Love, Sacrifice, and Restraint
I'm realizing that Jesus dying on a cross was the greatest display of self restraint and emotional regulation known to mankind. Do we really think that the same Jesus that had the power to raise people from the dead could not have come down from the cross if he wanted to? Or do you think that all of heaven could not have saved Jesus if that's what he asked for?
Or do we suppose that the one who has all authority in heaven did not have all the resources and power in heaven at his disposal? Oh! We would be mistaken!
“And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword and, striking the body servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [more than 80,000] of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must come about this way?”
And there would have been precedent for it because it happened to the Assyrians.
““For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake. And it all came to pass, for that night the Angel of the Lord went forth and slew 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when [the living] arose early in the morning, behold, all these were dead bodies.” ”
So why didn't he? Where did he learn this kind of restraint and what fueled it? I like origin stories and one of my favorites is X-Men: Apocalypse. There's this scene where Cyclopse is learning to use his laser powers. When he opens his eyes, everything in the direction he's looking is destroyed but eventually he learns to focus it and direct it. He learns when to turn it on and keep it off. He learns much needed restraint because a person of power without direction and restraint is an inferno, rather than a blowtorch. Jesus also had an origin story where his restraint had to be tested and proven.
Enter the wilderness scene where Jesus was tempted. He had been fasting for 40 days and at the end of it he was hungry. Of course he was hungry! At that moment, the Devil came to tempt him and asked him to prove his identity by turning stone to bread. Why was this a temptation? I mean, if someone asked me to turn stone to bread there is no world in which that would be considered a temptation. It's only a temptation if I can actually do the thing but know that I shouldn't. Oh, did we really think that the same Jesus that turned five loaves and two fish into enough food for five thousand men and their wives and children could not have turned stones or sand or anything else in the dessert to food? The Devil knew this and knew he was hungry. He said, "If you are the son of God..." that is, demonstrate your power to prove that you are indeed who you say you are. After all, aren't you powerful? But Jesus was so rooted in his identity, that he could resist the temptation to display his power out of turn. He chose restraint. This is the same restraint he would need three years later on the cross.
Dying a gruesome public death was a deliberate act of self restraint. His love for us compelled him to restrain his power and endure death. It was the literal definition of laying his life down for us. His life wasn't taken from him. He chose to lay it down. For the joy of you in relationship with him forever, he set aside his power and ability to avoid the pain and rejection he would experience and died for you and me.
That is indeed Good News!
