The Cross - The Message That We've All Missed

"The Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father do. 
For whatsoever the Father does, that the Son does also." - Jesus Christ

When we think of Jesus, most likely we think of the Son of God in bodily form coming in and being God.  That is, no one tells Him what to do or how to do it.  That, as God, Jesus answers to know one.  To some extent this is true.  He certainly bowed down to no man.  The Apostle Peter told us, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." Regarding the leaders of Israel at the time, Jesus certainly showed them no respect.  Scripture describes Jesus' behavior on more than one occasion where He intentionally antagonized the Pharisees, almost like He was trying to draw out their anger.  

For those of us who believe in Jesus, we believe not just because we have read words in a book describing the acts and teachings of Jesus. We believe because God’s Holy Spirit whispers to our hearts that these Words are true, that Jesus Christ is His true Son, and that Jesus is the only one who shows the true path to eternal life with God the Father. The message of the Cross that most miss is, in spite of the fact that Jesus was totally rejected which lead to His death, He refused to bow down and submit to anyone except to God the Father:

• Secular leadership rejected Him in that Herod wanted to see a magic show while Pilate was bowing down to public opinion. Pilate had Jesus executed in spite of publicly stating that he found no fault in Him.
• Jewish spiritual leaders rejected Him because He refused to bow down to them and use His God-given powers as directed by them.  They knew the public would reject them and replace them with Jesus as their king. So, they incited the crowd against Christ so Pilate would fear the crowd and cower down, do their bidding and execute Him.
• The Jewish people rejected Him because He refused to bow down to their wishes by overthrowing Rome and setting Himself up as King and Ruler of Israel. It was an annual custom that Pilate would release a prisoner of their choosing.  Because Jesus refused to bow down to their wishes, the crowd instead demanded that Barabbas be released to them. Barabbas was a known murderer and insurrectionist.  It was their hope that he would be their new savior and overthrow Rome.
• Jesus' own flock fled out of fear. Even Peter, His most vocal supporter, when questioned by a maid servant, denied that He knew Jesus.
• One thing that really stands out is that during His darkest hour, Jesus refused to bow down to His own flesh, which was screaming at Him to the point of the shedding of blood. Knowing that He was destined to die on the cross, Jesus' flesh was demanding to the point of death that He stop being wholly, completely, and unconditionally loyal to God the Father while wholly rejecting all the aforementioned voices. Jesus’ flesh demanded that he reject the Father and bow down to man so that He could continue to live and avoid death on the cross.

Jesus refused to bow down to all of them; His own flesh, Israel's spiritual leaders, civil government, the people, and His own Disciples. His path was determined.  He chose to follow it - off to the cross to die for our sins as we wholly and completely rejected Him, granting Him a sinners death either by actively trying to kill Him, or as His followers did by fleeing for their lives so they wouldn’t die on the cross with Him.

After the smoke cleared, after the partying was over as secular and religious leaders alike rejoiced that they had rid themselves of that problem by clearly stating to Jesus that they had the power, God the Father stepped in and showed them who really had the power: The Father gave Jesus back His life by raising Him from the dead.

In God's Kingdom, there is no hierarchal authority.  There is only One God, One Authority.  We are all under His direct leadership.  No other voice speaks for the Father except Jesus Christ the Son who demonstrated complete, unwavering, unconditional loyalty to the Father.

For those who try to stop our faith through false arguments and continuous lies, it isn’t their voice we listen to. We cling to the witness of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to our hearts saying, “This is the way. Walk ye in it.”

“And it shall come to pass that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” His name is Jesus.

Blessings,

Glen