Was
Jesus powerful before his death?
Certainly his miracles indicate a measure of power incomprehensible to man. But
did he become more powerful after his
death? One could argue that since Jesus was God incarnate, and since God is
omnipotent, that, no, Jesus did not become more powerful after his death
because he was already omnipotent. While I agree with this premise in
principle, I also believe Jesus became more powerful after his death as far as
man is concerned in that salvation was now secure. Prior to the cross, the path
to salvation did not exist except as a prophecy and a promise from God (“And I
will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and
hers,” Genesis 3:15, NIV). Barnhouse
(1973) noted, “Here is the first definite mention of the Lord Jesus Christ in
His character as the Savior of mankind” (p. 23). In other words, the path to
salvation was established in the Garden of Eden through Eve’s offspring, but it
was not realized until the death of
Christ on the cross.
Clearly
Jesus knew his role was to die on the cross. There is little doubt he was
confused about his purpose on earth. He did not begin his ministry with the
intent of securing salvation without dying, as though an alternative method
existed and was to be pursued in lieu of the cross. It was only through the
shedding of the innocent blood of a perfect, sinless substitute that salvation
could be secured for mankind. Exodus 12 recounts the shedding of innocent blood
during Passover that represented the shedding of the innocent blood of Jesus,
the Savior, who was to come. The method of salvation was through the shedding
of innocent blood – the innocent blood of Jesus. There was no other way, and
Jesus knew this. Recall his words in Matthew 26:39, “Going a little farther, he
fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may
this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (NIV). What Jesus was really doing here
was displaying his humanity. Boice (2001) noted, “There is no place in which Jesus
appears more like us in our humanity than when he experienced sorrow and
anguish in the garden” (p. 566). Like any of us would act in his position, he
revealed his human feelings about his
plight. More importantly, though, he placed God’s will above his own.
The cup
Jesus mentioned “is a biblical image for God’s wrath, and the wrath of God for
sin troubled Jesus when he asked that the cup might be taken from him” Boice,
2001, p. 567). Jesus shed his innocent blood in order to bear the sins of the
world. “Jesus drank from the cup of God’s wrath so we might never have to drink
it. In place of that cup we have the communion cup, which is the cup of the new
covenant in Christ’s blood” (Boice, 2001, p. 567). There is no denying the path
to salvation required Jesus’ death.
When I
think about Good Friday, the day Jesus died, I observe the attitude of
believers, many of whom are somber and melancholy. They seemingly attempt to
identify with Jesus and his death and so act accordingly out of reverence.
There’s nothing wrong with that. However, I believe that such an attitude is
out of place in comparison to the one of elation exhibited a few days later on
Easter Sunday, which is one of joy in recognition of Jesus rising from the
dead. His resurrection was as certain as his death. The two go hand-in-hand.
Yet to most people his death only has significance because of his resurrection.
It is almost as if his death without his resurrection would have been
inconsequential and ineffective.
However, we
must examine the significance of each event independently in relation to
salvation, not each other. Did Jesus’ resurrection provide salvation for the
world, or was that obtained through his death? And if salvation was indeed
obtained through his death, what purpose did his resurrection serve? First, as
I examined Jesus’ time on the cross and his death, there were several miracles
that occurred as recorded in Matthew 27, one of which was the tearing of the of
veil of the temple from top to bottom, which teaches that
Jesus’ offering
of himself was the perfect and final sacrifice; so nothing more needs to be
done to reconcile sinful men and women to God. Jesus’ sacrifice was a real
sacrifice for sin, not a symbol that pointed forward to something else, as the
Old Testament system did (Boice, 2001, p. 625).
Second, we
see a glimpse of the resurrection at the time of Jesus’ death in “the
resurrection to life of many holy people who had died” (Boice, 2001, p. 621).
This raising to life of those who died was an indication of the destiny for all
believers. In John 11:25-26, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and
believes in me will never die” (NIV).
In other words, eternal life can only come through Jesus, who conquered
physical death by coming back to life, and who conquered spiritual death
through the shedding of his blood.
Jesus’
death and resurrection were two separate events that are mutually inclusive as
a single entity that comprises salvation and eternal life. That is, they
accomplished separate outcomes through their connection. Jesus’ death alone
secured salvation for all who believe, and his resurrection secured eternal
life for all who believe. It may be a matter of splitting hairs, but I believe
the two are independent in that regard. As such, getting back to my initial
question, did Jesus fear the cross? we must take several things into
consideration.
First, we
must understand that clearly Jesus did not fear death as we might. Believers
are confident of their eternal destination and therefore do not fear death. Yet
if we are honest about it, we have some trepidation and apprehension of what
the experience will be like. After all, we’ve never been ‘on the other side,’
as it were. This is not true of Jesus. Therefore, in that respect, he did not
fear the cross. I often wonder what the rest of Lazarus’ life was like after
Jesus brought him back from the dead. Had he been in heaven in the presence of
God for a brief interlude, or was his spirit simply in limbo waiting to be
brought back to life? We do not know the answer to that question, although we
can certainly speculate. Nevertheless the point remains that Jesus did not
experience trepidation or apprehension about what lied beyond this world.
Second, we
must recognize that Jesus knew he was to die on the cross, and he knew there
was no other fate for him, no alternative path to salvation. Therefore, in
regard to his prayer about the cup, what Jesus feared, or did not want to
experience, was God’s wrath for sin. When Jesus died on the cross he
experienced the full measure of God’s wrath for ALL sins of ALL people – past,
present, and future. It is incomprehensible for us to understand the kind of
wrath that Jesus experienced when he died. The Apostle’s Creed states,
I believe
in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only
Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the
Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius
Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
He
descended into hell;
The third day he rose again
from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right
hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence
he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Notice it
states that Jesus descended into hell. While
the Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus was doing during the time between his
death and resurrection, given that he bore the sins of the world, it is not
difficult to imagine he was dealing with God’s wrath in some manner, be it in hell
or in some other fashion. In fact in John 20:17, after he appeared to Mary
Magdalene, we read, “Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet
ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (NIV). We can infer that although he had
risen from the dead, he had not yet been cleansed from the sin of the world.
Third,
getting back to the Star Wars
analogy, Jesus knew that by dying on the cross he would become more powerful in
that salvation for mankind would be secure. He knew without his death salvation
would not be possible. Yet he also knew that by dying and rising from the dead
believers would have eternal life in heaven with him. At the end of Matthew,
Jesus stated, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”
(v.18). Boice (2001) noted, “His resurrection proves his authority over any
power that can possibly be imagined” (p. 647). Through his death and
resurrection, Jesus became more powerful in regard to salvation and eternal
life.
So, did Jesus fear the
cross? My simple is answer is, no, not by a long shot. Did he dread God’s
wrath? Absolutely. Good Friday is the day Christians remember Jesus’ death on
the cross, and while they often do not think about it in terms of victory,
today is the day salvation was secured. It also marks the beginning of Satan’s
defeat. Today marks the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new
covenant. That is, the perfect sacrifice had been made and accepted. Sunday marks the resurrection,
which is only possible through Jesus’ resurrection. Matthew 27: 52-53, “The
bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of
the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared
to many people” (NIV). The death of
Jesus and his resurrection are celebrated together in a collective sense.
However, we must remember they are separate events with different outcomes that
are mutually inclusive.
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