Action-Oriented

John 14: 30-31

Jesus went to the cross out of total and complete obedience to the Father's will. There was and still is not an ounce of weakness in Him. The enemy had no hold on Him ever - not in the Garden, not before the Sanhedrin, not in Herod's palace nor in Pilate's court, not at the cross nor in the tomb. Jesus visited these solemn places not out of weakness but out of the strength and the love of a Father that obedience requires.

And He did all of this for our benefit.

Yes, of course, there is the most obvious (but no less powerful, humbling, and awe-striking) benefit - direct access to our Beloved Father by the grace of an all-purifying forgiveness that the cross and resurrection provides for all who believe.

But the example - oh, the beautiful example! - of how to live.

"He [the enemy] has no hold on Me, but the world must learn that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me."

Everything Jesus did and said on this earth was only ever for our benefit, so that we could watch, learn, and emulate.

The cross is the purest, most beautiful, most sacred example that the power of love and obedience can change the world.

Jesus went to the cross so that we would never have to. But with that action, He also set into motion a responsibility for action.