In the garden of
Gethsemane, He could have called on The Father, and He would have provided
Jesus with more than 12 legions of angels.
“Do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and he will provide
me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:51)
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He chose us.
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He said to His
disciples “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch
with me." (Matthew 26:38). He went back to check on the disciples and
found them all sleeping; 3 times to be exact. At one point when he found
them sleeping, He said to Peter, “So, could you not watch
with me one hour?” (Mark 14:37). “He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still
sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer
is at hand." (Mark 14:41-42)
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He chose us.
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In unimaginable anguish His sweat was like drops of blood falling
to the ground. “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his
sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke
22:44).
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He chose us.
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He drank the cup of
bitterness, knowing that He didn’t have to. “And he
said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from
me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)
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He chose us.
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With
one kiss from one of His closest disciples He was betrayed. He could have stopped Judas. He could have defended Himself. But He knew Judas was about to kiss Him as a
sign that He was the one to be crucified.
“While
He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large
mob, with swords and clubs, was with him from the chief priests and elders of
the people. His betrayer had given them a sign: “The One I kiss, He’s the
One; arrest Him!” So he went right up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!”
and kissed Him. “Friend,” Jesus
asked him, “why have you come?” Then they came up, took hold of Jesus, and arrested Him.”
(Matthew 26:46-50)
I can scarcely begin to comprehend that He still
called Him friend knowing the magnitude of what that one act of betrayal would
put into motion.
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He chose us.
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He could have defended
Himself. He could have been freed with just a few words, but He chose the
way of the cross. “The leading priests accused Jesus of many things. So Pilate
asked Jesus another question. Pilate said, "You can see
that these people are accusing you of many things. Why don't you answer?"
But Jesus still did not speak. Pilate was very surprised at this.” (Mark
15:3-5)
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He chose us.
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Pilate knew He was
innocent, but He kept hearing, “CRUCIFY HIM!” “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and
gathered the whole company of soldiers around Him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and
then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a
staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail,
king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck
him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the
robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.”
(Matthew 27:27-31).
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Here is a brief
medical description of what he suffered on a physical level. “Jesus
was first stripped of all clothing, then tied to a post with his hands above
his head (to stretch the skin making the wounds worse). He was then flogged by
one or two people with a whip (or flagellum). This whip (often called a
cat-o-nine tails) consisted of a handle (about 18" long) with 9 leather
straps about 6 or 7 feet long, and at the end of each strap was small lead
balls mixed with pieces of animal bone or metal. These would tear into the body
more and more with each successive lashing, with the lead balls ripping into
the skin and the jagged pieces of bone or metal tearing it out. As the flogging
progressed, muscles, vital organs, and even the spine could often be seen
openly. Huge strips of skin would be hanging from the body.” (source of the
medical details above are from http://jesusalive.cc/ques209.htm
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He chose us.
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They hammered nails
into His hands and feet, beat Him, spat on Him, mocked Him, and pierced His
side with a sharp sword as He hung on the cross. Isiah 53 was fulfilled. “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out
of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no
beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he
was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every
one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that
is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and
as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of
the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his
grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no
violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:2-9)
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He chose us.
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About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Even as He cried out to the Father
with an overwhelming sense of feeling forsaken and abandoned by Him, He
remained on the cross.
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He chose us.
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That’s not when it
ended. While it looked like the end, it was the beginning. He was
crucified and died on the cross. They put Him in the tomb. And on
the third day He rose again! “He is not here, for he has
risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6)
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He chose us.
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And the scriptures
were fulfilled. “For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will
be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
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He chose us.
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He is our Only
Savior-THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE-our Salvation. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6).
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HE CHOSE US.
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WILL YOU CHOOSE HIM?
