Simon Peter asked Jesus, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow now. But you will follow later.’ Peter asked, ‘Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I am ready to die for you!’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you really give your life for me? The truth is, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.’
Do you ever spend time just thinking, really thinking, about Jesus? I think about Him a lot. I think about what He did, the price He paid for my sins, everything He went through. We were studying the part of Matthew that talks about the transfiguration this week in our church’s Tuesday night Bible study. During the discussion my mind starting thinking about something else that I had not truly thought about in as much depth as I have lately.
The Gospels talk about Jesus being fully divine and fully human. This is what I started really thinking about. Jesus, the human side of Jesus. We should all be able to relate to the human side of Jesus. Jesus felt emotions just like we all do. Can you imagine knowing what was going to happen to you, knowing the beating, cursing, spitting, everything that was going to happen to you, knowing the pain it would cause, and still walking towards it? Still saying “Your will be done”? The weight of this really hit me this week.
I don’t know that I could do it. I don’t know that if I knew ahead of time about something that was going to happen that would cause that immense amount of pain, I don’t know that I could go through with it. I would chicken out, I’m sure. But yet, He walked toward it. With full knowledge of what was going to happen, He walked toward it. He turned to His Heavenly Father each time the weight began to be too heavy and found strength to continue on, to fulfill the plan. Jesus prayed so often for strength, for Himself as well as for us.
If Jesus could carry the full weight of a sinful world on His shoulders and pay the price, knowing the pain that would be inflicted on Him, then we should be able to handle whatever life throws at us doing the same. Talking to our Heavenly Father, leaning on Him for strength, and press forward.
Jesus fulfilled the greatest mission ever. He died for our sins. He took the punishment we deserved. All so we could be with Him in His kingdom at His second coming. If He could do that for me, then I should at least honor Him by being there.
His sacrifice was far greater than ours.