Jesus Looks Beyond The Cross
At this time of year, we celebrate the graduates of high school and college. If you made it through one of those journeys, you are to be commended. Great work!
Some may be asking: “Why enroll in a school? Why not do it on our own?”
There are at least three reasons to enroll rather than embark on the education process by ourselves. First, few people have the motivation to stick with the education process without some sort of motivational tools to encourage our learning like quizzes and tests and finals. Most will take shortcuts or quit altogether. Learning is hard work.
Second, sitting in class with a professor who has more knowledge in a particular field greatly enhances our ability to learn. By sitting under someone who knows the field better, I learn more.
Third, those who are hiring in the field of study will be more convinced that I have gained the knowledge if an accredited institution says so. The diploma from a school says more than a diploma from “Perkins University” that I print out for myself on my laser printer.
Higher education greatly helps the learning process and the depth of knowledge gained. But, when working toward a degree, there comes a point in the process where every student asks the question: “Why am I putting myself through this?” The answer to that question will cause the student to quit and walk away or press on and work toward the degree.
If students focus on the pain of the unending assignments and the struggle of the late nights of studying, they will probably quit. But, if students focus on the end result of the knowledge gained, the preparation made, and the diploma received, they will likely press on and keep working toward the goal of graduation.
The student must learn to look beyond the trials of the everyday assignments and see the triumph of a graduation ceremony, a diploma in hand, and the preparedness for the employment in that field. The successful student sees beyond the trial to the finished work.
Even before He went to the cross, Jesus was able to see beyond the cross to the finished work that the cross would achieve.
Hebrews 12:1-2 describes Jesus as experiencing the “joy set before Him” as His way to “endure the cross.” The joy was not in the crucifixion event, Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane reminds us of the difficulty of the cross. The cross was something Jesus “endured.” The joy was in the final work of redemption that was accomplished on the cross.
Jesus did His Father’s will. Jesus became the sacrifice for sin so that we could be forgiven and be filled with His righteousness. Jesus did for us what we could never do on our own. Jesus endured the cross by looking beyond the cross to the final result of God’s glory through the redemption of sinful humans.