Jesus Saved You By Not Saving Himself

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, “the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God’ ”(Mat. 27:41-43). The arrogant, powerless crowd were taunting the all-powerful, humble God to action. In the moment Jesus really does look relatively powerless as He was hanging crucified on the cross. The Roman soldiers forced their will on Jesus nailing down His hands and feet (Mat. 37:32-44). Those passing by the cross also acted out with great disdain spitting on Jesus physically and verbally with insults, saying whatever they wanted to say without any fear of consequence. Jesus, who claimed the ability to rebuild the temple in three days looked as if He did not have the power to come down from the cross. Jesus was not going to leave Golgotha alive.

But wait! Jesus in His seemingly powerlessness reveals His almighty divine power in a completely different way than the mocking crowd was expecting. God would have been justified in silencing every boastful mouth and crushing every proud heart in judgment. Instead, with His eternal power, God restrains His wrath upon the deserving crowd and turns that judgment upon Jesus. On His cross, Jesus takes the full weight of God’s wrath that you and I deserve so that we will never experience God’s wrath, judgment or condemnation. Jesus saved you by not saving Himself. This is the beautiful irony of the cross.

This was God’s intended plan from the beginning of creation. Christ Jesus is God’s Lamb, the One who “takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). He took on flesh “in order to take away sins… and to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:5, 8). Christ stayed on the cross “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).” Ironically, what Pilate meant as the ultimate humiliation is, in fact, our all-powerful expectant hope.

The cross of Christ “is honor, yet it is shame. It is wisdom, but also foolishness. It is both gain and loss; both pardon and condemnation; both strength and weakness; both joy and sorrow … It is grace, yet it is righteousness; it is law, yet it is deliverance from law; it is Christ’s humiliation, yet it is Christ’s exaltation” (Horatius Bonar). When we embrace the power and love of Jesus Christ to stay on His cross, choosing not to save Himself but instead to save us, He makes everything right. The amazing life-changing irony of the cross!

See you Sunday, boasting in the Cross: Steve