord’s suffering was something very simple and they would accept it as a price to get a glorious position in His kingdom. In fact, their answer implies they were belittling the Lord’s suffering. This must have hurt the Lord.

How did He react to this selfish and boasting attitude from John and James? Did He condemn them for hurting His feelings and not understanding the magnitude of His future sufferings? Not at all. Being the perfect shepherd He went ahead correcting the boasting attitude, not only for John and James but for all the disciples. They were all looking for high positions in the Lord’s future kingdom; they wanted to lead and rule. The Lord’s direction to them was to serve instead of ruling, and to give instead of asking. He was the perfect example by serving and giving even His life as a ransom for many.

Was Jesus Killed?
There were many attempts to kill Jesus during His lifetime. These were assassination attempts orchestrated by Satan and tried by men. One can argue those attempts started even before Jesus’ birth. The killing of Abel was an attempt to avoid the good offspring of the woman (see Gen. 3:15). Haman’s plot to wipe out the Jews (see Est. 3) was another attempt to prevent the coming of the promised Messiah, but let us look at the assassination attempts during Jesus’ lifetime.

The first attempt happened when He was about two years old. It was executed by King Herod, and his orders were to kill all male children in and around Bethlehem to ensure the death of the new born King (Mt. 2:16-18). The Lord escaped this attempt because an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take the Child and flee to Egypt, where they stayed until the death of Herod (vv.13-15).

During the Lord’s ministry, His teaching aggravated the Jews more and more, to the extent they “were seeking all the more to kill Him” (Jn. 5:18). Not only the Jews, but even their king wanted to kill Jesus: “Some Pharisees came and said to Him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill You’” (Lk. 13:31). In one specific incident Jesus was preaching in the synagogue of Narareth and the Jews were filled with wrath after His message. They drove Jesus out of the city to throw Him down from a hill to His death. However, Jesus just passed miraculously through the crowd (Lk. 4:28-30).

Why did Jesus escape from those attempted murders? It was because He came to die by His own will. God had a specific plan and time for the death of Jesus, and Jesus, knowing these things and in communion with God, obeyed.

Now, let us look at the last attempted assassination that happened during the Passover feast and led to the cross of Calvary. During that week the high priests arranged a plot to arrest Jesus and kill Him. However, they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people” (Mt. 26:5). Their plan was to arrest Jesus as soon as possible but kill Him after the feast. God had a different plan, and Jesus had to execute His mission according to the Father’s orders. He used the anger of Jews and Romans to deliver Jesus to the cross to fulfill God’s plan. Truly we can see that “surely the wrath of man shall praise You” (Ps. 76:10).

Was Jesus conquered on the cross? Was He killed? Not at all! The last sentence uttered from Jesus’ mouth, recorded by Luke, was “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit! And having said this He breathed His last” (23:46). This is a very important remark, because it indicates that Jesus gave His life Himself by committing His human spirit to the Father. He did not die unwillingly (see Jn. 10:17-18).

The two criminals who were crucified with Jesus lasted longer than Him, and their legs were broken to accelerate their death. Why did Jesus commit His spirit when He did? Why not earlier, or later? He had a mission with specific timing. The Lord breathed His last during the time of the evening offering, which was being offered in the temple (see Ex. 29:38-42; Num. 28:3,6; 2 Chr. 2:4). While the priests were busy offering the evening burnt offering, the veil of the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom to indicate that God accepted the perfect offering, Jesus, and now the way is open for anyone to reach God. Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God and His mission was to die – not to be killed before the time planned by God – as the lamb in the Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). Mission accomplished!

By Shereen Ghobrial