Not Taken, Given

John 7: 30

They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

John 10:14-15

I lay down My life for the sheep.

Some people debate and rage over who killed Jesus. These become very passionate debates. Some say the Romans killed Him. Some say the Jews. When we really understand the passion of Christ, then we can finally let go of this debate. The only one who had power over Jesus’ life was Jesus.

In the seventh chapter of John, those who hated Him tried to seize Him so that they could put Him to death. But Jesus’ hour had not yet come so they were unable to take Him. Jesus just slipped away as He did at other times. In the tenth chapter of John the crowd was going to stone him. The scripture says in verse 39, “Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.” Notice that the verse says they were seeking to seize Him again. This wasn’t the first time and it was not to be the last, but Jesus had a say in what was going to happen to him. The temptation in the garden of Gethsemane wouldn’t have been so difficult for Jesus if the end was a forgone conclusion and he did not have any power to affect the outcome. No, it was because He had to willingly go into captivity and to the cross that the temptation was so great. He had the power to walk away but made the choice to stay.

Only when Jesus’ time had come was it possible to capture him. Even then Jesus had to practically help the soldiers arrest him. When they came with Judas to arrest him, they all ended up falling to the ground under the power of God. Read John 18: 3 – 11. Jesus waited for them to recover and then, again, identified himself for them. Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus but Jesus told him to put it away. Jesus said, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” Jesus had chosen to follow God. He had chosen to lay down his life for the sheep. That is the only way they could have ever put him on the cross, through his choice. In John 10, verses 17 and 18 Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Jesus was saying that no one had the authority to take his life from him. Only he had the ability to sacrifice his life. And that he willingly did for us.

If you ever hear people debating this question again you can answer, “It wasn’t the Romans that put Jesus on the cross; it wasn’t the Jews. It was love that put him there. Love for you and me. As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” John 14: 13. And that he did; laid down his life for us. It was his to give and freely he gave it to us.

Healed by Grace

Psalm 107: 20

He sent His word and healed them.

Query – does this mean supernatural, divine healing? What comes to your mind as you carefully ponder this verse? I believe in the supernatural power of God to touch you such that your healing manifests instantaneously. I have also learned, however, that there is an additional type of healing that our Father provides.

This type of healing is spiritually significant in that it takes prayer and communication with the Father to effectuate it. As you spend this extended time in the presence of the Lord you begin to learn about changes you can make in your life which will speed your healing on its way. Maybe in your quiet time with the Lord the thought floats upon your mind that you need to drink more water. Perhaps there are dietary adjustments Father would like to make with you. If you begin to feel better; if your joints work better from implementing God’s advice, does that make the solution any less spiritual? I think sometimes we want to continue in abusive patterns but expect the healing power of God to flow anyway. Is it possible that we, by our habits, are interfering with the healing power of God which is flowing in our veins? Worse still, do we pray on Sunday, have God start His flow of healing power and then quench it on Monday morning?

Speaking for myself only, I used to skip breakfast Monday morning, get to the office and start drinking coffee, drink coffee all day, rarely drink a glass of water and if I did it was not from a good clean source; then I would have junk for lunch and sit at my desk for 8 – 12 hours straight. Now, why was I surprised that I was physically challenged? My joints felt like they had concrete in them. It took me several minutes to straighten up after sitting or lying down. Was my problem that God’s healing power doesn’t work? Was it because when He sent His Word and healed them, He skipped me. And now that I have made many changes and feel amazingly better, is it because of my brilliance, my effort or is it simple obedience to God’s Word and guidance? Did He in fact heal me or did I?

Believe me, it has been a long journey back from the precipice and I am not done but I am so relieved not to be where I was. There is healing in the Word. God told us to give Him our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12: 2). Surely, He has also provided the means by which we can do so. He also told us that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 14: 13). Now all truth must mean truths even beyond spiritual things, although, I am not sure that our Father would consider your health anything less than a spiritual matter. In fact, when it comes right down to it, is not everything ultimately a spiritual matter? My point is that the Holy Spirit has wisdom from the Father on every single thing in the world. So, the answer you need for your physical health and well-being may be found in prayer, no doubt, but do not be surprised if God gives you practical, earthly things to do.

You were meant to live a long, healthy life. This rubbish about beginning to fall apart at age 40, 50 or whatever arbitrary date people use is just that, rubbish. Moses was climbing mountains at age 120. I can make you this promise, God’s vision for you includes a healthy, well-functioning body. Now, let’s get in line with His Word and His counsel and grow strong in spirit and body.