Good Morning Friends,
“Those who passed by hurled insults at him,
shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and
build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the
Son of God!’ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the
elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself!
He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will
believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he
said, ‘I am the Son of God.’’ In the same way the robbers who were crucified
with him also heaped insults on him.” (Matthew 27:39-44)
The insults hurled at Jesus while He hung on
the cross contained elements of truth. “He saved others, but he can’t save
Himself.” He did save others and they knew it. But it wasn’t that He could not
save Himself – it was that He would not save Himself! He knew why He was on the
cross and despite the pain and torture of what He was going through He kept His
resolve to accomplish it.
“The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from
trials.” (2 Peter 2:9) God does know how to rescue those who are His from
suffering. He has proven His strength to do it in many ways and at many times.
But God does not always rescue His children from suffering, even as He did not
rescue Jesus from His suffering. Sometimes what God desires to accomplish can
only be accomplished through the suffering of His children.
Jesus willingly went through the suffering
because of the “joy set before Him.” (Hebrews 12:2) The joy was found in what
God would accomplish through His suffering.
I wonder if we are willing to accomplish God’s
will if it means suffering in our own lives? That is the example Jesus set for
us to follow.
His, by Grace, Steve
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