REFLECT
 I know people who feel sorry for Jesus. They believe he was a great teacher, maybe even someone who helped others. But whenever his crucifixion and death come up, they feel badly for him. He just seemed to get the short end of the stick, they say. He was innocent, but he was a pawn in the hands of evil people, power grabs, and politics as usual. Poor Jesus. It’s too bad, you know. He did a lot of good in the world.

Comments like this make Jesus sound like an innocent victim completely at the mercy of those in power. What’s striking about this perspective is that the gospel writers could not have had a more different view. In fact, Jesus himself had a very different view of what transpired that first Good Friday. Contrary to the innocent victim motif, Jesus stated clearly numerous times that he was not at the mercy of Pilate, or the Jewish religious leaders, or Satan, or anyone else for that matter. Instead, he was a willing sacrifice. He chose to lay his life down.

One of my favorite phrases from Jesus about this is recorded long before Jesus’ crucifixion, when he is talking with his friends about sheep and shepherds. As he describes the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep, he quips, No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord. Short and succinct, but it makes the point. Jesus is not some innocent victim, like a sheep led to the slaughter, as Isaiah says. It’s not as if he is being led someone he doesn’t want to go. In fact, He is a sacrificial lamb. Perhaps this is part of what’s behind John’s initial unveiling of the Messiah in John 1:29, Look, the (sacrificial) Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

RESPOND
How does this perspective about Jesus’ death alter your thinking about who He is? Why is it important for us to maintain Jesus’ willingness to die on our behalf? What is at stake if we don’t? Finally, how can you submit your will to God’s today with the difficult circumstances you are facing?

READ: John 19:8-11 & 10:18
⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹ “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”

¹⁸ Jesus said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”