Posted on 03/25/2016 8:34:34 AM PDT by Salvation
One of the most remarkable aspects of Jesus’ crucifixion is the humble reserve He displayed. As God, He had the power to end His suffering and humiliation at any time. He had already reminded Peter, Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt 26:52-54)
As Jesus hung on the cross, Satan and others tempted Him one final time, saying, “Come down from the cross.”
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 rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him (Matt 27:39-44).
The temptation is to give in to pride and the desire for power, to do anything but die on the cross. They taunt Jesus by saying that because God is all-powerful, if you really were God, you would have the power to come down and not be overpowered by your enemy.
It is a crafty, worldly temptation. To the worldly-minded, the demand makes sense. In effect, they are saying, “If it’s faith you want from me, you can have it if you’ll just come down from the cross. Then I’ll be impressed; then I’ll believe.” The tempters want to be saved on their own terms.
Why does Jesus stay on the cross? For three reasons, at least.
I. Humility – Jesus is out to overcome Satan. In this world, we seek to overpower our foes. Does it work? No. Usually the cycle of violence just continues; in fact, it often gets worse. We think, “If I can just yell louder, if I can just outwit or outgun my opponent, then I’ll win the day.” Yes, but there’s more to life than just one day. The next day your opponent will return with louder, wittier arguments and with bigger guns. And the cycle of violence goes on; it is is an endless power struggle.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” And I would add that here at the cross, pride cannot drive out pride; only humility can do that.
Therefore, although the crowd and Satan try to goad Jesus into a power struggle, the Lord chooses the only weapon that is truly effective against pride: humility. To the devil, humility is like kryptonite!
To our human eyes, it seems that the Lord is defeated. But in His humility, He is doing more damage to Satan than we could ever imagine. He stays on the cross to defeat Satan’s pride through His own profound humility. Jesus does this despite Satan’s desperate attempts to engage His pride and provoke Him into a power struggle.
II. Obedience – It was disobedience that got us into trouble in the first place, and it will be obedience that restores us. Adam said “No,” but Jesus, the New Adam, says “Yes.” It is not the suffering of Jesus itself that saves us; it is His obedience. And Jesus’ suffering is part of that obedience.
Jesus decides to obey His Father, no matter the cost. Isaiah says of Jesus, He suffered because he willed it (Is 53:7). St. Thomas Aquinas said that if Jesus had suffered and gone to the cross without willing it, we would not be saved. Jesus Himself said, No one takes my life from me, I lay it down freely (Jn 10:18). St. Maximus the Confessor said, “We are saved by the human decision of a divine person.”
Jesus went to the cross and decided to stay on the cross in obedience. And it is by His obedience, by His will to obey, that we are saved.
III. To save me – On a more personal level, we can also see that Jesus decided to stay on the cross to save each one of us. If He had come down, I would not be saved; you would not be saved. We might have been impressed and we might have even had a kind of faith, but it would not have been a saving faith.
Pure and simple, Jesus decided to stay on the cross and to endure mockery, shame, pain, and death, in order to save a poor sinner like me. An old gospel song says,
When Jesus hung on Calvary, people came from miles to see
They said, If you be the Christ, come down and save your life
But Jesus, sweet Jesus, never answered them
For He knew that Satan was tempting
If He had come down from the cross, my soul would still be lost
If He had come down from the cross, my soul would still be lost
He would not come down from the cross just to save himself
He decided to die just to save me.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Good article.
I think there was a fourth reason why he did not come down from the cross so that ‘they would believe.’ He knew they were lying.
humbling message.
His time to “come down” was not then, and those who do not believe will be sorry when He eventually does come down. If Jesus had come down off the cross at that point, they would have had to have been killed, yes? Since they were lying?
Amazing that He is still waiting for that same permission, to establish His kingdom on earth.
And if He did come down, His work would not have been accomplished, being a sacrifice for the whole world for all ages.
My initial post was mearly to show the wicked fickleness of man. The challenge that the pharisees gave was empty. Even if he did come down, they would still not believe nor recieve him. Regardless if Christ brought down a Region of Angels to wipe out the wicked, they would still not believed him.
.45 Long Colt; usconservative; metmom
Monsignor Charles Pope is a Catholic who actually preaches the Gospel of the Kingdom as Peter, Paul, James, John, and Jude preached it. He is what Jesus called a “victor” or “over comer” in His letters to the Churches. There are victors in every worldly Church, even the lukewarm Church. Be a Victor!
Revelation 2
7 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God.”’
- - - - -
11 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The victor shall not be harmed by the second death.”’
17 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which
is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it.”’
- - - - -
24 But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not uphold this teaching and
know nothing of the so-called deep secrets of Satan: on you I will place no further burden,
25 except that you must hold fast to what you have until I come.
26 “’”To the victor, who keeps to my ways until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
27 He will rule them with an iron rod. Like clay vessels will they be smashed,
28 just as I received authority from my Father. And to him I will give the morning star.
29 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
- - - - -
Revelation 3
4 However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments;
they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.
5 “’”The victor will thus be dressed in white, and I will never erase his name
from the book of life but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my
Father and of his angels.
6 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
- - - - -
20 “’”Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
21 I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself
first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.
22 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
- - - - -
* [2:7] Victor: referring to any Christian individual who holds fast to the faith
and does God’s will in the face of persecution. The tree of life that is in the
garden of God: this is a reference to the tree in the primeval paradise (Gn 2:9);
cf. Rev 22:2, 14, 19. The decree excluding humanity from the tree of life has
been revoked by Christ.
http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/2
http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/3
“There are none so blind as he who will not see” ...
Even if someone rose from the dead, people wouldn’t believe as Abraham told the rich man in hell.
I see this challenge to Jesus as Satan’s strongest temptation at His weakest or most vulnerable moment (if He could have one).
Agreed.
No they wouldn't. If the Israelites shows anything about their wandering in the wilderness, people always want one more miracle.
You’re right, they would not believe. They would think him evil.
Stay on the cross and separate the sheep from the goats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.