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Monday, July 27, 2009

Why?

I have been studying Hebrews this summer. Hebrews has always been a book that I don’t really get. Well, that is slowly changing. Yesterday I was reading in Hebrew 5:1-10.

1Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

4No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. 5So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.[a]"[b] 6And he says in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."[c]

7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Bible study had us look up when Jesus cried and prayed in Matthew. In Matthew 26:39 Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.' ".His Father’s answer was no, you won’t have this cup (your impending death by torture) removed. But, you will rise again. Jesus who was with His Father in the Creation of the earth, who is capable of destroying the earth, let a mob of people take Him from His disciples, abuse Him, falsely accuse Him, and murder him slowly all the while choosing to be obedient to His Father’s will. He had the power to wipe out mankind, yet He chose not to. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus had the power to do as He pleased, yet He chose to be submissive to His Father. Jesus knew what was coming, yet He didn’t fight back. He could have called down legions of angels, yet He didn’t. Why?
I have my own ideas, but I want to know yours.

4 comments:

Kieran & Kari said...

I learned some Hebrews through BSF. I also have some scattered notes from Pastor Roger in 2004!

My own thoughts- a mere human with no theological training...
He COULD have sent angels, but then 1)He would not truly be accepting God's will. He would be intervening with his own plan.
2)Would everything that played out thereafter still have occurred? Would he have died on the cross, rose again, and, consequently given us eternal life?

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks so much for sharing that! A few of your points were a total confirmation from God about something I've been asking Him to take away. Christ submitted and endured horrible abuse even to death. So how much more should I accept the things that I deal with? Even in God's loving mercy He chose to let His Son endure so much. Yet I still ask God why he allows such suffering in the world? God's greater picture. Trusting in God's sovereignty and faithful character despite the aweful things of this world. -Diana

Tasha said...

I was struck by how self controlled Jesus was. He had the power to wipe out mankind, yet he allowed Himself to be our sacrifice. I know that self control is part of the fruit of the spirit, but I had never really thought about how much self control Jesus had.
Kyle's back has been acting up since the end of May. It has been hard on both of us in many aspect. The tie into self control is that I regularly poke, push, and nudge Kyle. Now I can't. Of the 5 love languages, my major two are touch and acts of service. It is hard when I can't, in love, poke and pester.
In regards to Kyle's back, I have also had to learn self control in my words. Kyle is in pain a lot, which means we can't do the same things we used to do. We decided against going to Bakersfield this weekend because sitting in a car for hours isn't the best on his back. I've seen a need for self control on my part when dealing with his back.

Tasha said...

I was thinking more on this. What was the motive of Jesus to have self control? I think it was two fold. His ultimate goal was to glorify God. So, that meant obeying His Father's plan for His life. The other was love, which also glorifies God. Jesus loves people. He knew that disobedience to His Father would be sin. Jesus had to remain sinless in order to be the final sacrifice. H has the same loving passion for restoration of mankind, and knew that His death and resurrection were a required part of this restoration.