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Jesus Volunteered For the Cross As one reads Hebrews 12.1-2 we are encouraged to lay aside every weight, and sin, that may cause us to not run with endurance. As an example for us we have Jesus, who gave Himself on the cross for us. Verse 2 states that Jesus endured the cross "despising the shame." We know from the Gospels that Jesus prayed to the Father, hours before His crucifixion. He prayed that "Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Your, be done" (Luke 22.42). People have often wondered why Jesus would voluntarily leave heaven, come to earth for the purpose of being our propitiation for our sins, knowing the shame of the cross? Recently I thought of this while reading of Brandon Mullins. Brandon lived five houses down from us when we first moved to Owensboro. He was 21 years of age, right between the ages of our son, Eli, and daughter, Hope. He graduated from the same school as all three of our children, Apollo High. He volunteered for the army after graduation. After training and being based in Alaska, he was sent to Afghanistan. It is a dangerous country where many of our service men have lost their lives. Brandon Mullins was killed by a bomb while serving his country, and was buried on 9.11.11 here in Owensboro. Reading the newspaper article about his time in the service, and death, one family member said that Brandon knew the danger he was in. He knew when he volunteered that people are killed in battle all the time. When transferred to Afghanistan he knew that his family would be worried and told them he would be alright. Did he want to die? No. So, why did he place himself in such a position? Because he wanted to protect his family and nation. He was willing to take the risk of dying because of his love for others. Recently a family member was sent to Iraq. He and his family were told to fill out his funeral arrangements in case he was killed. I can tell you that he wants to return back home and see his son grow up with his wife. However, he is willing to risk his life because of his love for others. I am not saying that there is an exact parallel between those in our military and Jesus. But we can understand that if love can compel us to sacrifice our lives for others, then we can see how it compelled Jesus to die on the cross for us. If Jesus was willing to die for us then we should be willing to run with endurance the race that is set before us. We should not allow others to hinder us, or the weight of sin to drag us down. He should run with a purpose, we should run with love. -- Dennis Tucker |