Tuesday, July 9, 2013
FOLLOW THE LEADER: WHY?
It was not until after Pentecost that the disciples fully understood the necessity of Jesus' suffering. "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day" (Luke 9:22). Despite the prophecy in Zechariah which spoke of the Shepherd being struck and the sheep scattered, despite the detail of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 or in Psalm 22, the idea that the Messiah had to go through the pain of hell seemed like it shouldn't happen.
Peter at one time tried to talk Jesus out of this and he was told, "Get behind Me, Satan!" The devil himself offered Jesus an easy way out as one of his temptations in the wilderness. But it had to be this way if there was to be salvation. If not, this was really a foolish mission. It would be like a fireman risking his life in a burning building when simply flipping a switch to a sprinkler system would have worked. Holy blood had to be shed and that was only found in the God-Man Jesus Christ.
Sin had to be dealt with. In order for a person's slate to wiped clean, the debt of sin had to be transferred somewhere, or more specifically, onto someone else's account. This was more than a release from prison for sinners. It was a penalty being paid. Jesus was rejected and suffered for you. He died for you. He rose again for you.
With so many choices out there, how do we know that we are on the right path with the right Leader? Come back to the work that Jesus accomplished and the results that He produced. No one else offers what He does. No one else was capable or willing to go down the path that He did. No other religion has a Leader like Jesus. No other Leader deals with His followers in grace. Every other religion in the world demands something of you for salvation. Jesus gives.
