Jesus Gave His Life

-It Was No Ones To Take-

Jesus gave his life because he loved everyone.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:11, 17-18)

 Jesus gave his life. He could not be killed. Yet, he was killed; in so far as that the perpetrators of these heinous acts did everything that was needful in order to end the life of a living soul. But if it was even theoretically possible for anyone, or anything, to end the life of Jesus before he had actually finished the mission that his Father had assigned to him; to drink out of that bitter cup, and thus atone for all the sins of mankind; then, the whole plan of God would be in constant jeopardy to be an utter failure. But here are no “Whoops” in heaven! God would never rely upon a plan that could fail. And certainly not through the death of Jesus, for any reason, be it accident, bacteria, virus, or murder committed by people who feared him, hated him, or who plain envied him.

Nevertheless, Jesus had to be sacrificed by being crucified by wicked men. So it was foretold. So, when the motions of a would-be mortal execution of the Lamb of God was performed, and when He, still living, knew that he had fulfilled his sacrifice in mortality, Jesus gave his life.

He had complete control. His physical injuries were severe enough to brutally end the life of any person on earth. But not the life of the life-giver. When blood came from every pore, it was clear evidence that his heart had broken under the pressure of unbelievable emotional torment. But Jesus had life in himself, and would not die until he was done. When the dregs of the cup was drunk, when there was no more pain to suffer for mankind, and when the need to hang on to life, in spite of the state of his body, was over, Jesus made this known when he said:

30 It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.(John 19:30)

And so it was, in the account of John, when Jesus gave his life. In the account of Luke, the giving up of his life is perhaps more apparent:

46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)

This very action, in and of itself, was so powerful, that a close bystander, obviously no stranger to death, knew he had beheld something outside of the ordinary:

47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. (Luke 23:47)

What does it mean to you and me, that Jesus gave his life? It means that he did not seek the fast and easy way out of suffering, but that he held on to life and pain until you and I were cleansed from sin, and saved. But we will only be saved from sin if we truly regret our wicked acts, do what little we can to repair the damages we made through our sin, and cry unto the Lord for mercy.

Now, consider for a moment how he kept his life going under the worst pain imaginable, just so that he should be able to save you and me. Do you think that he is inclined to listen when we cry unto him? The answer should be easy, knowing that Jesus gave his life!

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