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.
