32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, He began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise."
The qualities of God's leaders are mentioned in the book of Joshua (6th in the Bible). Joshua is commanded by God to take over for Moses and lead the people of Israel into the promised land. Three times the LORD says to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous. (a)" And another time the warriors of Israel are telling their leader to, "be strong and courageous. (b)" To these remain two other qualities. That is that a leader must be obedient (c) and faithful, day and night, trusting in the LORD (d). And now we see these qualities portrayed in our Master and Commander.
Jesus had twice already told his disciples that He was going to die and rise again (e), and now a third time as we just read. Notice that He was, "walking ahead of them." Knowing His eminent death and the torture that awaited Him, He still marched on ahead. You do not even find Him among the people, He was walking before them. He was leading the charge and, "they were amazed." His courage amazed them. Later we see that as the hour approaches Jesus lives out His faithfulness to the Father's will by praying, "not My will but Yours be done (g)." As the Father is so is the Son; faithful.
He never disobeyed God His Father, He never compromised His integrity, He never lied or watered down the truth. He became obedient to death - even the death of a cross (f). Tragically, it was our disobedience that place Him there. He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (h). He knew that the gruesome death He foretold was the result of what we had done, and He loved us the same. Praise God for the love He has shown us! To call sinners out of their sin in order that we may be considered His children. This is awesome! :)
On a side note. Often when I hear people talk about the love of God it comes across as some sort of emotionalism, that God is somehow all about "happy feelings (love) towards mankind". They replace God's nature as being both righteous and holy with a sort of love that can only be described as worthless tolerance. Love does not rejoice (tolerate) evil, but rejoices in truth (j). Yes God's love is amazing! And if you are in Christ then your sins have been forgotten never to be remembered again. But it is not because God's love ignored our sin, for that is against His nature, but it is because the wrath that was stored up in heaven against us for the crimes we had committed was pored out on Jesus Christ as He hung on that Cross. Praise be to God for such a demonstration of what the purest love looks like.
Beloved, search your heart, stop rushing in life from one fleeting pleasure to the next, sit down and consider, the question is not, "Do you know Jesus?" rather, "Are you known by Jesus?" Can you say that your sins are forgiven, that His Spirit dwells in you, that you stand forgiven readily awaiting our Leaders return? Do not be deceived as I was thinking better of myself not considering the life of sin and rebellion I had chosen. But in light of God's relentless love for you, repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ. Live as children of God.
(a) Joshua 1:6;7;9
(b) Joshua 1:18
(c) Joshua 1:7
(d) Joshua 1:8;9
(e) Mark 8:31 ; 9:31
(f) Philippians 2:8
(g) Luke 22:42
(h) Isaiah 53:5
(j) I Corinthians 13:6
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