In Hebrews 12:2, we read "
For the
Joy set before Him He endured the cross." I think about this a lot. It
speaks to me in so many different ways. I met Jesus in 1991, and not long after
that read this verse. I am still not done thinking about it. At first, it just
stood out and made no sense at all. Over the years, it has only grown in depth.
Think about it: Jesus looked at the joy to come, and chose to endure the cross.
It seems to me we need to really understand the joy he was contemplating ...
because at least to some degree, we know the cross. After I was saved, I
started reading everything. First, the Bible over and over.. I couldn't get
enough. Then, commentaries and anything else I could get my hands on. I can say
with a certainty, the cross, and how bad it was, has been dissected and
examined to the "nth" degree. The cross was ugly, shameful, painful,
and horrible beyond our understanding. It was purposefully that way, to scare
people into submission. Let's just say, it was very effective.
But, let's take the verse into complete context: Jesus chose to, in some
supernatural way I don't understand, leave the Father's presence, enter into
the world He created as a helpless baby, in extremely poor conditions, grow up
poor, endure the mocking only a bastard child knows, experience the death of a
parent, hang out with a bunch of losers, and then for absolutely no good
reason, be beaten viciously, tortured, forced to carry the wood that He would
soon be nailed to up a long hill, and crucified mercilessly.
What kind of Joy did He consider so great that He willingly surrendered to
such insanity? He became human to suffer the most inhumane act of punishment.
It's more than ironic.
I know some suffering. I have had a son, a brother, and a parent die. I
thought I grew up poor, until I went to the Philippines on a Mission trip and
saw real poverty. Even the homelessness of America is nothing compared to the
slums of Cebu. It is a funny thing... perspective is... I guess I really
haven't known that much suffering. Much of my sadness and "suffering"
over the years has been a result of my own doings. So, when I look at Jesus,
and what He went through, when compared to what I know about suffering, it is
unimaginable that He would choose to enter into that deal. What kind of Joy was
it that He considered it a deal worth taking? I want to know... don't you?
Let's try to work through it... What would Jesus get for going through all
of that and dying this horrible, ridiculous death? The text reveals the prize:
"...
sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God." Wait... that's it? Admittedly, that has got to be
one awesome throne, since God owns everything He could spare no expense. Can we
infer that this location, this position, is so incredibly fantastic that the
unimaginable suffering Jesus experienced was worth it? But, wait... this is
where it started, so it can't be just sitting here that was the joy He
considered... right? If Jesus was with God from the beginning (John 1:1-2) why
would He leave at all? Couldn't He have simply said, "no thanks." and
just stayed where He was? So it couldn't have been just to sit at the throne He
was actually already sitting at when He heard the deal. (Note: I am putting
this into a time continuum that actually doesn't exist, as God exists outside
of time.. but that is another blog.)
Consider Philippians 2:6-8, which declares "(Jesus)
Who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather,
He made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross." The
implication here is that He did in fact have the option to say "No!"
My point is that it can't be considered obedience if there isn't a choice
involved. If you are arrested and put in handcuffs and led to a cell, it isn't
obedience if you don't fight... you don't really have a choice. I would call
that force. Or submission to coercion.
Again, that's another blog...
So, the question remains - what was so Joyful that the decision to endure
the cross made sense?
The text in
Philippians illuminates it a bit more: "
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name
that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Okay, we may be
getting somewhere. This is some good stuff here: "highest place, above
every name, every knee bows, every tongue..." It appears that, if I am
reading this correctly, Jesus obeyed to get the highest place and be in total
control. We call Him King of Kings for a reason...
The sidebar here is that if this is true (which I contend it is) then Jesus
IS in fact, The King of all Kings. How then should we act? How then should we
consider Him, and His words? I am going to let that simmer on the backburner
for a while, but, we will come back to this. There is just too much here to
leave behind.
But, for this blog, let's stay on track. Did Jesus just do all of that
suffering so He could be in charge? In the first part of that text, it said,
"...
being in very nature God..."
So, same argument as the first - He gave up what He had already to gain only
what He gave up? That makes no sense. That's like me giving you a thousand
dollars so you can give me a thousand dollars. There is something else here.
What was this Joy He saw but we are not seeing?
I am still thinking about all of this, but what I believe is that Jesus
obeyed because it is joyful to obey. All of the above is true, and the other
hundred or so verses I could show you support various nuances of why He may
have seen joy in the obedience. But the bottom line is that the obedience is
Joyful. Why? Because God's will is good. Romans 8 states that all things work
together for good in God's plan, and if you search the Bible for the word
"good" in connection to God being good, there are over 400 instances
of God's goodness. Even Jesus God obeyed Father God, and obeyed knowing that
the obedience would be good long term. In the midst of the act of obedience,
maybe not so much... but ultimately, because of Father's plan and Jesus'
obedience, Romans 5 says "...
so
also through the obedience of
the one man the many will be made righteous." That's a good plan.
Because Jesus obeyed once, we all who believe benefit. Big time.
Application time: Obey. Even when it makes no sense. Even when you are
giving something up, and it isn't fair. Obey. God has plan and it is very, very
good. Don't just trust me. Trust Him. Jesus did.
